Ehsan Vahidi

Summary

Ehsan Vahidi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is also John N. Butler Endowed Professor in Extractive metallurgy. Ehsan is an interdisciplinary researcher who has crossed traditional boundaries between metallurgical engineering and sustainability sciences. His research takes fundamental environmental engineering and translates this into applied settings, primarily in the mining and metallurgical industries. He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal papers with over 1300 citations. Dr. Vahidi received his Ph.D. in Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. Before joining the University of Nevada, Reno in 2020, he was a postdoc research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About the John N. Butler Endowed Professorship in Extractive Metallurgy

Established with a gift from the estate of metallurgy professor John Butler, who served as chair of the Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering and Mining Engineering Department. Established: 1986. (Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering)

Research interests

• Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA)
• Extractive metallurgy for critical materials
• Recycling and Recovery
• The circular economy
• Waste management and minimization

Courses taught

• MET 101: Introduction to Metallurgical Engineering I
• MET 102: Introduction to Metallurgical Engineering II
• MET 633: Solution Mining, Heap Leach Design, and Optimization
• MINE 456/656: Mining and Sustainable Development

Education

• Postdoctoral Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020.
• Ph.D., Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, 2018.
• M.Eng., Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, 2014.
• M.Sc., Metallurgical Engineering, University of Tehran, 2008.
• B.Sc., Metallurgical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 2005.

Selected publications

• Fatemeh Mozaffarpour, Nafiseh Hassanzadeh, & Ehsan Vahidi, (2022). “Comparative life cycle assessment of synthesis routes for cathode materials in sodium-ion batteries”, Clean Technology & Environmental Policy.
• Jeremy R Gregory, Hessam Azarijafari, Ehsan Vahidi, Fengdi Guo, Franz-Josef Ulm, & Randolph E Kirchain, (2021). “The role of concrete in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of US buildings and pavements”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 118, No37.
• Majid Alipanah, Apurba Kumar Saha, Ehsan Vahidi, & Hongyue Jin, (2021). “Value Recovery from Spent Lithium-ion Batteries: A Review on Technologies, Environmental Impacts, Economics, and Supply Chain”, Clean Technologies and Recycling, 1(2): 152–184.
• Rasoul Khayyam Nekouei, Ignacio Tudela, Sajjad S. Mofarah, Ehsan Vahidi, Ke Wang, Samane Maroufi, Farshid Pahlevani, & Veena Sahajwalla, (2021). “Dual Functionality of Mixed Cu-based Two-Dimensional (2D) Heterostructures Derived from Electronic Wastes”, Available Online, Green Chemistry-Royal Society of Chemistry.
• Ehsan Vahidi, Randolph Kirchain, Jasmina Burek, & Jeremy Gregory, (2021). “Regional variation of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for the United States building sector”, Applied Energy, 302, 117527.
• Gwendolyn Bailey, James Joyce, Dieuwertje Schrijvers, Rita Schulze, Anne Marie Sylvestre, Benjamin Sprecher, Ehsan Vahidi, Wim Dewulf, & Karel Van Acker, (2020). “Review and new life cycle assessment for rare earth production from bastnäsite, ion adsorption clays and lateritic monazite”, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 155, 104675.
• Zhen Li, Luis A Diaz, Zhiyao Yang, Hongyue Jin, Tedd Lister, Ehsan Vahidi, & Fu Zhao, (2019). “Comparative Life Cycle Analysis for Value Recovery of Precious Metals and Rare Earth Elements from Electronic Waste”, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 149, 20-30.
• Praneet Arshi, Ehsan Vahidi, & Fu Zhao, (2018). “Behind the scenes of clean energy–the environmental footprint of rare earth products”, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 6 (3), 3311–3320.
• Ehsan Vahidi & Fu Zhao, (2018). “Assessing the environmental footprint of the production of rare earth metals and alloys via molten salt electrolysis”, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 139, 178-187.
• Vicki Thompson, Mayank Gupta, Hongyue Jin, Ehsan Vahidi, Michael Jindra, Van Nguyen, Yoshiko Fujita, John Sutherland, Yongqin Jiao, & David Reed, (2018). “Optimization and Techno-economic and Life Cycle Analysis of Rare Earth Element Bioleaching from Waste Materials”, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 6 (2), 1602–1609.

Learn more about Dr. Vahidi's research

Professional certifications

• Kaufman Teaching & Learning Certificate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Teaching and Learning Lab, 2019.
• Mini-MBA, Applied Management Principles, Purdue University, Krannert School of Management, 2018.

Honors and awards