Renewable Hydrogen: Opportunities and Challenges in Commercial Success

Dr. Mohit Bibra is working as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer at Zymergen Inc. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s (Hons. Science) degree in Microbiology from Panjab University, India. He then joined South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA and completed his doctorate in Chemical and Biological Engineering from there. His research interests centers around 6F’s- Future, Fermentation, Feed, Food, Fuel and Functional molecules. During his career so far he has worked in different positions with federal agencies including Department of Defense - Air Force Civil Engineer Center, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Governor Office of Economic Development South Dakota, Government of India and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, and private entities (e.g., Glaxo Smith Kline Ltd., Bayer Pharamceuticals, Green Biologics Ltd., and Prairie AquaTech LLC.) for developing fermentation based sustainable bioprocesses to meet the future demand of food, feed, fuel, and funtional molecules.

Dr. Sani is a Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Chemistry, Biology, and Health Sciences at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD. In the past 16 years, Dr. Sani has taught 15 different courses (e.g., Biochemical Engineering, Extremophilic Bioprocessing, Biochemistry, and Applied Biological Sciences courses) to undergraduate and graduate students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Washington State University, Pullman WA, and tried to integrate Engineering Sciences with Biological Sciences. His research expertise includes Rules of Life in Biofilms grown on 2D materials, Extremophilic Bioprocessing of Solid Wastes to Biofuels and Value-added Products, Space Biology, Genome Editing, Biocatalysis, and Biopolymers. He has one patent, eleven invention disclosures, published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in high impact factor journals, and has contributed to 34 book chapters. In addition, he has edited 10 books, and has been leading a research consortium funded by the NSF with the aid of 48 scientists and engineers.

Dr. Sudhir Kumar is currently working as a Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He then joined Thapar University, Patiala as a CSIR Fellow and completed his doctorate in Biotechnology. During Ph.D. his work was focused on bioremediation and biofuel production. He joined Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA as a postdoctoral research associate. His research work is focused on biofuels production from food and agricultural waste, bioleaching of precious metals from e-waste and industrial enzymes. He is actively involved in training and educating the students and general public to promote technology extension in the area of biogas from municipal solid waste and agricultural residues. He has worked on various sponsored research projects and at present is working as a PI in three projects with one of the projects focused on Biohydrogen production from Pine needles.