Venkata Mohan S

Biography

Dr. S. Venkata Mohan has completed B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D. from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati and joined CSIR-IICT as a Scientist in the year 1998. While working in CSIR-IICT he went on to pursue his Post-doctoral Research at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany as Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Fellow (2001-02). He worked as Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Japan (2005). Dr.Mohan main research domain includes Environmental Bioengineering specifically focusing on the production of biobased products in the framework of Waste Biorefinery. His research illustrates and constitutes different bioprocess based technologies, which arrived at a structured and optimized models, integrated into closed loop mode paving sustainable avenues for the development of the biobased society. His expertise involves sequentially integrating various bioprocesses like acidogenesis, photosynthesis, bioelectrogenesis, bioanoxygenesis and advanced waste remediation for the production of a multitude of biobased products chemicals like bio-hydrogen, biodiesel, biopolymers, bioelectricity, platform chemicals, etc. Dr. Mohan’s research addresses waste and materials in a unified and an interdisciplinary approach deriving holistic solutions by designing ‘waste biorefinery’ analogous to the ‘petroleum refinery’, utilizing biogenic waste as a resource in the framework of circular bioeconomy. Dr Mohan has authored about 290 research articles, 30 chapters for books and has 9 patents. His publications have so far cited more than 10,000 times and have an h-index of 57 (Google Scholar). He has supervised 18 PhDs, 2 M.Phils and more than 90 M.Tech./B.Tech./M.Sc. students. Apart from basic and applied research he is also associated with projects having societal relevance and industrial/consultancy projects in the area of environment and management. He delivered more than 100 invited/plenary lectures. Dr.Mohan is the recipient of coveted ‘Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize’ for the year 2014 in Engineering Sciences, ‘National Bioscience award-2012’ by DBT, Government of India, ‘Prosper.net-Scopus Young Researcher Award in Sustainable Development -2010’ under Energy Category by United Nations University and Elsevier, ‘NASI-Scopus Young Scientist Award- 2010’ in Earth, Oceanographic & Environmental Sciences by NASI and Elsevier, Nawab Zain Yar Jung Bahadur Memorial Prize-1994, by The Institution of Engineers (India), etc. Dr Mohan is Fellow of National Academy of Engineering, Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Biotech Research Society of India, Telengana Akademy of Sciences, Institution of Engineers, International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Association for Biotechnology and Pharmacy and Member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Germany. Dr.Mohan is subject Editor for the Journal of Energy, Associate Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science and Frontiers in Bioenergy and Biofuels and is serving on the editorial board of several journals viz., Bioresource Technology, The Open Waste Management, Advances in Energy Research, etc. He is Guest Editor for Special Issue on ‘Microbial Fuel cell (Bioresource Technology, 195, 2015; 1-288) and ‘Waste Biorefinery (Bioresource Technology, 215, 2016; 1-396). Dr.Mohan is on the reviewing committees of several journals published by RSC, Elsevier, CSIR, Frontier, Taylors, Wiley, ACS, ASCE, Springer, etc. and professional societies.

Research Interest

Dr.Venkata Mohan’s research focuses on the cross cutting domain of environmental engineering specifically in the interface of biotechnology and bioenergy. His interdisciplinary research approach principally focused on the development of new and sustainable waste treatment technologies by incorporating biobased products production as an integral component and established a comprehensive and systematic link between waste remediation and renewable energy generation in circular economy. Utilization of negative valued wastewater/waste for value addition in a unified research approach has lead to a paradigm shift from ‘waste remediation’ towards ‘waste to wealth’. His research interest is in areas of Waste Biorefinery, Acidogenesis Platform, Biohydrogen, Microbial fuel cell (MFC), Bio-electrochemical treatment (BET), Advanced Treatment Methods, Electro-fermentation, Photosynthetic fuels, Biopolymers, Platform Chemicals, Environmental Microbiology, CO2 Bio-sequestration, Industrial waste Management, Environmental Impact and Sustainability Analysis and Bioeconomy.