About Us

SUETRI-A is an industrial affiliates program (which may be referred to as university-industry consortium at other universities) focused on education and cross-cutting research to enable the energy transition. The SUETRI-A mission is twofold. First, the next generation of energy science engineers are educated and trained. They are a primary mode of knowledge transfer. Second, we conduct a spectrum of research relevant to the transition to lower-carbon energy technologies with a particular focus on subsurface engineering. We believe that the subsurface will play a significant role in the energy transition by providing pore space for storage of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and/or compressed air. Likewise, subsurface energy resources such as natural gas will continue to be critical to the energy system and the impact of such resources will decrease over time with improved production practices, minimization of leaks, and capture & storage of resulting carbon dioxide. Our spectrum of research includes the reservoir engineering of storage formations (CO2 & H2), chemical and mechanical durability of formation seals, mechanical response of geological formations undergoing injection, and utilization of carbon dioxide in the upstream value chain. A suite of imaging, simulation, and machine learning approaches are employed throughout our work. Our research has impact across near-, mid-, and long-term time frames.

Principal Investigators and Key Technical Staff

Tony Kovscek is a Professor of Energy Science and Engineering, senior fellow with the Precourt Institute for Energy, and has directed SUETRI-A since 1996.

Tapan Mukerji is a Professor of Energy Science and Engineering, Tapan Mukerji co-directs the Stanford Center for Earth Resources Forecasting (SCERF) research groups.

Our lab is supported by several research staff members:

• Bolivia Vega is a Research Associate. She holds an MS in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford and BS in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar.
• Cindy Ross is a Research Associate. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geology from the University of South Carolina.
• Tae Wook (Elliot) Kim is a Research Associate. He holds B.S and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Inha University and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Click here to see the students and staff also affiliated with SUETRI-A.

Research

Subsurface engineering motivates the SUETRI-A core areas of expertise including laboratory-scale in-situ visualization of complex transport processes and deformation of porous media; convective heat transfer; the interplay of chemistry, phase behavior, reaction, mechanics, and transport processes across length scales. We have adopted a pore to core to field to basin approach.

Current research area within SUETRI-A include:

• Microfluidics
• Reactive Multiphase Transport
• Seal Effectiveness and Durability
• Geomechanics
• Storage Formation Engineering

Expertise

Our lab has expertise in the following topics and laboratory techniques:

• Screening, ranking, and planning of subsurface storage projects
• Formation evaluation for geological storage projects
• Visualization of convective and diffusive transport mechanisms in porous media using X-ray computed tomography and microfluidic devices
• Characterization of transport properties of shale, mudstones, marls, and other unconventional rocks under representative stress
• Reactive coreflood experiments visualized with X-ray computed tomography to understand dissolution and precipitation reactions that evolve seal material exposed to nonequilibrated fluids
• Construction and use of microfluidic devices (micromodels) for direct visualization of flow and mobility control of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in porous media
• Multiscale imaging of porous media using x-ray tomography and electron microscopy features and estimation of permeability directly from resulting images
• Measurement of mechanical properties of unconventional rocks under true triaxial conditions with visualization of in situ strain
• Formation-scale distribution of heterogeneous in situ stress

Industrial Affiliate Membership

Membership in SUETRI-A Subsurface Engineering for Sustainable Energy is open to everyone. Current industry partners within SUETRI-A include both domestic and international oil companies and we are open to all companies in the greater energy industry. The membership fee is $48,000 per year, renewed annually, although we are interested in multiple-year, long-term interactions. The membership fee is used primarily to support graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and computer facilities. These companies take an active part in the yearly advisory committee meeting, last held in February 2026.

Affiliates may send 1-2 representatives to Stanford University as visiting scholars or visiting student researchers (see below for link to policy) to carry out collaborative research. Appointments do not exceed 1 year.

Current members:

For information on joining the consortium, please contact Prof. Kovscek. Please read the Stanford University Policies Affecting Industrial Affiliates Program Memberships here.

Release of Computer Code

The SUETRI-A Program researchers will use and develop open-source software, and it is the intention of all SUETRI-A Program researchers that any software released will be released under an open-source model, such as BSD. The Program is open to all Stanford faculty who share this goal.

Affiliate Benefits

The benefits of formal affiliation with the SUETRI-A program are:

• Invitations to meetings/workshops/symposia.
• Opportunities to engage with Program faculty and students.
• Opportunities to recruit students.
• Invitations to send Visiting Scholar(s) to the Program research policy.

Please visit Stanford University’s Industrial Affiliates Program website for more information on approved Industrial Affiliate Program Benefits.