Dr. Surendra KC has completed his PhD in Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering from University of Hawai'i at M?noa, USA in 2017. In his dissertation, he focused on characterization and conversion of lignocellulosic biomass/agricultural wastes into bioenergy and biobased products. Dr. KC worked as a researcher in Bioenergy and Environmental Research Group at University of Hawai'i at M?noa, USA for three years (2017-2020), where he also guest lectured several classes for a graduate level course related to environmental engineering, and mentored graduate and undergraduate students. He is a visiting research scholar at University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany (Jan. to Aug. 2016) and a recipient of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Short-Term Research Fellowship (2015), UK Energy Research Center Fellowship (2013), and The BIORESTEC 2018 Impactful Research Award from Bioresource Technology.

Dr. KC is interested in research focusing on bioconversion of organic resources into value-added products (food, feed, fuel, fertilizer, and biobased products) via anaerobic digestion and insect farming, production and application of biochar for off gas treatment and soil amendment, use of nanobubble technology in improving performance of biological processes, and scaling-up and automatization of biological processes. He has published 15+ peer-reviewed journal articles, co-authored two book chapters, served as a guest editor for the Industrial Biotechnology journal and referee of funding agencies such as German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and 20+ refereed journals.