A group photo of our local and international attendees at HYCOMBS School.
The hydrogen and ammonia combustion programme (HYCOMBS) hosted a 2-day event in April 2026 for over 30 academic researchers and industry engineers. Dubbed as “HYCOMBS School”, the goal was to share knowledge from the programme on hydrogen and ammonia, learn how research can be matched to industry needs, and network with the combustion community in Singapore.
HYCOMBS School featured topics across the suite of combustion research, delivered by the project’s international team of Professors from the University of Cambridge, Tohoku University, NUS, CNRS, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and McGill University.
Experimental methods using lasers, spectroscopy, and sampling by Prof Akihiro Hayakawa
Turbulent combustion by Profs Epaminondas Mastorakos and Christine Rousselle
Thermoacoustics by Prof Nicholas Worth
Numerical methods using stiff solvers and CFD by Prof Huangwei Zhang
Kinetics of hydrogen, ammonia, hydrocarbons, and soot by Profs Hisashi Nakamura and Markus Kraft
Gas turbine combustion by Dr Gilles Bourque
Internal combustion engines by Prof Christine Rousselle
Fundamentals of explosions by Dr Nabiha Chaumeix
From top-left clockwise: Prof Christine Rousselle, Prof Epaminondas Mastorakos, Dr Nabiha Chaumeix, and Prof Akihiro Hayakawa.
To further emphasise the comprehensive experimental and computational techniques used in HYCOMBS, the participants enjoyed a lab tour and hands-on components for Cantera software, gas turbine design, and data processing of laser-based images.
The first edition of HYCOMBS School welcomed a diverse community from A*STAR, the Singapore Section of the Combustion Institute, the Centre for Hydrogen Innovations, our industry collaborators, Siemens Energy and Hanwha Power Systems, and even an independent researcher from overseas.
HYCOMBS Research Fellows explaining the methods and techniques used in the experimental lab. Dr Jintao Chen and Dr Su Tong are pictured in the top-left and right, respectively, with the bottom-left photo showing a methane flame with a hydrogen blend. Dr Francesco D’Alessio and Dr Marc Le Boursicaud are pictured in the bottom-right guiding the participants through a Cantera software demo.
Research makes the biggest impact when there is a mutual exchange of ideas. We are delighted that HYCOMBS School allowed guests to learn about the latest research being done in Singapore while sharing their own viewpoints on how they see the research and industry moving forward for low-carbon fuels.
The positive reception from our first edition in 2026 already sets the stage for future developments to include progress updates as HYCOMBS develops, group discussions, and a larger guest list to reach a wider audience.
This research (“HYCOMBS”) is part of the CREATE Thematic Programme in Decarbonisation and is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.
