Usman Shehu Ahmad
Chemical Engineer · Process Design · Applied AI
ushcodexshehu@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/ushcodex github.com/ushcodex usman.engineer Nigeria
Professional Summary
Final-year Chemical Engineering student at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria specialising in plant design, process simulation and applied machine learning. Designed a 10,000 TPA battery-grade lithium carbonate plant from spodumene. Published first-author SPE paper (SPE-235017-MS) on edge-compute AI surveillance for ESP fault detection, achieving an AUC-ROC of 0.9585. Delivered two FEED packages for bioethanol plants at Korex Energy. President, SPE ABU Zaria Student Chapter 2025/26, growing membership from 53 to 740+.
Education
B.Eng. Chemical Engineering 2021 – 2026 (expected)
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Nigeria
  • Thesis: DFT Investigation into Vanadium Poisoning of Zeolite Y in FCC/RFCC (Supervisor: Prof. A. Y. Atta, PTDF Chair)
  • Federal Scholarship Board (FSB) scholar
Industry Experience
Process Engineering Intern July – September 2026
Korex Energy, Nigeria
  • Led FEED for a 26,000 L/h cassava bioethanol plant in Ogun State using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer
  • Delivered a separate FEED package for a cassava ethanol and starch plant in Kebbi State (SIMAJ-BSL)
  • Produced mass balance, energy balance, process flow diagrams, equipment sizing and capital cost estimates
Industrial Trainee (SIWES) June – November 2025 · 6 months
Ilera Agro Processing, Achalawa Plant, Nigeria
  • Quality Control lab: FFA, peroxide value, iodine value, refractive index, boiling point, oil content and seed quality tests on the full production line
  • Quality Assurance: tested raw materials for impurities, oil content and adulteration; inspected tankers and packaging
  • Solvent extraction plant operations: safety, extraction, solvent recovery, flakers, expanders, extractors and expellers
  • Refinery operations: neutralisation, gumming and bleaching of shea, soya and palm oil
  • Cosmetic science lab: formulation and QC of creams, lotions, soaps and detergents
  • Authored a 45,000-word technical training report
Key Projects
10,000 TPA Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate Plant Design 2026
Final-year design project · ABU Zaria
  • Full plant design for the H₂SO₄ sulfation route from spodumene to battery-grade Li₂CO₃
  • Built interactive 3D plant layout using Three.js; published at usman.engineer/plant-layout
Edge-Compute AI Surveillance for ESP Fault Detection 2026
Published research · Paper SPE-235017-MS
  • Designed and implemented an Isolation Forest anomaly detection system for electrical submersible pumps
  • Validated on the ESPset real offshore vibration dataset; AUC-ROC 0.9585, F1-score 0.921
  • Presented at STSE 2026 (Paper ID 89) and NAICE 2026 (Paper ID 601), Lagos, August 2026
  • Published as SPE-235017-MS; FEED-grade cost estimate included
DFT Investigation: Vanadium Poisoning of Zeolite Y in FCC/RFCC 2026
B.Eng. Thesis · ABU Zaria
  • B3LYP/6-31G(d) DFT study of V²⁺/V³⁺ poisoning on FAU Zeolite Y Al–O–Si sites using ORCA with xTB pre-optimisation
  • Cluster model constructed from IZA database FAU structure in Avogadro
OleoLens — Palm Oil Adulteration and Quality Detection System November 2026
NSChE 2026 Hackathon Design Challenge · Team Sardauna · Port Harcourt
  • Three-tier detection system: ML phone app (camera image), DOBI clip-on (446 nm + UVC 269 nm), standalone ESP32-S3 handheld
  • Full OpenSCAD 3D mechanical models for clip-on and handheld enclosures
10 TPD Shea Butter Production Plant — Best Project Award 2024
Feasibility study and plant design · ABU Zaria
  • Mechanical (solvent-free) extraction route; feasibility analysis and full plant design
  • Best Project Award; selected for presentation at ICERFE
200 L Potato Peel Waste to Activated Carbon Plant 2023
  • Pyrolysis and KOH/ZnCl₂ chemical activation route; waste valorisation circular economy approach
  • Best Project Award, Best Presentation Award, ₦50,000 prize
MadubiLabs — Virtual Chemistry Practical Lab 2025–2026
  • Offline-capable web app for WAEC/NECO SSS1–SSS3 practical preparation; titration, qualitative analysis, pendulum, food tests
  • Designed for one laptop and projector per school; live at madubilabs.vercel.app
Green Zaria Carbon Audit, ABU Zaria 2025
  • Full campus GHG inventory following the GHG Protocol Scopes 1–3; main sources: diesel generators, grid electricity, transport
  • Green cover quantified via Google Earth Engine NDVI analysis
Leadership and Societies
President, SPE ABU Zaria Student Chapter #6350 2025 – 2026
Previously: Membership Chair (2023/24), Vice President (2024/25)
  • Grew chapter from 53 to 740+ members and raised ₦1.8 million for programmes and logistics
  • IRT 2.0: trained 87 students and produced 14 papers; 4 accepted at STSE, 3 at NAICE
  • Student Technical Software Bootcamp 2.0: trained 61 students in Excel, Python and Aspen HYSYS
  • Won SPE Africa Regional Outstanding Student Chapter award in 2025 and 2026
  • Secured OnePetro grant giving ABU access to 1.3 million technical papers
  • Led 14-person delegation to STSE 2026, Warri; ran 5th Anniversary Energy Week and 2025 Climate Conference (700+ attendees)
Senate President, NSChE ABU Zaria — 4th Parliament Elected February 2026
  • Previously: IELCom member (2021), Public Relations Officer (2022–23), Financial Secretary (2024)
  • First place, NSChE 2026 Departmental Debate Competition
Core Team Member, Creative Tech Focus Area — UCAF Nigeria Ongoing
  • Innovation bootcamps reached 230+ students directly and 1,300+ indirectly
Publications and Presentations
Technical Skills
Process simulation: Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus
Cost estimation: Aspen Process Economic Analyzer
Computational chemistry: ORCA, xTB, Avogadro (DFT)
Programming: Python, JavaScript, Three.js, OpenSCAD
Machine learning: Isolation Forest, scikit-learn, Excel
Plant QC: FFA, PV, IV, refractive index, solvent extraction
Carbon accounting: GHG Protocol Scopes 1–3, Google Earth Engine
3D design: OpenSCAD, Three.js plant layouts
Conferences and Training
Awards and Scholarships