The quality and originality of Professor Rajeshwar Dayal Tyagi and his team's project on the bioconversion of waste into biodiesel earned them the Superior Achievement for Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science™ Award, from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES). Professor Tyagi and his team developed an integrated approach to resource management by showing that a variety of raw materials can be used to produce bioenergy.
The INRS researchers have perfected a process for converting the lipids of oleaginous microorganisms in wastewater effluent from municipalities and the pulp and paper industry into biodiesel. They went a step further and recycled the raw glycerol that is generated during biodiesel production and too costly to purify.
This research project provides an efficient means of reducing both the amount of waste and the cost of processing it while generating biodiesel, a renewable energy source. As a result, it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to incineration and disposal of wastewater sludge in landfills, offering a concrete, eco-friendly solution to environmental concerns.
Renowned for his work in environmental biotechnology, Professor Tyagi has been honoured on four occasions by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which awarded him the ASCE State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award in October 2014. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and a winner of the Global Honour Award for Applied Research conferred by the International Water Association.
The professor's team will receive the award for excellence in environmental engineering on April 23, 2015, at the annual AAEES award ceremony to be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In addition to Professor Tyagi, the INRS research team includes researcher R.Y. Surampalli; research associates Song Yan, Xiaolei Zhang, and Jyothi Bezwada; and water sciences doctorate students Dhouha Ayed, Kuttiraj Mathiazhakan, Saurabh Kumar Ram, and Sravan Kumar Yellapu.
Congratulations to Professor Tyagi's team for their remarkable environmental innovation!
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About INRS
INRS is a graduate-level research and training university and ranks first in Canada for research intensity (average grant funding per faculty member). INRS brings together some 150 professors and close to 700 students and postdoctoral fellows at its four centres in Montreal, Quebec City, Laval, and Varennes. Its applied and fundamental research is essential to the advancement of science in Quebec and internationally even as it plays a key role in the development of concrete solutions to the problems faced by our society.