Zainab Iyiola is a dual MSc student in petroleum engineering and data science at the University of Oklahoma (OU), in the US. She is currently part of a US Department of Transportation–funded project focused on developing a compatibility assessment model for the pipeline transportation of blended hydrogen with natural gas. Her research spans machine-learning applications in hydrogen infrastructure, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and enhanced oil recovery. 

Ms Iyiola earned her BSc of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Ghana, where she graduated top of her class. She was the first student from OU’s Mewbourne College to win the Three Minute Thesis competition and will present her work at the 2025 Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Conference and the International Conference on Chemical Engineering and Sustainability.  

Ms Iyiola has received numerous awards, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers Egbert Imomoh Scholarship, African Energy Chambers Energy Scholar Award, and the DeGolyer and MacNaughton Graduate Fellowship. She currently serves on the SPEI Student Development Committee and was selected among the top 100 petroleum engineering students worldwide for the 2022 IPTC Education Week.

Zainab Iyiola