A LinkedIn professional certification on 'Leading with Emotional Intelligence'
An article contributed by me on the Engineering4Change platform.
Graduate Student at Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University
It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act. ~Dalai Lama
I was born in outskirts of the financial capital of India, namely Mumbai city. Since my childhood, I have seen hustle and bustle of city and the unconstrained use of resources that the city run on. 15 million people in Mumbai consume enormous amount of resources and generate a great quantity of waste. With this picture always in my background, I started looking for solutions in what I was enthusiastic for-Science. I completed my undergraduate studies in Bachelors of Chemical Engineering from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai in 2013. After that, I worked with Reliance Industries Limited in petrochemical sector for couple of years. My zeal fro research led me to join Dr Sanjay Mahajani's group at Indian Institute of Technoloy, Mumbai. Here, working on 'Gasification of garden waste' to make cooking fuels made me interested in the vast area of bioenergy and biofuels. I had first hand experience of dealing with the problem of increasing volumes of waste in cities and the air/land/water pollution that comes with it. Now, diverting these streams to production of sustainable fuels was my approach for working on it. But, I realized that a significant technological barriers need to be addressed. At the same time, I came to know that researchers all around the world are exploring this emerging field of science.
I joined The Department of Biosystems Engineering at Auburn University in Summer 2016. The combination of major engineering fields to address the issues of food security, agriculture and environment caught my attention. I was first overwhelmed by the variety of research projects going on in the Biosystems Engineering. But through weekly seminar, I soon became familiar with various topics. Discussions with professors as well as students from different backgrounds expanded my knowledge and mind. The modern facilities for biofuels research, including biomass characterization and chemical analysis impressed me. I started working with Dr Sushil Adhikari on hydrothermal liquefaction of lignin, which is the primary constituent of waste from second generation bioethanol industry. With the help of literature review and pilot experiments in lab,I decided to explore the effect of solvents on depolymerization of lignin during its hydrothermal liquefaction. Two pilot scale experimental setups and numerous characterization techniques available in BERL lab were utilized for this research. I also collaborated with other labs (CASIC, Chemical Engineering Department etc.) whenever needed. Although my research is under progress, I presented posters on it during 'this is research symposium' in April 2017 and 'College of Agriculture research symposium' in 2016.
The world is at a critical stage of climate change. Modern civilization and lifestyle has led to massive increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Also, the unconstrained use of fossil fuels has led to their depletion. The world is likely to face insecurity in energy demand and supply in future. On the other hand, the use of resources in constantly increasing, which has led to massive piles of trash accumulating in the landfills. I want to address both these issues simultaneously by working on technologies which can help convert this waste into a source of energy. I aim to develop an expertise in thermochemical conversion processes for biomass. Since waste biomass is the biggest component of garbage in many places around the world, it is important to have a comprehensive technology developed for its efficient conversion to fuels. Biomass and bioenergy will always be a secure source of energy in almost any geographical area. I wish to help in tapping its future potential by contribution in terms of research and development.
I was born in outskirts of the financial capital of India, namely Mumbai city. Since my childhood, I have seen hustle and bustle of city and the unconstrained use of resources that the city run on. 15 million people in Mumbai consume enormous amount of resources and generate a great quantity of waste. With this picture always in my background, I started looking for solutions in what I was enthusiastic for-Science. I completed my undergraduate studies in Bachelors of Chemical Engineering from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai in 2013. After that, I worked with Reliance Industries Limited in petrochemical sector for couple of years. My zeal fro research led me to join Dr Sanjay Mahajani's group at Indian Institute of Technoloy, Mumbai. Here, working on 'Gasification of garden waste' to make cooking fuels made me interested in the vast area of bioenergy and biofuels. I had first hand experience of dealing with the problem of increasing volumes of waste in cities and the air/land/water pollution that comes with it. Now, diverting these streams to production of sustainable fuels was my approach for working on it. But, I realized that a significant technological barriers need to be addressed. At the same time, I came to know that researchers all around the world are exploring this emerging field of science.
I joined The Department of Biosystems Engineering at Auburn University in Summer 2016. The combination of major engineering fields to address the issues of food security, agriculture and environment caught my attention. I was first overwhelmed by the variety of research projects going on in the Biosystems Engineering. But through weekly seminar, I soon became familiar with various topics. Discussions with professors as well as students from different backgrounds expanded my knowledge and mind. The modern facilities for biofuels research, including biomass characterization and chemical analysis impressed me. I started working with Dr Sushil Adhikari on hydrothermal liquefaction of lignin, which is the primary constituent of waste from second generation bioethanol industry. With the help of literature review and pilot experiments in lab,I decided to explore the effect of solvents on depolymerization of lignin during its hydrothermal liquefaction. Two pilot scale experimental setups and numerous characterization techniques available in BERL lab were utilized for this research. I also collaborated with other labs (CASIC, Chemical Engineering Department etc.) whenever needed. Although my research is under progress, I presented posters on it during 'this is research symposium' in April 2017 and 'College of Agriculture research symposium' in 2016.
The world is at a critical stage of climate change. Modern civilization and lifestyle has led to massive increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Also, the unconstrained use of fossil fuels has led to their depletion. The world is likely to face insecurity in energy demand and supply in future. On the other hand, the use of resources in constantly increasing, which has led to massive piles of trash accumulating in the landfills. I want to address both these issues simultaneously by working on technologies which can help convert this waste into a source of energy. I aim to develop an expertise in thermochemical conversion processes for biomass. Since waste biomass is the biggest component of garbage in many places around the world, it is important to have a comprehensive technology developed for its efficient conversion to fuels. Biomass and bioenergy will always be a secure source of energy in almost any geographical area. I wish to help in tapping its future potential by contribution in terms of research and development.