Waste Biorefinery Technologies for Sustainable Development

Prof. Xu is currently the Chair Professor of Advanced Biorefinery and Director of the Advanced Biorefinery Laboratory (ABL) at the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE) and a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (FEIC). Previously, he served as a professor and held the NSERC/FPInnovations Industrial Research Chair in Forest Biorefinery at Western University, where he was also the Associate Director of the Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR). With over 20 years of research experience, he specializes in converting biomass and organic solid wastes (including forestry/agricultural residues, food wastes, wastewater sludge, microalgae, lignin, glycerol, and sugars) into biofuels (such as sustainable aviation fuels and green hydrogen) and green chemical and biopolymer materials. He has authored/edited 3 books on biorefinery, contributed over 20 book chapters, and published more than 370 papers in peer-reviewed journals. His work has garnered nearly 25,000 citations with an H-index of 82. He holds 12 PCT/US/Canadian/Chinese patents and has received awards including the 2011 Syncrude Canada Innovation Award, the 2019 Award in Design and Industrial Practice from the Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering, and the 2023 Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Dr. Saravanan Ramiah Shanmugam is currently an Assistant Research Professor in the Biosystems Engineering Department at Auburn University, Alabama, USA. He previously held a DST Inspire Faculty position at SASTRA Deemed University, India. His research primarily focuses on waste valorization. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and worked as an Associate Scientist at AgraCity Crop & Nutrition Ltd. in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Shanmugam has authored over 33 research articles in peer-reviewed international journals, filed 4 provisional patents (3 from India and 1 from the U.S.), co-authored 5 book chapters, and edited 1 book for Elsevier.

Dr. Kiran Babu Uppuluri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur. His research group focuses on the development, modeling, optimization, and intensification of bioprocesses for various biochemicals, including biofuels, therapeutic enzymes, and biopolymers. His current research interests lie in biomass-biorefinery for a circular economy. He has published 45 SCI papers and holds 2 patents. He has supervised 4 PhD scholars and edited 3 books in the field of biomass-biorefinery.

Dr. Noori Saady is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Memorial University, Canada. His expertise lies in converting organic waste into biofuel, bioenergy, and value-added by-products using biotechnologies like anaerobic digestion and microbial fuel cells. He is a recipient of two NSERC Postdoctoral awards and gained experience at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Dr. Saady has published over 35 research articles and two book chapters and has presented at numerous national and international conferences. His research is supported by NSERC and the Canadian Agriculture Partnership Program. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief and handling editor for several scientific journals.