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UWA PhD candidate, Arman Siahvashi, was presented the Exxon Student Scientist of the Year award at the Western Australian Premier’s Science Awards ceremony on Wednesday 15 August.

The Premier’s Science Awards recognises and celebrates the achievements of the Western Australian science community. The Exxon Student Scientist of the Year award covers all fields of science, including applied and technological science, engineering, medical and mathematics. It acknowledges the importance of developing and supporting great technical minds to benefit society’s future wellbeing.

Arman is in the final year of his PhD in natural gas process engineering and has developed an innovative apparatus to visually measure the freezing temperatures of hydrocarbons at cryogenic temperatures. This data is crucial to solve the issue of shutdowns due to blockages caused by the freeze-out of impurities, which is a major problem facing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. Arman’s method of measuring data has been endorsed by NASA due to its relevance in their study on the weathering processes of Saturn’s moon, Titan.

“This award is a great recognition of the excellent research being conducted at UWA. I would like to acknowledge the team and my supervisor Professor Eric May. I would also like to extend a very special thank you to Dr Saif Al-Ghafri for his guidance and support. Without this team, winning the award would not have been possible,” said Arman Siahvashi.

Arman also added” I have a message to all the students out there, if my work can make a difference, so can yours…. and remember, never let the opportunities pass by.”

Congratulations Arman for this significant award.

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