Bahman Elyassi: USC Ph.D. Chemical Engineering Candidate and Creator of the Solid-State Oxygen Sensor for Automobiles

November 6, 2007

Born in Tehran, Iran, Bahman Elyassi received his Bachelors of Science (with first rank) and Masters of Science in chemical engineering in 1998 and 2001 respectively, from university of Tehran. Currently, Bahman is a PhD candidate in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Before coming to the US, he worked for National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on the Fischer-Tropsch process. He has received awards for his work in many areas including an innovation award for the invention of the "Miniaturized Solid-State Reference Oxygen Sensor" in the 19th International Khwarizmi Festival (2005), presentation award in the 3^rd Annual Student Research Symposium in the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering (2007), North American Membrane Society travel award (2007) and most recently the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation runner-up award (2007) at the first annual USC Student Innovator Showcase and Competition.

Bahman's story is as much about innovation as it is about love. "Creating this solid-state reference led me to find the love of my life, my wife." he said.

We asked Bahman some questions about the process for developing the oxygen sensor, here is what he had to say:

Help us understand what you are up to (Describe your work / research):
Our work is aimed to create smaller, cleaner, and less expensive oxygen sensors for automobiles. Oxygen sensors that employ a solid-state reference which can act as an air reference and can be made in miniaturizing structures, lowering costs and granting shorter response times which will air in creating a cleaner environment.

What drives you to continue pursuing this area of study?
In chemical engineering there is an extreme flexibility to enjoy research in different arenas. It covers different transport phenomena, thermodynamics and reactions that are experienced in every day life. Due to the nature of this research, you can easily adapt to do research on materials or biomaterials for different applications. But there is also opportunity to better employ creativity.

Describe how your work might impact people's lives, now and in the future. (What's the potential societal impact?)
Conventional oxygen sensors in the automotive industry employ air as the reference gas for their operation, making them expensive, bulky and resulting in long response time particularly during a cold-start period. This also adds to the consuming air pollution epidemic. Utilizing an oxygen sensor with solid-state reference which can act as an air reference and can be made in miniaturizing structures lowering costs and shorter response times will aid in creating a cleaner environment. In a technical sense, faster response from the sensors will help to reduce air pollution and in a commercial aspect this is a cost effective alternative to the conventional sensors.

Has anyone ever doubted that your idea could work? (Please elaborate.)
Not yet.

What is the next step in the innovation process for you (and how might people help)?
Commercialization is the next step. To do so, we are looking for interested sensor's manufacturers for exposing our invention. Our prototype shows a very promising response. Actually, we filed a patent pending through USC on this invention. Given the fact that nearly 120 million oxygen sensors are made annually, replacing them with sensors that can be made at lower costs with faster response can be very attractive economically and environmentally.

What mistake taught you the most?
Through the entire research process, I realized the value of flexible thinking and for achieving this skill being in touch with what others are doing is a must (excluding the Pinocchio story). Part of success is to see others creativity.

What is the one innovation you can't live without?
Oxygen sensor with solid-state reference. It has had a huge effect on my life.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
Planting coins! In my childhood I did lots of crazy experiments. When I look back I think well, I am an experimentalist by nature, but maybe not a good one.

I remember watching Pinocchio cartoons as a child, one episode in particular led to one of the craziest experiments I have ever tried.

Foulfellow and Gideon (the cat and fox characters) told Pinocchio a story about creating a farm, where if he planted his gold coins he would get gold trees. Pinocchio did plant his coins, but in the middle of the night Foulfellow and Gideon stole the gold coins out of the ground. The next day Pinocchio woke to find no tree, no coins and found out who had soiled his dream.

As a child, I thought to myself, well Pinocchio could have had gold trees if Foulfellow and Gideon did not remove those coins. The next day I planted a coin and for some days I watered it, no trees ever grew from the coin I planted. That was certainly one of the most unsuccessful experiments I have ever conducted.

What do you wish you would have invented?
Starbucks' corrugated paper ring that protects your hands from hot coffee. Simple and elegant. A chemical engineer should have invented it.

Any tips for aspiring innovators?
If you feel something is missing or not operating to its fullest potential in a system, try to come up with a simple way to solve it. You must look carefully and be passionate about it.

Email or phone?
You decide.

What is the most fun you've ever had?
It was when we got the first results in the lab from our sensor, I screamed like Eureka.

Three favorite things about LA:
USC, 3^rd street, Trader Joe's