Khan celebrates graduation of 100th Ph.D. student
Dr. Faisal Khan has reached a milestone with the graduation of his 100th Ph.D. student, reflecting a legacy of mentorship that has shaped generations of researchers, educators and industry leaders in safety and risk engineering.
Dr. Faisal Khan instructing graduate students in the lab.
For many faculty members, graduating a doctoral student is a career milestone. For Dr. Faisal Khan, graduating his 100th Ph.D. student reflects more than two decades of mentoring researchers who have gone on to careers in academia, industry and government around the world.
As head of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center and Ocean Energy Safety Institute at Texas A&M University, Khan has guided graduate and undergraduate researchers tackling some of engineering’s most pressing challenges.
“When I started working in process safety and risk engineering, it was still a relatively unexplored area in engineering research,” Khan said. “Over the years, I have been fortunate to work with students who were willing to take on challenging and meaningful problems connected to safety, reliability, sustainability and emerging energy systems. Seeing many of them become professors, industry leaders and innovators across the world is the most rewarding part of this journey.”
Khan’s own career has been driven by a commitment to improving engineering safety. Inspired by major industrial accidents that underscored the need for stronger safety practices, he pursued process safety research while the discipline was still emerging.
That same commitment has shaped his approach to mentoring students.
“Dr. Khan profoundly shaped my approach to solving engineering problems,” said graduate assistant Tasya Sadiya Nasoetion. “He taught me to break down complex challenges through structured, step-by-step reasoning. That approach has been invaluable in my research on safety-aware process control for lithium-ion batteries, helping me identify the critical variables needed to assess thermal runaway risks.”
Former students say Khan’s mentorship extends well beyond research supervision.
“I had the privilege of earning my Ph.D. under Dr. Khan’s supervision,” said Ahmed Elkady, a research scientist at Chevron Corporation. “Throughout my time at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, he exemplified the importance of selfless service, taking ownership of responsibilities and upholding the highest standards of integrity in research. He always encouraged me to approach challenging problems with confidence, resilience and a positive mindset.”
Today, Khan’s former students serve as faculty members, researchers and industry leaders across North America, the Middle East and Asia.
Mitchell Huffman, now a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, said Khan helped him develop not only as a researcher but also as a mentor.
“Dr. Khan is an educator, researcher and mentor of the highest caliber,” Huffman said. “More than teaching me how to conduct research, he showed me what it means to be a thoughtful mentor. As I now pursue a career in academia, I hope to carry forward the example he set.”
For Khan, the milestone is less about the number than the people behind it.
“The greatest reward is seeing former students build successful careers and mentor the next generation of engineers,” he said. “Knowing they are making engineering safer and creating positive change around the world is what makes this milestone meaningful.”
