About the founder

About the Founder

Maher Elmasri (alternative spelling: Maher El-Masri, Maher El-Masry, Maher Elmasry) is the founder and president of Thermoflow, Inc.

Maher was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1952. His father, Dr. Aziz Elmasri (1908-1991) was a prominent surgeon in Alexandria, Egypt, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the UK, as well as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Scotland. His mother, Dora Habib Elmasri (1922-2014) and her elder sisters were active in the women's emancipation movement in Egypt in the 1930s through the 1950s. Her eldest sister, Iris Habib Elmasri (1910-1994) was a historian of the Coptic Orthodox Church and a member of Egypt’s Senate from 1980-1983. Dora’s father, Habib (Pasha) Elmasri (1885-1953) was a successful lawyer, active in Egypt’s independence movement and was a member of the committee that wrote Egypt’s first constitution in 1922, as well as secretary of Egypt’s first Senate in 1923. He was also very active in the affairs of the Coptic Orthodox Church

Maher attended Victoria College for his “K-12” education, from 1956 to 1968 when he graduated first in his class.

From 1968 to 1973, Maher studied Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Alexandria University, graduating top of his class in 1973; then served as an Assistant Lecturer from 1973 to 1975, while working on his M.Sc. thesis which he earned in 1975.

During his undergraduate years, Maher did several apprenticeships in the UK, at Bata (summer 1969), Rolls-Royce (summer 1970), and Plessey (summer 1971).

Maher received a research assistantship from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, where he studied and earned his Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1979.

After finishing his Ph.D. thesis in September, 1978, Dr. Elmasri served on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT as Lecturer (1978-1979), Assistant Professor (1979-1983) and Associate Professor (1983-1987). At MIT, he taught the undergraduate courses 2.20 Fluid Mechanics, 2.21 Fluid Mechanics of Power & Propulsion (a new course he developed), 2.40 Thermodynamics, 2.41 Thermodynamics of Power Systems, 2.51 Heat Transfer, 2.671 Measurement & Instrumentation, and 2.672 Project Laboratory. He also taught the graduate courses 2.25 Advanced Fluid Mechanics, 2.451 General Thermodynamics I and 2.55 Advanced Heat Transfer. He supervised three doctoral theses: Dr. Shahryar Motakef; Dr. Issam Mudawwar; and Dr. Lawrence Sobel. He also was thesis advisor for two doctoral theses at NTH, the Norwegian Institute of Technology: Dr. Olav Bolland and Dr. Bjorn Hande. In addition to the doctoral theses, at MIT, Dr. Elmasri supervised three Engineer’s theses, thirteen Master’s theses, and eight Bachelor’s theses. While at MIT, Dr. Elmasri also consulted for Westinghouse research labs on erosion modelling for gas turbines and fans, for Kirby on designing vacuum cleaner fans, and for several early developers of small hydro and cogeneration power plants. It is in this latter capacity that he began developing his own modelling tools for gas turbine power and cogeneration.

After leaving MIT in 1987, Dr. Elmasri worked for his own company, Thermoflow, Inc. He was Thermoflow's sole technical employee from 1987 to 1990, while his wife, Inas, held up the fort on the business and commercial end. He wrote Thermoflow's original software products, GT PRO and GT MASTER, for the design and simulation of gas turbine power and cogeneration plants and they became an instant success. Over 200 copies were licensed in their early years, 1988-1990. Some of the world’s most prominent OEMs, engineering, and energy companies were amongst the first users: Bechtel, BP, British Gas, ESB, Foster-Wheeler, NEI, Trans-Canada Pipelines, and United Technologies in 1988; Akzo, Balfour-Beatty, CEGB, National Power, Ontario Hydro and Exxon in 1989; and ABB, Air Liquide, EdF, GE, Hyundai, Siemens and Williams in 1990.

In 1990, Dr. Elmasri began teaching a three-day course "Design of Gas Turbine Combined Cycle and Cogeneration Systems" emphasizing fundamental understanding of power plant thermodynamics and its practical application. Between 1990 and 2009, he taught it seventy times, in fourteen different countries. About three thousand engineers from around the world, many from the world's largest energy and power generation companies attended this course. Dr. Elmasri’s extensive seminar notes contain significant original contributions and are widely used as a reference by engineers who attended this course.

In 1991, Dr. Elmasri began to recruit, personally train, and supervise a carefully selected team of technical staff to expand Thermoflow's software line. In 1992, Thermoflow released STEAM PRO and STEAM MASTER for design and simulation of conventional steam power plants; followed in 1996 by the general-purpose, flexible program THERMOFLEX; and in 1998 by PEACE (Plant Engineering and Construction Estimator). This allowed the Thermoflow software suite to automate the entire process of preliminary engineering, cost estimation, and design optimization.

After Dr. Elmasri passed on the code development to Thermoflow’s talented team of Scientists and Engineers, he continued close involvement with the development of engineering models for newer features and technologies, such as IGCC, carbon capture, and hydrogen; as well as overall conceptualization of new products. In 2018, Thermoflow released NOVO PRO to allow user-friendly modelling and optimization of Renewable Energy and its complex integration with storage and backup systems.

By 2025, the Thermoflow suite had attained Version 33, with a vast array of features covering all aspects of modern power generation. Over 12,000 copies of Thermoflow's programs had been licensed to over 1,500 sites worldwide (in over 80 countries), including hundreds of the world's largest companies involved in energy and power generation.

Publications

Dr. Elmasri has authored the following publications:

"Design of Gas Turbine Combined Cycles and Cogeneration Systems", 2009.

Ph.D. Thesis "Fluid mechanics and heat transfer in the blade channels of a water-cooled gas turbine"; 1979

(1) El-Masri, M.A. and J.F. Louis, “On the Design of High-Temperature Gas Turbine Blade Water-Cooling Channels,” Trans. ASME, J. of Eng. For Power, 100, 586-91, Oct. 1978.

(2) El-Masri, M.A. and J.F. Louis, “Design Considerations for the Closed-Loop Water-Cooled Turbine,” ASME 79-GT-71.

(3) Motakef, S, M.A. El-Masri, and J.F. Louis, “Critical Heat Flux in the Channels of a Closed-Loop Water-Cooled Turbine,” ASME 81-HT-74.

(4) El-masri, M.A., Y. Kobayashi, and J.F. Louis, “A General Performance Model for the Open-Loop Water-Cooled Gas Turbine,” ASME 82-GT-212.

(5) El-Masri, M.A., “Two-Phase Transpiration Cooling,” Trans. ASME. J. of Eng. For Power, 105, 106-113, January 1983.

(6) El-Masri, M.A., “A Proposed Regenerative Thermosyphon Blade-Cooling system for High-Efficiency Gas Turbines,” Heat and Mass Transfer in Rotating Machinery, D. Metzger and N. Afgan, Editors, Hemisphere Publ. Co., New York, 645-658, 1984.

(7) El-Masri, M.A. and R.J. Bara, “Natural Circulation in a Long Vertical Loop,” J. of Thermal Eng., 3, 2, 31-44, 1983.

(8) Ghaddar, N.K. and M.A. El-Masri, “One-Dimensional Thermocapillary Motion,” J. of Colloid and Interface Sci., 96, 2 pp. 460-468, December 1983.

(9) Motakef, S. and M.A. El-Masri, “Liquid Diffusion in Fibrous Insulation,” ASME 83-WA/HT-60 & Trans. ASME, J. of Heat Transfer, 107, 2, 299-306, May 1985.

(10) Louis, J.F., K. Hiraoka, and M.A. El-Masri, “A Comparative Study of the Influence of Different Means of Turbine Cooling on Gas Turbine Performance,” ASME 83-GT-180 and Int. J. of Turbo & Jet Engines, 1, 2, 123-137, 1984.

(11) El-Masri, M.A. and J.H. Magnusson, “Thermodynamics of an Isothermal Gas Turbine combined Cycle,” ASME 84-GT-274 and Trans. ASME, J. of Eng. for Gas Turbines and Power, 106, 4, 743-749, 1984.

(12) Baines, R.P., M.A. El-Masri, and W.M. Rohsenow, “Critical Heat Flux in Flowing Liquid Films,” Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, 27, 9, 1623-1629, 1984.

(13) Flint, B.B. and M.A. El-Masri, “Factors Affecting the Economics of Small, Free-Standing Cogeneration Systems,” ASME 84-GT-171, Int. J. of Turbo & Jet Engines, 1, 4, 355-362, 1984.

(14) Mudawar, I. and M.A. el-Masri, “Thermal Design constraints in Open-Loop Water-Cooled Turbine Blades,” ASME 84-WA/Ht-68.

(15) Sobel, L. M.A. El-Masri, and J.L. Smith Jr., “Heat Transfer and Flow Visualization of Natural Convection in Rapidly Spinning Systems,” 5th Intersociety Cryogenics Engineering Conference, New Orleans, Dec. 1984, Trans. ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, 108, 3, 547-553, 1986.

(16) El-Masri, M.A. “On Thermodynamics of Gas Turbine Cycles – Part I: Second Law Analysis of Combined Cycles,” ASME 85-GT-129 and Transactions of ASME, J. of Eng. for Gas Turbines and Power, 107, 4, 880-889, October 1985.

(17) El-Masri, M.A. “On Thermodynamics of Gas Turbine Cycles – Part II: A Model for Expansion in Cooled Turbines,” ASME 85-GT-130 and Transactions of ASME, J. of Eng. for Gas Turbines and Power, 108, 1, 151-159, January 1986.

(18) El-Masri, M.A. “On Thermodynamics of Gas Turbine Cycles – Part III: Thermodynamic Potential and Limitations of Cooled Reheat Gas Turbine Combined Cycles,” ASME 85-GT-131 and Transactions of ASME, J. of Eng. for Gas Turbines and Power, 108, 1, 160-170, January 1986.

(19) Mudawar, I.A., M.A. El-Masri, C.S. Wu, and J.R. Ausmen-Mudawar “Boiling Heat Transfer and Critical Heat Flux in High-Speed Rotating Liquid Films,” Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, 28, 4, 795-806, April 1985.

(20) Kirkpatrick, A.T., M.A. El-Masri, and J.F. Louis, “wave Motion in Liquid Films on Rotating Channels,” Trans. ASME, J. of Applied Mechanics, 52, 2, 488-490, June 1985.

(21) Mudawar, I.A. and M.A. El-Masri, “Experimental Investigation of Boiling Water Films in Radial Rotating Channels,” Symposium on Transport Phenomena in rotating Machinery, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1985; W.J. Yang Editor, Hemisphere Publishing Co.

(22) Kirkpatrick, A.T., M.A. El-Masri, and J.F. Louis, “An Experimental Study of Waves on Rotating Liquid Films,” Symposium on transport Phenomena in rotating Machinery, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1985; W.J. Yang Editor, Hemisphere Publishing Co.

(23) Mudawar, I.A. and M.A. El-Masri, “Momentum and Heat Transfer Across Freely Falling and Rotating Turbulent Liquid Films,” Int. J. of Multiphase Flow, 12, 5, pp. 771-790, 1986.

(24) Motakef, S. and M.A. El-Masri, “Simultaneious Heat and mass Transfer with Phase Change in a Porous Slab,” Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, 29, 10, 1503-1512, 1986.

(25) El-Masri, M.A., “Exergy Analysis of Combined cycles – Part 1: Air-Cooled Brayton-Cycle Gas Turbines,” ASME 86-JPGC/GT-9, Trans. ASME, J. of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 109, 2, 228-236, April 1987.

(26) Chin, W. and M.A. El-Masri, “Exergy analysis of Combined Cycles – Part 2: Analysis and Optimization of Two-Pressure Steam Bottoming Cycles,” ASME 86-JPGC/GT-10, Trans. ASME, J. of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 109, 2, 237-243, April 1987.

(27) El-Masri, M.A. and F. Pourkey, “Prediction of Cooling Flow Requirements for Advanced Utility Gas Turbines – Part 1: Analysis and Scaling of the Effectiveness Curve,” ASME 86-WA/HT-43, 1096 Winter Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA.

(28) El-Masri, M.A., “Prediction of Cooling Flow Requirements for Advanced Utility Gas Turbines – Part 2: Influence of Ceramic Thermal barrier coatings,” ASME 86-WA/HT-44, 19886 Winter Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA.

(29) El-Masri, M. A., “GASCAN – An Interactive Code for Thermal Analysis of Gas Turbine Systems,” 1986 ASME WAM, Anaheim, CA, Trans. ASME, J. of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 110, 2, 201-209, April 1988.

(30) El-Masri, M.A., “Exergy Analysis and Optimization of Recuperated Gas Turbine Cycles,” Symposium on comuter Aided engineering of Energy Systems, 1986 ASME WAM, Anaheim, CA.

(31) El-Masri, M.A., “Exergy Balance Analysis of the Reheat Gas Turbine Combined Cycle,” Proc. Of the 2nd ASME/JSME Joint Thermal Engineering Conference, Honolulu, March 1987, V.2, pp. 117-125.

(32) Anderson, M.R. and M.A. El-Masri, “Trajectories of Dense Jets in Rotating Fluids with Reference to Rotational Effects on Film Cooling,” Proc. Of the 2nd ASME/JSME Joint Thermal engineering conference, Honolulu, March 1987, V.3, pp. 375-383.

(33) El-Masri, M.A., “A Modified, High efficiency, Recuperated Gas Turbine Cycle,” ASME 87-GT-13, Anaheim, CA, May/June 1987 and to appear in Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power 110, 2, 233-242, April 1988.

(34) El-Masri, M.A. “Thermodynamics and Performance Projections for Intercooled/Reheat/recuperated Gas Turbine Systems,” ASME 87-GT-108, Anaheim, CA, May/June 1987.

(35) El-Masri, M.A., “A Flexible, Efficient Gas Turbine Cogeneration Cycle with a Novel Dual-Mode Heat Recovery System,” Proc. 2nd ASME Cogen-Turbo, Montreaux, Switzerland, September 1988, pp. 229-237. (Accepted for publication in the Journal of Engineering for Gas Trubines and Power but not actually published in the Journal due to non-payment of publication fees to the ASME during career move from academia to Thermoflow.)

(36) Elmasri, M.A., “GT PRO: A Flexible, Interactive Computer Program for the Design and Optimization of Gas Turbine Power Systems,” ASME 88-JPGC/GT-3, Philadelphia, PA, October 1988.

(37) Lee, N.K.W., M.A. Elmasri, and G. Brownell, “A Simulation Model for Carson Ice Cogeneration Facility.” ASME Joint Power Generation Conference, Vol 4, PWR-Vol. 29, Minneapolis, MN, October 1995.

(38) Griffin, P., M.A. Elmasri, G. Chen, S. Kampilla, and F. asile, “Power Plant Simulation software for Optimizing Thermodynamic and Financial Plant Operation,” ASME 96-GT-277, Birmingham, England, June 1996.

(39) Griffin, P. and M.A. Elmasri, “Economically Optimized Loading of a Combined Heat and Power Facility,” ASME 97-GT-179, Orlando, FL, June 1997.