The F-CUBED FINAL CONFERENCE

Heather Wray is a scientist and project manager at TNO in the group Biobased and Circular Technologies. She obtained her PhD in environmental engineering at the University of Toronto, in Canada. Her research interests are broadly focused on sustainability, in particular upgrading biomass wastes to produce energy and materials. In addition, she also does screening life cycle assessments to evaluate early-stage processes and technologies for biomass upgrading.

Levien has a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Delft Technical University and in 2020, founded TORWASH together with two colleagues from TNO, where he worked between 2017 and 2020 as senior business developer for Biomass Energy. Levien is currently working at TORWASH to develop and commercialize TORWASH technology for conversion of biogenic materials into energy carriers, with a main focus on scaling up the technique for dewatering of organic sludges.

Dr. Douwe Zijlstra obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Groningen, focusing on mild organosolv lignin extraction. He obtained his BSc. degrees in Chemistry and Chemical engineering and MSc. degree in Chemistry at the same university. In 2021 he started working at TNO as Scientist Innovator, focusing on hydrothermal upgrading of agricultural residue streams.

Dr. Chuan Wang trained as a chemical engineer in China before moving to Sweden in 2001 where he completed a masters in environmental engineering from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and a PhD in energy engineering at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) with a research focus of reducing CO2 emissions from steel plants. Chuan joined Swerim AB in January 2007 in the process metallurgy department and has been working on resource efficiency, recycling and circular economy, biomass residues for metallurgical applications, energy efficiency improvement and CO2 emission reduction for the iron and steel industry. Chuan has been acting as the principal investigator in a number of national, regional and EU funded research projects.

Dr. Tim Hendrickx obtained his PhD in Environmental Engineering at Wetsus / Wageningen University in The Netherlands. He also holds an MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from Twente University.

Between 2009 and 2014 he worked as a post-doc at the sub-department of Environmental Technology at Wageningen University studying anaerobic conversions and novel nitrogen removal routes. Since 2011 Tim has been working at Paques, a Dutch company that is globally active in industrial wastewater and gas treatment, and where Tim is the Global lead on anaerobic technologies. He is the focal point for existing anaerobic technologies and new technology developments and has a close relationship with Universities, Research Institutes, and research projects at both national and EU level.

Manuel obtained his bachelors and masters degree in biobased products and bioenergy from the University of Hohenheim where he is currently studying for his PhD and working as a research associate and lecturer in the Department of Conversion Technologies of Biobased Resources.

Eddie holds a degree in Chemical & Process Engineering from Munster Technological University, Ireland and has over 20 years of international experience as a Technical Director and chemical engineer in a variety of sectors including mining, renewable energy, thermal design, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in projects across Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe. Eddie is the founder of F-CUBED partner "Heat Systems" who design, manufacture and commission state-of-the-art thermal processing solutions for use in the renewables and energy sectors, precious metal and waste recovery, and university research.

Haresh Jayashankar is currently pursuing his Structured PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Galway. A graduate of the University of Ruhuna, Haresh was awarded a Gold Medal for his outstanding achievements in Mechanical Engineering and honoured with two IMechE awards: the Frederic Barnes Waldron Best Student Award and the Project Award. Haresh also played a pivotal role at the Prime Minister's Office of Sri Lanka, contributing to policy development in the realms of Engineering and Entrepreneurship. During the initial stages of his research at the University of Galway, Haresh focused on the Techno-economic Analysis for Carbon Capture and Transport in Ireland.

Jan Wilco obtained a master’s in chemical reactor engineering from the University of Twente and a Professional Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Delft. He has over 25 years of experience in conceptual process design, modeling, and evaluation of energy conversion processes. Jan Wilco is a scientist at F-CUBED project coordinators TNO and, currently, his research is focused on biomass conversion and valorisation.

Professor Maria Camilla Bergonzi gained her Ph.D. in the Science and Technology of Medicinal Plants in 2002 and has a permanent position as Associate Professor at the School of Human Health Sciences of University of Florence. She is the author of over 130 original papers in international peer-reviewed journals, has one patent and has written three book chapters. She is on the Editorial Boards of the journals Pharmaceutics, Molecules, Current Drug Delivery, ChemMedChem and is a reviewer for many other international journals. She has a deep background in the pharmaceutical technology and analysis of herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations. Her research includes the improvement of bioavailability and technological features of drugs and natural products extracts, by using conventional and innovative drug delivery systems.

Juan-Pablo has a PhD in Renewable Energy from the University of Jaén and won the Extraordinary Award in the area of Engineering and Technology in the 2017/2018 academic year and gained his MSc in Physics from the University of Seville. Juan-Pablo is an accredited Assistant Lecturer by the Spanish Ministry of Universities, with international professional and research experience with prestigious institutions such as Valeo, Fraunhofer and the University of Exeter with the main topics of research including circular economy and polymer bio-composites, concentrating photovoltaics, concentrator optics and lighting systems.