Students

Mr Meng Nan Chong

Ph: (08) 8303 7055
Email: meng.chong@adelaide.edu.au

Mr Meng Nan Chong graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2005 with a 1A Honours in Chemical Engineering. In the year of 2006, he joined the Water Environment Biotechnology Laboratory (WEBL) to undertake his postgraduate Ph.D in the multidisciplinary areas of material science, photochemistry, water treatment, chemical and environmental engineering.

His research topic is "Solar Nano-photocatalytic disinfection and mineralisation of treated wastewater from sewage treatment plants". This explores the possibility of utilising nanoparticles of titanium dioxide as photocatalyst with reactor column integration for the removal of low concentration organic pollutants and microorganisms that present in the water matrix. This project is funded by the ARC Linkage Grant and supported by SA Water.

Ms. Vipasiri Vimonses

Ph: (08) 8303 7048
Email: vipasiri.vimonses@adelaide.edu.au

Ms. Vipasiri Vimonses obtained a BSc in science (Biotechnology). Then, she moved to Australia for her MSc studies in chemical engineering at University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney, Sydney. She joined the WEBL in 2006 to undertake her Ph.D research. Her research topic is “Integration of Nanotechnology for Wastewater Treatment”, which encompasses different aspects of material science and engineering process.

This project is to explore the possibility of replacing conventional tertiary wastewater treatment process with modified low-cost nanoporous adsorbents i.e. clay minerals, followed by lab- synthesised nanophotocatalysts through photocatalytic reaction to enhance the removal efficacy of recalcitrant contaminants . The treated effluent from these combined processes is expected to be delivered for recycle purposes. The project is funded by the ARC Linkage Grant and supported by SA Water.

Mr Adrian Hunter

Ph: (08) 8303 3012
Email: adrian.hunter@adelaide.edu.au

Mr Adrian Hunter graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2005 with first- class honours in biochemistry and majors in biochemistry and genetics. He is interested in the genetic modification of micro-organisms for the benefit of the environment. Adrian's PhD thesis project is about using the fungus Aspergillus oryzae to treat wastewater from wineries, producing clean water that could be recycled for irrigation, and fungal biomass that could be sold as protein-rich animal feed. This is an ARC Linkage project co-funded by SA Water.

Mr Guangning Yu

Ph: (08) 8303 7055
Email: guangning.yu@adelaide.edu.au

Mr. Guangning (Jason) Yu obtained a BSc degree of applied chemistry in China. He migrated to Australia in 2006 and joined the WEBL in 2010 for his postgraduate study. His thesis research is to develop energy efficient nanoparticles composite thin film reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination. The project focuses on the synthesis of a novel thin film composite with functional nano structures that contribute to high water permeation and high solute rejection while slowing down the onset of membrane fouling.

Mr Muhammad Nadeem Akram

Ph: (08) 83309311
Email: muhammad.akram@adelaide.edu.au

Nadeem graduated with a B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. After graduation he had 13 years of industrial experience in Chlor-Alkali, Fertilizer and Polyester Polymer & Fibres. In June 2010, he joined the WEBL at the University of Adelaide for his PhD by research. He is conducting research in the bioconversion of carbon dioxide (the major greenhouse gas and responsible for global warming) into a clean fuel methanol using dehydrogenase enzymes as catalysts which are immobilized on the nanofibres polymer scaffolds. The aim of this research is to increase the conversion rate of carbon dioxide into methanol.

Mr Florian Zepf

Ph: (08) 8303 5847
Email: florian.zepf@adelaide.edu.au

Mr Florian Zepf graduated in Biotechnology from the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany in 2006. In the year of 2005 he joined the WEBL to undertake his final thesis for his postgraduate diploma at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences. His topic was Production of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) from by-products in fed-batch fermentation. This project was funded by an ARC Discovery grant. In 2006 he started his Ph.D with in WEBL. His research topic is "Biotransformation of bagasse and solid winery waste into protein rich animal feed". The idea is to develop a low technique required on site solid state fermentation process to use by-products from Australian sugar and wine industry to increase their value and offer a high valuable animal feed product for cattle and sheep farmers.

Ms Guiqin Cai

Ph: (08) 83037048
E-mail: guiqin.cai@adelaide.edu.au

Ms Guiqin Cai obtained a BSc in biological engineering from Fujian University, China, and a MSc in biochemistry and molecular biology from Fujian University of Agriculture and Forest, China. Now she is doing her PhD study in the WEBL. Her research topic is “metabolic flux network in the fermentative hydrogen production process”. This project aims to analyze metabolic flux network associated with hydrogen production to understand enzymatic and metabolic activities in different fermentation environments, consequently to develop a metabolic engineering strategy to optimize the fermentative hydrogen production process.

Mr. Tze Haw Sia

Ph: (08) 8303 5847
Email: tze.sia@adelaide.edu.au

Mr. Tze Haw Sia obtained his Chemical Engineering degree with 1A Honours from the University of Adelaide in 2008. On the subsequent year, he joined the WEBL as a Ph.D student working in the fields of photochemistry, material science and nanotechnology. His research focuses on the synthesis of composite nano-photocatalyst immobilized on nanoporous material for waste water treatment.

Ms Manjot Kaur Toor

Ph: (08) 8303 6115
Email: manjot.toor@adelaide.edu.au

Ms Manjot Kaur Toor was trained by chemical engineering with a BEng from Punjab Technical University, India and MEng at Panjab University, India. She had research experience in adsorption of organic and inorganic chemicals from waste water on activated carbon, design and fabrication of Ball Mill for crushing pyrolysed rice husk char and design of Conveyors for the transportation of coal to the process plant. Ms Toor joined the WEBL for her postgraduate research on surface modification of various materials to increase there surface area, selectivity and porosity for the adsorption of organic and inorganic chemicals from waste water.

Ms Lijuan Wei

Ph: (08) 8303 7055
Email: lijuan.wei@adelaide.edu.au

Ms Lijuan Wei was graduated from Northwest A&F University, China. In the year of 2009, she joined the WEBL at the University of Adelaide to undertake her PhD thesis research in the field of nanotechnology, material science and bioscience. Her research topic is “Nanoparticle-based multiplex assays for human disease diagnosis”. The project focuses on synthesis of gold nanoparticles (nanospheres, nanorods and nanoshells, etc.), self-assembled monolayer and polymeric beads, applications of nanoparticles on early detection of human diseases based on immunoassays and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Mr Zhanying (Jan) Zhang

Mr Jan Zhang was trained by biochemical engineering for his BEng and MEng studies in China. His PhD project was to develop and optimise an integrated biotechnological process for lactic acid production by Rhizopus sp. from starchy waste streams. This project was funded by ARC Discovery grant. He is keen to develop his research in biochemical process and environmental biotechnology.

Dr Jan Zhang got his PhD degree from the University of Adelaide in August 2008. He has taken a research fellow position at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane since April 2008.

Ms Xiaoyi Wang

Ms Xiaoyi Wang was educated in microbiology (BSc) and environmental biotechnology (MSc) in China. Her PhD thesis project was to produce hydrogen from wastewater using activate sludge microorganisms. This project was funded by an ARC Linkage grant. Her research was focused on identifying and describing hydrogenase and gens of hydrogen producing bacteria isolated from activated sludge. Xiaoyi is also very interested in using and developing molecular technology.

Dr Xiaoyi Wang got her PhD degree from the University of Adelaide in August 2008. She has been employed as a Post Doctoral Fellow in CSIRO Entomology, Canberra since March 2008.

Miss Nishcha Chopra

Email: nishcha.chopra@adelaide.edu.au

Miss Nishcha Chopra is a visiting student from the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany. She works on her thesis project in biotechnology. She joined the WEBL in September, 2009 and is involved in the project of ‘Metabolic flux network in the fermentative hydrogen production process’.