Systerm Engineer

RAPHAEL NOEL-BERJE

CHEMICAL & PETROLEUM ENGINEER · RESERVOIR SIMULATION · EOR & SUBSURFACE

Open to relocation ************@*****.*** 760-***-**** linkedin.com/in/raphael-noel-berje Chemical and petroleum engineer specializing in CO -based enhanced oil recovery, reservoir simulation, and the engineering of waste-derived materials (fly ash) into functional subsurface technologies. Combines hands-on laboratory and high-pressure fluid-system experience with numerical reservoir modeling and validation across different systems. SPE Rocky Mountain Regional Winner and NSF I-Corps alum, with peer-reviewed work on Mg-doped fly ash nanoparticle foam for unconventional reservoirs.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder & Principal Investigator, Smart Proppant™ MAY 2026 – PRESENT Independent R&D · Univ. of North Dakota, Dept. of Energy & Petroleum Engineering · Grand Forks, ND

Developed and numerically validated a magnesium-doped fly ash nanoparticle (Mg-FANP) enhanced supercritical CO foam system for Huff-n-Puff EOR; work accepted for oral presentation at URTeC 2026 (peer-reviewed, Paper 4485708).

Built a Middle Bakken sector model with explicit fracture geometry and physics in CMG STARS; quantified a fracture-foam synergy in which foam reverses gas channeling and sustains productive drawdown across HnP cycles.

Designed the material synthesis route and characterization plan (XRD, SEM/TEM) and authored the staged validation roadmap from simulation toward core-flood and field pilot.

Completed NSF I-Corps customer discovery; benchmarked the technology against mechanical- proppant and surfactant approaches and communicated findings to technical and non-technical audiences.

Research Infrastructure Engineer (Facilities & Maintenance) JAN 2024 – SEP 2024 Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) · Grand Forks, ND

Supported CO -sequestration and EOR test rigs and high-pressure fluid systems across 6+ research laboratories, sustaining ~99.5% operational uptime on active experiments.

Maintained, overhauled, and installed 28+ critical systems (pumps, motors, bearings, compressors, HVAC); diagnosed mechanical and fluid-system faults to minimize experimental downtime.

Worked under OSHA, lockout/tagout, and formal risk-assessment protocols, contributing to a zero-safety-incident record.

Chemical Engineer, Quality & Regulatory Compliance JAN 2022 – OCT 2022 Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) · F.C.T, Nigeria

Inspected and verified compliance for 200+ regulated products (chemicals, paints, absorbents, plastics) against Nigerian Industrial Standards aligned with ISO.

Conducted surveillance of registered products and services and improved documentation/filing workflows, reducing audit-preparation time ~30%.

Project Coordinator / Volunteer DEC 2019 – JAN 2024 Ayewosai Global Foundation · Minna, Nigeria

Led capacity-building for research and development programs; organized logistics, outreach events, and fundraising while managing office operations. Industrial Trainee (Engineering Internships) 2018 – 2020 Niger State Water & Sewage Treatment; Dana Pharmaceuticals Ltd; NNPC Depot · Minna, Nigeria

Water/Sewage (2020): ArcGIS mapping of wells and pipelines; water treatment via distillation and reverse osmosis; geo-mapping of distribution appurtenances.

Dana Pharmaceuticals (2019): QC and distribution; demineralization and purification of process water; HACCP assurance.

NNPC Depot (2018): AGO/DPK/PMS decantation and ullage metering; flash-point testing; DPR record maintenance.

EDUCATION

M.Eng., Petroleum Engineering (GPA 3.71) DEC 2025

University of North Dakota · Grand Forks, ND

Reservoir Simulation & Modeling (CMG), Enhanced Oil Recovery, Advanced Process Simulation

(Aspen Plus/HYSYS), Fluid Mechanics & Multiphase Flow. B.Eng., Chemical Engineering (Second Class Upper, GPA 3.5) NOV 2021 Afe Babalola University · Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Notable projects: Converted biomass (sugarcane bagasse) to ethanol; synthesis of Fe O iron- catalyst nanoparticles through nano-inclusion simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process for improved ethanol yield.

HONORS, AWARDS & AFFILIATIONS

SPE Rocky Mountain North America Regional Winner (MSc Division), 2025: peer-reviewed technical research recognition (SPE-228838-STU).

NSF I-Corps Regional Certificate (Great Plains, Discovery Cohort 60), 2025: federal commercialization program.

Member: AEE, NSChE, NSE. Officer (Secretary), AAPG (2025) · Officer (Webmaster), SPE UND Chapter (2024–2025)

CERTIFICATIONS & TECHNICAL SKILLS

Certifications: Gener8tor Skills (Generative AI for Leaders) — Gener8tor & Microsoft · HSE Levels 1–3 (Health & Safety, Manual Handling & Fire Safety, Risk Assessment) · IBM SkillsBuild: AI Fundamentals, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing & visual coding. Reservoir & Process: CMG STARS · Aspen Plus / HYSYS · ChemCAD · EOR & CO foam flooding · multiphase flow · nanoparticle synthesis & characterization · high-pressure fluid systems. Data & Tools: Python (NumPy, Pandas) · MATLAB · SQL · ArcGIS · advanced Excel · data visualization

· AI/prompt engineering.

Quality & Standards: ISO 9001 · HACCP · ASTM methods · HSE risk assessment · regulatory inspection protocols.

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