Faisal Khan
Texas A&M University
Presenting in Track 16: Safety Engineering, Risk and Reliability Analysis
Presentation Title: Is Risk Analysis a Science, an Art, or Both?: A Perspective
Abstract: Process safety has advanced significantly; however, contemporary risk analysis (RA) remains fragmented, relying on tools that treat temporal, spatial, and event-driven risks as disconnected attributes. This paper introduces a transformative physics-inspired framework that unifies these dimensions by treating risk as a system-level state variable, governed by a balance law. Drawing a direct mathematical analogy to the Reynolds Transport Theorem, we present a novel advection-diffusion-source-sink model where risk density evolves according to a "risk velocity field" and a "risk potential" that aggregates hazard intensity, exposure, and vulnerability. This foundational framework provides a rigorous scientific bridge between qualitative expert judgment and quantitative physical laws, enabling a shift from static, scenario-based assessments to continuous, adaptive risk management in complex industrial environments.
Biography: Dr. Faisal Khan is Mike O'Connor Chair II professor and interim department head of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. He is the Director of Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center and Director of Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI).
Before moving to Texas, Dr. Khan served as Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Canada Research Chair (Tier I) of Offshore Safety and Risk Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He founded the Centre for Risk Integrity and Safety and Engineering (C-RISE), which has over 100 research members. He established the Department of Process Engineering at Memorial University and served as founding Chair/Head from 2011 to 2019. He led the department in two successful Canadian Engineering Accreditation cycles.
Dr. Khan's research interests include Energy Safety, offshore safety, extreme event modeling, and risk engineering. He has received many national and international awards. He continues to serve as a subject-matter expert for many multinational oil and gas companies and processing companies on issues of safety, risk, and asset integrity. He also served as Safety and Risk Advisor to the Government of Newfoundland, Canada; the Ministry of Environment, Government of Qatar; and the Ministry of Environment, Government of Peru. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers. He has authored over 700 research articles in peer-reviewed journals (H-index 105) and mentored 29 postdoctoral fellows, 101 PhDs, and 95 master students. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Process Safety & Environmental Protection and Safety in Harsh Environments.