The HOPE Group
The Future is Now – HydrOgen Production from the Earth’s subsurface (HOPE)
Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Qingwang (Kevin) Yuan
Dr. Yuan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech University and the Co-Founder and President of The Association of Geological Hydrogen (AGH). He was a Matejek Family Faculty Fellow (01/2020 – 10/2025) and now holds the George F. and Joan Watford Energy Professorship (10/2025 – Present). He aims to accelerate and secure energy transition by transforming the petroleum industry to a hydrogen supplier that will open a new pathway to significantly reduce clean hydrogen cost, eliminate carbon emission from the source, and reshape the future of both petroleum and hydrogen industries. His research areas include carbon-zero in-situ HydrOgen production from PEtroleum reservoirs (HOPE), carbon-free natural and stimulated HydrOgen Production from the Earth’s subsurface (HOPE), carbon-negative geologic hydrogen production with CO2 mineralization, CO2 geological storage, and enhanced geothermal recovery.
Senior Scientists
Principal Investigator in GeoH2: Dr. Omar Maiga, 05/2025 – Present
Dr. Omar Maiga is a pioneering geologist in natural hydrogen and the world’s first doctoral graduate specializing in natural hydrogen reservoir systems. Internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work on the Bourakebougou hydrogen field in Mali — the only confirmed natural hydrogen accumulation to date, with the most dataset available — he earned his PhD with distinction from Sorbonne University and IFP School (IFPEN), in partnership with Hydroma. He is working on (1) characterizing geologic hydrogen systems in the U.S. and globally, and (2) developing new hydrogen stimulation methods. He is a member of AGH Board of Directors.
Dr. Huan Yang, 10/2024 – Present
Huan earned his Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 2023. Prior to that, he worked for eight years as a petroleum engineer at SINOPEC, focusing on enhanced oil recovery. He holds both M.S. and B.S. degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Yangtze University. His expertise includes experimental investigation, phase behavior of nanoconfined fluids, and reservoir simulation. Currently, he is working on stimulated geological hydrogen production.
Current PhD Students
Yiling Du, 08/2025 – Present
Yiling received her Bachelor degree in Geological Engineering from Jilin University where she was nominated for the Top Ten College Students Award in 2025. Before joining The Hope Group, her research focused on CCUS in unconventional reservoirs. She is currently working on numerical simulation of geological hydrogen production from ultramafic rock formations.
Michael Angelo Kyei, 08/2025 – Present
Michael received his Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2019 from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He then received his Master degree in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech University. He is now working on experimental studies of hydrogen production from petroleum reservoirs using electromagnetic-assisted catalytic heating.
Mohamed Zinelabidine Doghmane, 08/2024 – Present
Mohamed has over 10 years of experience working with the National Oil Company of Algeria and 4-year’s teaching at University of Boumerdes. He has extensive experience in applied automation and reservoirs petrophysical evaluation. He published 100+ research papers and proceedings, co-authored 2 books, registered 2 patents, and co-supervised 6 PhD theses in Algeria before joining TTU. He is currently working on carbon-free and carbon-negative geological hydrogen systems.
Ishak Zakaria Madani, 08/2024 – Present
Ishak received his Master degree with honors in sustainable development engineering and Bachelor degree in process engineering at the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene. He served as a Project Manager for the Commission for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency at the Prime Minister’s Office of Algeria before joining TTU. He is currently working on carbon-negative geological hydrogen production.
Md Tauhidur Rahman, 08/2024 – Present
Tauhidur received his Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2021 from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia and Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum and Mining Engineering in 2018 from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh. Tauhidur is currently working on experimental studies of carbon-zero hydrogen production from petroleum reservoirs.
Md Aliur Rahman, 08/2024 – Present
Aliur received his Master degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2022 from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Bachelor degree in Petroleum and Mining Engineering in 2015 from Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST), Bangladesh. He was awarded the Vice Chancellor Silver Medal in 2017 and the Prime Minister Gold Medal in 2018 for achieving first place in the engineering faculty during his undergraduate studies. He is currently working on numerical modeling of carbon-zero hydrogen production from petroleum reservoirs.
Engr. Chibuzo Cosmas Nwanwe, 08/2024 – Present
Chibuzo received his Master degree in 2013 from Politecnico di Torino, Italy and Bachelor degree in 2002 from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, both in Petroleum Engineering. Before joining The Hope Group, he has published 5 peer-reviewed journal papers as the first author and co-authorized multiple journal papers and conference proceedings. He is currently working on CO2 sequestration and carbon-negative geological hydrogen production.
Mahmoud Heshmat, 08/2024 – Present
Mahmoud received his Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2022 from Suez University, Egypt. Before joining The Hope Group, he worked as a Technical Sales – Reservoir Simulation Engineer at Streamlines, Egypt. He is currently working on enhanced geothermal recovery and stimulated geological hydrogen production.
Baizheng An, 01/2022 – Present
Baizheng received his Master degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2021 from Texas Tech University and Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2018 from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is working on experimental studies of microwave-rock-catalysts-hydrocarbon interactions in clean hydrogen generation from petroleum reservoirs using microwave-assisted catalytic heating.
Ping Song, 09/2020 – Present
Ping received her Master degree in Oil & Gas Field Development Engineering in 2020 and Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2017, both from China University of Petroleum (East China). She working on numerical simulations of in-situ combustion gasification for hydrogen generation directly from depleted heavy oil reservoirs.
Current Master Students
Gabriel Castaneda, 08/2025 – Present
Gabriel received his Bachelor’s degree in Energy and Petroleum Engineering from Universidad Modelo, Mexico, and completed an academic exchange at the University of Seville, Spain. He is currently a Master’s student working on geological feasibility of geological hydrogen in Mexico, including case studies on mineralogy and the assessment of geological conditions relevant to natural hydrogen.
Omar Abdelhak Mohamed Mohamed, 08/2024 – Present
Omar received his bachelor’s degree with honors in Petroleum and Chemical Engineering from Suez University in Egypt in 2023. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, focusing on pioneering carbon-negative geologic hydrogen production in The Hope Group.
Adkham Izbassar, 01/2025 – Present
Adkham is working on research of penetration depth of electromagnetic waves into reservoir rocks for in-situ clean hydrogen generation from petroleum reservoirs. Additionally, he is experienced in power electronics and guides undergraduate students in practical renewable energy generation.
Current Undergraduate Students
Alumni: PhD Graduates
Mohamed Amine Ifticene, Ph.D. (2025)
Dissertation Title: In-situ Hydrogen Production from Heavy Oil and Bitumen Reservoirs via In-situ Combustion Gasification: Kinetics, Modeling, and Techno-Economic Analysis
Position after Graduation: Production Engineer at Oxy
Keju Yan, Ph.D. (2025)
Dissertation Title: In-situ Hydrogen Production from Petroleum Reservoirs using Electromagnetic Heating
Position after Graduation: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Alumni: Master Graduates
Michael Angelo Kyei, 04/2024 – 08/2025
Research Topic: Electromagnetic wave penetration into reservoir rocks.
Position after Graduation: PhD student in The Hope Group.
Baizheng An, 02/2020 – 12/2021
Research Topic: experimental studies of viscous fingering in a confined Hele-Shaw cell.
Position after Graduation: PhD student in The Hope Group.
Alumni: Undergraduates
Adkham Izbassar, 04/2024 – 12/2024
Adkham is an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering. He is working on research of penetration depth of electromagnetic waves into reservoir rocks for in-situ clean hydrogen generation from petroleum reservoirs. Additionally, he is experienced in power electronics and guides undergraduate students in practical renewable energy generation.
Mohamed Abdelaal, 01/2022 – 05/2023
Mohamed joined the Texas Tech University in September 2019. He worked on clean hydrogen generation from petroleum reservoirs using microwave heating. He was awarded the SPE Permian Basin Scholarship – Hoxie Smith Memorial Award in May 2022.
Daniel Solorzano, 01/2020 – 05/2023
Daniel joined the Texas Tech in September 2019. He worked on experimental studies of viscous fingering dynamics in miscible displacements in porous media. His research is funded by the PI Squared program at Texas Tech University. He was awarded McNair Scholar in June 2020.
Anton Kaiser, 11/2020 – 08/2022
Anton joined the Texas Tech University in September 2018. He worked on numerical simulations of in-situ combustion gasification for hydrogen generation directly from heavy oil reservoirs. His research is funded by the Transformative Undergraduate Experiences (TrUE) Scholars Program at Texas Tech University. He received the SPE Permian Basin Scholarship in May 2021.