Affan Qamar | Chemical & Process Engineer

Who I am

About

Process engineering at the interface of research and manufacturing.

I am a Chemical and Process Engineer with experience across the full process lifecycle: from laboratory and pilot-scale trials to plant design, commissioning and continuous operation. I have worked on a large continuous urea plant, batch production of construction chemicals, spray-drying and extraction research, and the scale-up of fermentation-based processes.

My core toolkit covers mass and energy balances, PFDs and P&IDs, equipment sizing, process simulation with Aspen Plus and HYSYS, risk assessment and techno-economic analysis. I add a strong data layer on top, using Python, Power BI, MATLAB, R and design of experiments to find the real drivers of yield, quality and downtime.

I am open to Process, Chemical or Bioprocess Engineering roles focused on process optimisation, commissioning, or R&D scale-up.

What I do

Expertise

What I bring to a process team.

Process Optimisation

Improving yield, throughput and efficiency of continuous and batch processes using balances, root-cause analysis and Lean Six Sigma.

Scale-up & Pilot Trials

Planning and evaluating structured trial programmes and transferring processes from lab to pilot to production.

Process Design

Mass and energy balances, PFDs and P&IDs, equipment sizing and specification for new pilot and production assets.

Commissioning & Operations

Commissioning, technical acceptance and shift operation of production plants, including DCS-controlled continuous units.

Process Safety & Quality

Risk assessments, HAZOP-style reviews, PSSR, SOP authoring and quality systems (ISO 9001 internal auditor).

Process Data & Analytics

Python, Power BI, DoE and KPI dashboards for troubleshooting, process monitoring and CAPEX/OPEX decisions.

Career

Experience

Chemical plants, construction chemicals, R&D and biotechnology scale-up.

Process Engineer, Process Technology

Infinite Roots GmbH · Hamburg, Germany

10/2024 – 03/2025

Led scale-up of fermentation-based processes from laboratory to pilot scale, from technical concept and equipment sizing through trials to hand-over to production.
Analysed and optimised fermentation, extraction and downstream operations to improve yield, recovery and efficiency; mass and energy balances supported a ~15% downstream yield improvement.
Prepared PFDs and P&IDs for sterilisation and fermentation units, reducing design iterations by ~20%; supported commissioning, sterilisation runs and validation batches.
Built CAPEX/OPEX cost models for a complete biomass production plant, identifying ~€30,000 in projected investment savings.
Developed a maintenance and KPI dashboard for all site equipment, cutting troubleshooting response time by ~25%.
Wrote SOPs and CIP/SIP cleaning protocols; applied Lean Six Sigma and 5S to reduce waste and changeover times.

Working Student, R&D – Process Engineering

Lignopure GmbH · Hamburg, Germany

07/2022 – 03/2023

Planned, ran and evaluated ~20 spray-drying trial campaigns with 3–5 systematically varied parameters and characterised the resulting porous particles.
Translated trial results into reproducible process parameters for transfer to larger scale.
Supported installation and testing of pilot-scale equipment; carried out risk assessments for handling fine particles.
Built Python tools for process monitoring and data visualisation during experimental runs.

Research Assistant

Institute of Solids Process Engineering and Particle Technology, TU Hamburg

01/2021 – 02/2022

Researched solid-liquid extraction and mass transfer kinetics in porous particles, using coffee extraction as the industrial model system.
Applied design of experiments (12 runs, 4 factors) and regression analysis to identify the parameters governing yield and reproducibility.
Designed, built and operated experimental rigs including instrumentation, sampling and data acquisition; wrote SOPs and trained lab staff.

Chemical Production Engineer

X-Calibur Construction Chemistry · UAE

05/2017 – 10/2017

Delivered a capital project to install two 40 t epoxy resin silos with storage and conveying system, from concept and supplier management to commissioning and technical acceptance.
Optimised batch processes to raise throughput and line utilisation; root-cause analysis of feeding and cooling bottlenecks cut cycle times by ~12%.
Implemented strict safety procedures in running production and trained shift teams.

Process Engineer / Management Trainee Engineer

Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd. · Sadiqabad, Pakistan

09/2014 – 09/2015

Monitored and optimised a large continuous urea plant on shift using a Honeywell DCS; identified and resolved process upsets independently.
Built Aspen Plus simulations for fault analysis, operator training and energy/raw-material optimisation.
Performed root-cause analyses on upsets and production losses; executed Pre-Startup Safety Reviews (PSSR) and SIF testing.
Supported planning of scheduled plant turnarounds with maintenance, engineering and contractors.

Education

Germany & Pakistan

M.Sc. Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering

Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) · 2019 – 2024

Thesis: Multivariate calibration of a mid-infrared spectrometer for online analysis of a multistep reaction in a closed-loop system (grade 1.7)

B.Sc. Chemical Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore · 2009 – 2013

Thesis: Production of maleic anhydride from n-butane (ALMA process design), grade 1.7 (German equivalent)

Certifications

Continuous learning

Project Management Foundations – PMI 2026
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt 2025
Data Science with Python – TechLabs 2022
Process Safety Workshop – Dow / Olin 2022
Internal Auditor, ISO 9001:2015 2017

Languages

English – fluentGerman – B1 (working towards B2)Urdu – native

Turning lab concepts into safe, efficient production.