Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Dr. Sunita Varjani is Scientific Officer at Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. Her major areas of research are Industrial and Environmental Microbiology/Biotechnology. She has worked as visiting scientist at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Varjani has authored more than 110 publications, including research and review papers, books and book chapters. She has won several awards, including Young Scientist Awards from Association of Microbiologists of India, International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability and AFRO-ASIAN Congress on Microbes for Human and Environmental Health, New Delhi; Top Reviewer Award - 2017, Bioresource Technology, Elsevier and Best Paper Awards in national and international conferences in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2018. She is member of editorial board of Journal of Energy and Environmental Sustainability and has served as guest editor of special issues of Bioresource Technology, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, ASCE- Journal of Environmental Engineering and others. She is Management Council Member of the BRSI (www.brsi.in).

Scientific Officer, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Professor Ashok Pandey is currently Distinguished Scientist at the Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India and Executive Director (Honorary) at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability – India. Formerly, he was Eminent Scientist at the Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing, Mohali and Chief Scientist & Head of Biotechnology Division and Centre for Biofuels at CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum. His major research and technological development interests are industrial & environmental biotechnology and energy biosciences, focusing on biomass to biofuels & chemicals, waste to wealth & energy, industrial enzymes, etc. Professor Pandey is Adjunct/Visiting Professor/Scientist in universities in France, Brazil, Canada, China, Korea, South Africa, and Switzerland and also in several universities several in India. He has ~1425 publications/communications, which include 16 patents, 90 books, >700 papers and book chapters, etc with h index of 105 and ~48,800 citations (Goggle scholar). He has transferred several technologies to industries and has done industrial consultancy for about a dozen projects for Indian/international industries. Professor Pandey is the recipient of many national and international awards and honours, which include Highest Cited Researcher (Top 1% in the world), Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science (2020, 2019 & 2018); Top scientist in Biotechnology (#1 in India and #8 in the world), Stanford University world ranking (2020); Fellow, World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies (2020); Fellow, Indian Chemical Society (2020); Distinguished Scientist, VDGOOD Professional Association, India (2020); Distinguished Professor of Eminence with global impact in the area of Biotechnology, Precious Cornerstone University, Nigeria (2020); IconSWM Life-time Achievement Award 2019, International Society for Solid Waste Management, KIIT, Bhubaneshwar, India (2019); Yonsei Outstanding Scholar, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2019); Life-Time Achievement Award from the Biotech Research Society, India (2018); Life-Time Achievement Award from Venus International Research Awards (2018), Most Outstanding Researcher Award from Career360 (2018), Life-Time Achievement Award from the International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (2017); Fellow, Royal Society of Biology, UK (2016); Felow, International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (2016); Academician of European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Austria (2015); Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India (2012); Fellow, Association of Microbiologists of India (2008); Honorary Doctorate degree from Univesite Blaise Pascal, France (2007); Fellow, International Organization of Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2007); Thomson Scientific India Citation Laureate Award, USA (2006); Fellow, the Biotech Research Society, India (2005); UNESCO Professor (2000); Raman Research Fellowship Award, CSIR (1995); GBF, Germany and CNRS, France Fellowships (1992) and Young Scientist Award (1989), etc. Professor Pandey is Founder President of the Biotech Research Society, India (www.brsi.in); Founder & International Coordinator of International Forum on Industrial Bioprocesses, France (www.ifibiop.org), Chairman of the International Society for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (www.isees.in), Editor-in-chief of Bioresource Technology (http://ees.elsevier.com/bite/), Honorary Executive Advisor of Journal of Energy and Environmental Sustainability (www.jees.in), Journal of Systems Microbiology and Biomanufacturing (https://www.springer.com/journal/43393), Journal of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (http://neerijese.org/editorial-board/), Subject Editor, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, India (https://www.springer.com/life+sciences/journal/40011) and Associate Editor, Biologia – Section Cellular and Molecular Biology (https://www.springer.com/journal/11756/editors) and editorial board member of several international and Indian journals.

Distinguished Scientist, Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India

Prof. R. D. Tyagi is an internationally recognized Professor of Biochemical Engineering and biotransformation with ‘Institut national de la recherché Scientifique - Eau, terre, et environnement’, (INRS-ETE), University of Québec, Canada. He also holds Adjunct Professor position at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. Prof Tyagi has published over 600 papers/communications, which include 21 books, 75 book chapters, 10 research reports, nine patents, etc. He is Associate Editor of ‘‘Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic & Radioactive Waste Management- Am.Soc.Civil Engineering’’ and serves on the editorial board of Process Biochemistry and Bioresource Technology. He has been recognised by many national and international awards and honours. He is member of ‘‘European Academy of Sciences and Arts’’. He conducts research on hazardous/solids waste management, water/wastewater treatment, and wastewater sludge treatment/disposal, bioconversion of wastewater and wastewater sludge into value added products.

Biochemical Engineering and Biotransformation, Institut national de la recherché scientifique – Eau, terre, et environnement (INRS-ETE), University of Québec, Canada

Prof. Ngo is currently a Professor of Environmental Engineering and serving as Deputy Director of Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, Co-Director of Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney. He has been duly elected as Fellow of International Water Association (FIWA) and Fellow and Lead Researcher of the International Bioprocessing Association (FIBA and LRIBA) while serving as IBA Council Member. Prof. Ngo is internationally well-known for his activities in the areas of advanced biological waste treatment technologies (e.g. membrane bioreactor, specific attached and/or suspended growth bioreactors, anaerobic digesters, wetland and bio-sorption) and membrane technologies. His expertise and practical experience also covers the areas of alternative resources, management and impacts assessment, and solid waste management. Currently, he is very active to work on the development of specific green bioprocessing technologies: resource recovery, water-waste- bioenergy nexus and greenhouse gas emission control. Prof. Ngo has been listed as Highly Cited Researcher 2019 in Cross Field Category, Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science; Elsevier - World Top 3 ranking researcher 2019 in Environmental Engineering; Lead Researcher in the field of Biotechnology in Australia. He ranks #2 in the world for number of scholarly outputs in the SciVal topic ‘membrane fouling; bioreactors; membrane bioreactors (SciVal, Feb 2020). He ranks #1 in Australia for number of scholarly outputs in the SciVal topic ‘biosorption; aqueous solution; bisorption capacity; ‘antibiotics; oxytetracycline; veterinary antibiotics’, (SciVal, Feb 2020). Prof. Ngo has published more than 500 SCI/ISI journal papers (citations >20,000), 7 books and 35 book chapters, a number of patents while receiving several highly recognized honours/awards. He has been invited to give numerous plenary/keynotes and invited talks, seminars and lecturers in the international conferences as well as the universities/research institutions. Prof. Ngo has appointed as Editor of Bioresource Technology, Elsevier, Associate Editor of Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, Associate Editor of Water Process Engineering and Associate Editor of Heliyon Journal, Elsevier. He is also an editorial board member/guest editor of numerous international journals such as Bioresource Technology Reports, Elsevier; Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management, Elsevier; Journal of Energy and Environmental Sustainability, IJSEES, Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, EHIT, Journal of Bioengineered, Taylor & Francis.

Professor, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Prof. Christian Larroche is Director of Polytech Clermont-Ferrand, a graduate school of engineering of University Clermont-Auvergne, France. He is also member of the research laboratory Institut Pascal and of the laboratory of excellence ImobS3 at the same university. He has strong research skills and expertise in the area of applied microbiology and biochemical engineering. He is author of 220 documents, including 114 articles, three patents, 15 book chapters and 24 co-editions of books or journal special issues. He is member of French Society for Process Engineering (SFGP), French Society of Biotechnology and European Federation of Chemical Engineering. He is administrator of IBA-IFIBiop and editor of Bioresource Technology.

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Laboratory, Institute Pascal, University Clermont Auvergne, Clermont Ferrand, France