About

Ioan Sarbu is professor emeritus and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Civil and Building Services Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Timisoara (UPT), Romania. He earned his civil engineering diploma in 1975 and PhD in 1993. Starting in 1975, he worked as an engineer and designer with Water Resources Management Company in Timisoara. Joining UPT in 1978, he has dedicated nearly 50 years to teaching and research. He was designated a European Engineer by FEANI in 2001 and has supervised up to 20 PhD students, 50 MSc theses, and 200 graduate projects. In 2019 he was awarded by the UPT the honorary title of "Professor emeritus" and became a Laureate of the "Henri Coanda" award of the Romanian Academy for 2017. In 2023, he won the “Best Paper Award” and in 2025 the "Excellence Research Award" from ScienceFather, India. He was the Head of the Building Services Department within the UPT for almost 20 years, until his retirement in 2017. Additionally, between 2001 and 2017, he served as the Head of the 1st-degree National Building Equipment Laboratory in Timisoara. His research spans refrigeration, heat pumps, solar energy, thermal comfort, energy efficiency, water and heat distribution, and numerical simulations and optimisations in building services. He is involved in preparation of regulations and standards related to energy and environment. Additionally, he is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), Romanian Association of Building Services Engineers (RABSE), and Society for Computer Aided Engineering (SCAE). He is an expert reviewer on the National Board of Scientific Research for Higher Education (Bucharest), vice president of the National Board of Certified Energetically Auditors Buildings (Bucharest), a member of the National Council for Validation of University Titles, Diplomas and Certificates, and a member of the Technical Council for Civil Engineering from Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. Additionally, he is a member of the Research Promotion Committee of the ASHRAE Danube Chapter and is included in the IAHR Expert Registry. He serves on the editorial boards of Science Bulletin of UPT, Romanian Journal of Civil Engineering, and Energies, is a guest editor and academic editor at Energies, and collaborates as a reviewer for over 20 high-impact journals such as Journal of Thermal Science and Technology, Energy Conversion and Management, Applied Thermal Engineering, International Journal of Refrigeration, International Journal of Sustainable Energy, Energy and Buildings, Advances in Mechanical Engineering, Energy Efficiency, Applied Energy, Building and Environment, Energy, Entropy, Energies, Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology, etc. He has published 400+ scientific papers, 41 books and 10 book chapters in prestigious publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Nova Science Publishers - see https://www.waterstones.com/author/ioan-sarbu/2737642), more than 160 articles in Clarivate Analytics and other international databases indexed journals and about 60 articles in proceedings of international conferences. He holds 6 patents, 15 innovations, and 30 software programs. His H-index is 19 (Clarivate), 21 (Scopus), 25 (ResearchGate), and 29 (Google Scholar) as of July 2025. With over 17,000 citations (2,800+ in Clarivate), his global recognition includes listings in different Who’s Who (e.g., Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who in America), biographical dictionaries, and numerous distinctions, awards, diplomas and medals: Award, Romanian General Association of Engineers, 1997; Diploma, Outstanding Scientist of the 21st Century, IBC, 2005; World Medal of Freedom, ABI, 2006; Plaque, Gold Medal for Romania, ABI, 2007; Lifetime Achievement Award, ABI, 2008; Ultimate Achiever Award Award Certificate for Engineering, IBC, 2009; Plaque, Hall of Fame for Distinguished Accomplishments in Science and Education, ABI, 2009; The Albert Einstein Award of Excellence, ABI, 2010; Diploma, Top 100 Engineers, IBC, 2012; Certificate for Outstanding Engineering Achievement, IBC, 2013; Medal of Achievement, IBC, 2014, Decoration for Achievement in Engineering, IBC, 2015; "Henri Coanda" Award, Romanian Academy, 2019 for the book "Solar Heating and Cooling Systems" published by Elsevier, Oxford, UK in 2017; "Best Paper Award", ScienceFather, India (2023) at the 7th edition of the International Research Excellence Awards, for the book "Advances in Building Services Engineering: Studies, researches and applications" published by Springer in 2021 and indexed in Scopus; "Research Excellence Award", SciFax, India (2025) at the 28th edition of International Research Data Analysis Excellence Awards for the contribution and achievement in innovative research. He ranks in the top 0.5% of researchers worldwide per the 2025 ScholarGPS rankings.

Career Type:

Scientist/Researcher/Academic

Organization Type:

Universities and Academia

Expertise Fields/Interests:

The main research interests are related to heat pumps, solar energy conversion and storage, and water and heat distribution systems. He is also active in the field of energy efficiency and energy savings, thermal comfort and environmental quality, refrigeration systems, and numerical simulations and optimizations in building services. He is involved in preparation of regulations and standards related to energy and environment. Additionally, he is a noted expert in integrating thermal applications, building urban water and heat distribution systems, computer utility, and integrating wastewater treatment into design.

Major Achievements:

Books/Chapters: 1. Energy Optimization of Water Distribution Systems, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, 1997. 2. Water Distribution Systems: Numerical modelling and optimization, Polytechnic Publishing House, Timisoara, Romania, 2018. 3. Advances in Building Services Engineering: Studies, researches and applications, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 2021. 4. Chap. 2: Optimization models of looped urban water supply networks, In Advances in Engineering Research, vol. 36, Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2020. Articles: 1. Optimal design of water distribution networks, Journal of Hydraulic Research, 1997;35(1):63-79. 2. Numerical simulation and prevention of water freezing in outdoor penstocks, Journal of Hydraulic Research, 2001;39(4):437-443. 3. Water distribution networks design optimization. Water Engineering for the Future, Proceedings of the 31th IAHR Congress, Seoul, 2005, pp. 5001-5010. 4. Nodal analysis of urban water distribution networks, Water Resources Management, 2014;28(10):3159-3175. 5. Optimal design of urban water supply pipe networks, Urban Water Journal, 2016;13(5):521-535. 6. A study of energy optimization of urban water distribution systems using potential elements, Water, 2016;8(12):art. 593. 7. Designing a pilot sewage treatment plant for small localities. Ecology and Environmental Protection Conference Proceedings, 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, Albena, Bulgaria, 2017, pp. 277-283. 8. Optimization of urban water distribution networks using deterministic and heuristic techniques: Comprehensive review, Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 2021;12(4):art. 03121001. 9. Optimization of urban water distribution networks using heuristic methods: an overview, Water International, 2023;48(1):120-148. Patents: 1. Water purification process by treating with ozone, no. RO94772-A. 2. Installation for contacting an ozonated gas with impure waters, no. RO94774-A. 3. Water settler with circulation column, no. RO92398-A. 4. Installation for water purification, no.RO100299.