Home \ Faculty Details \ Sani I. Abba
Faculty Img

  • Phone:

    9213

  • Email:

    sabba@pmu.edu.sa

  • Office No:

    F048

  • Sani I. Abba

  • Job Title :

    Assistant Research Professor

  • College :

    College of Engineering


  • Department :

    Civil Engineering


Dr. Sani I. Abba is an Assistant Researcher Professor  in the Department of Civil Engineering at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU), KSA. He holds a B.Sc. degree from Bayero University Kano (BUK), an M. Tech degree from Sharda University, India, and a Ph.D. from Near East University (NEU), Cyprus. Dr Abba has over a decade of experience working with Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Baze University, Nigeria, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. He has extensive experience in teaching, research, and curriculum development at graduate and undergraduate levels. His research interests span artificial intelligence, water footprint, water security, groundwater, membrane desalination, wastewater, water quality, water resources, public health, pollution control, climate change, sustainable development, hydro-climatology, hydro-environmental modelling, computational engineering, soft computing, and optimization algorithms. In addition, Dr. Abba is proficient in software, coding, remote sensing, and GIS. He is recognized among the world’s top 2% scientists (2022-present) by Elsevier and Stanford University, USA, and has published over 200 research articles and book chapters. He is a reviewer for over 50 ISI/SCI journals across various publishers and an editor for several journals. Dr. Abba has contributed as a co-investigator to numerous internal and external research projects and grants, focusing on desalination, groundwater contamination, seawater intrusion, innovative membrane technologies, and advanced AI-driven environmental monitoring, funded by KFUPM and other national and international bodies. Dr Abba hopes to advance sustainable water management and environmental technologies in alignment with KSA’s Vision 2030, focusing on innovative research to address critical challenges like water security and sustainable development. Furthermore, he is committed to enhancing curriculum development and academic excellence to equip students with the skills needed.

 

PhD. in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Near East University, Cyprus, 2016 – 2019.

M.Sc.  in Water and Environmental Engineering, Sharda University, India, 2014 – 2016.

B.Sc. in Civil Engineerinng,  Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, 2005 – 2011.

 

 

Selected Publications:

  • Abba, S. I., Usman, J., Bafaqeer, A., Salami, B. A., Lawal, Z. K., Lawal, A., ... & Aljundi, I. H. (2025). Optimizing sustainable desalination plants with advanced ML-based uncertainty analysis. Applied Soft Computing, 169, 112624.
  • Abba, S. I., Benaafi, M., Usman, A. G., Ozsahin, D. U., Tawabini, B., & Aljundi, I. H. (2025). Groundwater modelling and GIS-based vulnerability mapping coupled with evolutionary metaheuristic optimization in the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. Earth Science Informatics, 18(1), 45.
  • Abba, S. I., Mohamed A. Yassin, Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah, Johnbosco C. Egbueri, Hussam Eldin Elzain, Johnson C. Agbasi, Gaurav Saini, Jamilu Usaman, Nadeem A. Khan, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Trace element pollution tracking in the complex multi-aquifer groundwater system of Al-Hassa oasis (Saudi Arabia) using spatial, chemometric and index-based techniques." Environmental Research (2024): 118320.
  • Abba, S. I., Pham, Q. B., Malik, A., Costache, R., Gaya, M. S., Abdullahi, J., ... & Saini, G. (2024). Optimization of Extreme Learning Machine with Metaheuristic Algorithms for Modelling Water Quality Parameters of Tamburawa Water Treatment Plant in Nigeria. Water Resources Management, 1-25.
  • Abba, S. I., Mohamed A. Yassin, Mahmud M. Jibril, Bassam Tawabini, Pantelis Soupios, Abid Khogali, Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah, Jamilu Usman, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Nitrate concentrations tracking from multi-aquifer groundwater vulnerability zones: Insight from machine learning and spatial mapping." Process Safety and Environmental Protection (2024).
  • Abba, Sani I., Ahmed M. Al-Areeq, Mustafa Ghaleb, Atef Q. Kawara, and Seyed Vahid Razavi-Termeh. "Flood subsidence susceptibility mapping using persistent scatterer SAR interferometry technique coupled with novel metaheuristic approaches from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia." Neural Computing and Applications (2024): 1-20.
  • Abba, Sani I., Jamilu Usman, Ismail Abdulazeez, Lukka Thuyavan Yogarathinam, A. G. Usman, Dahiru Lawal, Billel Salhi, Nadeem Baig, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Enhancing Li+ recovery in brine mining: integrating next-gen emotional AI and explainable ML to predict adsorption energy in crown ether-based hierarchical nanomaterials." RSC advances 14, no. 21 (2024): 15129-15142.
  • Abba, S. I., Johnbosco C. Egbueri, Mohammed Benaafi, Jamilu Usman, A. G. Usman, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Fluoride and nitrate enrichment in coastal aquifers of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia: The influencing factors, toxicity, and human health risks." Chemosphere (2023): 139083.
  • Abba, S. I*., Benaafi, M., & Aljundi, I. H. (2023). Intelligent process optimisation based on cutting-edge emotional learning for performance evaluation of NF/RO of seawater desalination plant. Desalination, 550, 116376. Abba, S. I., Benaafi, M., Usman, A. G., Ozsahin, D. U., Tawabini, B., & Aljundi, I. H. (2023). Mapping of groundwater salinization and modelling using meta-heuristic algorithms for the coastal aquifer of eastern Saudi Arabia. Science of The Total Environment, 858, 159697.
  • Abba, S. I., Mohammed Benaafi, A. G. Usman, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Sandstone groundwater salinization modelling using physicochemical variables in Southern Saudi Arabia: Application of novel data intelligent algorithms." Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2022): 101894.
  • Abba, S. I., Huseyin Cagan KILINC, Mou Leong Tan, Vahdettin Demir, Iman Ahmadianfar, Bijay Halder, Salim Heddam, Ali H. Jawad, Ahmed M. Al-Areeq, and Zaher Mundher Yaseen. "Bio-communal wastewater treatment plant real-time modeling using an intelligent meta-heuristic approach: A sustainable and green ecosystem." Journal of Water Process Engineering 53 (2023): 103731.
  • Abba, Sani I*., Jamilu Usman, Ismail Abdulazeez, Dahiru U. Lawal, Nadeem Baig, A. G. Usman, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Integrated Modeling of Hybrid Nanofiltration/Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant Using Deep Learning-Based Crow Search Optimization Algorithm." Water 15, no. 19 (2023): 3515.
  • Abba, Sani I*., Mohamed A. Yassin, Auwalu Saleh Mubarak, Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah, Jamilu Usman, Atheer Y. Oudah, Sujay Raghavendra Naganna, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Drinking Water Resources Suitability Assessment Based on Pollution Index of Groundwater Using Improved Explainable Artificial Intelligence." Sustainability 15, no. 21 (2023): 15655.
  • Abba, Sani I*., Mohamed A. Yassin, Auwalu Saleh Mubarak, Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah, Jamilu Usman, Atheer Y. Oudah, Sujay Raghavendra Naganna, and Isam H. Aljundi. "Drinking Water Resources Suitability Assessment Based on Pollution Index of Groundwater Using Improved Explainable Artificial Intelligence." Sustainability 15, no. 21 (2023): 15655.
  • Abba, S. I., Abdulkadir, R. A., Gaya, M. S., Sammen, S. S., Ghali, U., Nawaila, M. B., ... & Al-Ansari, N. (2021). Effluents quality prediction by using nonlinear dynamic block-oriented models: A system identification approach. Desalination and Water Treatment, 218, 52-62.
  • Abba, S. I., Elkiran, G., & Nourani, V. (2021). Improving novel extreme learning machine using PCA algorithms for multi-parametric modeling of the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Desalin. Water Treat, 215, 414-426.
  • Abba, S. I., Hadi, S. J., Sammen, S. S., Salih, S. Q., Abdulkadir, R. A., Pham, Q. B., & Yaseen, Z. M. (2020). Evolutionary computational intelligence algorithm coupled with self-tuning predictive model for water quality index determination. Journal of Hydrology, 587, 124974.
  • Abba, S. I., Linh, N. T. T., Abdullahi, J., Ali, S. I. A., Pham, Q. B., Abdulkadir, R. A., ... & Anh, D. T. (2020). Hybrid machine learning ensemble techniques for modeling dissolved oxygen concentration. IEEE Access, 8, 157218-157237.
  • Abba, S. I., Nourani, V., and Elkiran, G. ‘’Multi-parametric modeling of water treatment plant using AI-based non-linear ensemble’’. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology— AQUA, 68(7), 547-561
  • Abba, S. I., Usman, A. G., & Selin, I. (2020). Simulation for response surface in the HPLC optimization method development using artificial intelligence models: A data-driven approach. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, 201, 104007.
  • Abba, S. I., Pham, Q. B., Saini, G., Linh, N. T. T., Ahmed, A. N., Mohajane, M., & Bach, Q. V. ''Implementation of data intelligence models coupled with ensemble machine learning for prediction of water quality index''. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 1-16.
  • Abba, S. I., Pham, Q. B., Usman, A. G., Linh, N. T. T., Aliyu, D. S., Nguye n, Q., and Bach, Q. V. ‘’Emerging evolutionary algorithm integrated with kernel principal component analysis for modeling the performance of a water treatment plant’’. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 33, 101081

 

 

Department of Civil Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, 31952, Saudi Arabia

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=4h2JX7YAAAAJ&view_op=list_works

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sani-Abba-2

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com=57208942739

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9356-2798

 

Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia: (Asst. Professor in Civil Engineering Department), 2024-Date 

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia: Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membrane and Water Security (Post-doctoral Fellow (Asst. Professor Rank)) (2021-2024)

Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria: (Lecturer I, Teaching and Research), Teaching undergraduate and post-graduate 2020-2024

Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano: Researcher and Senior Civil Engineer, Kano 2013-2020.

GEEN 2311: Engineering Mechanics Statiscs 

CVE504: Environmental Engineering

CVE 307: Engineering Hydrology

CVE 302: Hydraulics

CVE 508: Civil Eng. Design Studies III

CVE305: Civil Engineering Materials

GEC403: Technical Communication

Water Resources and Environmnetal Engineering, Water and Wastewater Treatment Modelling,  Artificial Intelligence, Optimization Algorithms, Water-Energy Nexus and Sustainable Development, Water and Environmental Modelling and Applications, Membrane, Desalination, and Environmental Modelling, Water Process and Optimization, Water Quality and Hydrology, Ground Water Modelling and Simulation, Environmental Sustainability and Pollution Control, Water Quality Assessment and Contaminant, Environmental Safety and Green Ecosystem and EIA, Ecological Modelling and Sustainability. 

I am a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (I.D. 10829091), the International Association of Engineers (IAENG) (I.D. 173639), the Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors (IRED) (I.D. AM101000057583), and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) (I.D. 34759).