Dr Ernesto Hernandez

Available to supervise PhD students

I am a researcher, teacher, tutor, board member, outreach and recruitment coordinator and supervisor, to cite few roles.

I worked in Celanese and obtained my PhD at The University of Sheffield, then I held three postdoctoral positions. I was a Lecturer at the University of Manchester and an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham.

My research focusses on bioinspired solutions with bioprocessing and biocatalysts to tackle climate change by considering water, food and energy in a circular economy for Sustainable Development.

Modules in which I have taught or continue teaching:

1. Advanced Biochemical Engineering
2. Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering
3. Advanced Chemistry for Chemical Engineers
4. Biochemical Engineering
5. Biochemistry
6. Bioseparation Processes, modules 1 and 2
7. Biostatistics, theory and laboratory
8. Chemical Engineering Laboratory
9. Chemical Reaction Engineering
10. Design project in chemical engineering
11. General Chemistry
12. Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Processes Principles of Chemistry
13. Industrial Biotechnology: Biogas
14. Interfacial Chemistry
15. Introduction to Chemical Engineering
16. Introduction to Chemistry
17. Microbiology
18. Natural Product Chemistry
19. Numerical Analysis
20. Physical Laws of the Natural World
21. Physics and Process Chemistry (Process Engineering)
22. Principles of Biorefinery Engineering
23. Professional Chemical Engineering and Development
24. Research and Design Projects
25. Research Project
26. Transport Phenomena

Do you want to do a research degree related to tackling climate change and help to attain Sustainable Development Goals? Are you interested in Biotechnology, Biological engineering and Biochemical engineering or related topics? If so, contact engineering@canterbury.ac.uk.

Group leader: Bioinspired Engineering Research Group (BIERG)

Research discipline: Biochemical Engineering

Themes: Bioprocess Engineering and Biocatalysis.

Our century is witnessing fast changes in the way people create goods and services, probably due to climate change and concerns linked to equity, health, water, food, and energy.

Clean energy and sustainable materials from biomass such as waste, plants, microbes, animals and by-products could progressively replace petroleum materials. Besides, the processing of petroleum, minerals and biomass will gradually be more sustainable thanks to environmentally friendly biotechnologies coupled to computational advances.

Chemicals and processes that are problematic for people, the economy and the environment will be replaced to achieve sustainable goals. This situation is an opportunity to create and apply bioprocesses and biocatalysis for sustainable manufacturing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

At BIERG we research bioprocesses and biocatalysis and their applications to current sustainability challenges. We investigate a variety of ways to understand and use microbes, enzymes and other cellular chemicals to solve a number of problems currently facing society. We have applied bioprocessing and biocatalysis to convert a variety of biomasses into green energy (biomethane, bioethanol, biodiesel); decontaminate water, soil and sludge; capture smoky carbon dioxide; produce renewable energy, nutrient feedstocks and commodity chemicals in biorefineries; or ease the flow of oil in deep underground oil reservoirs at very high temperatures and pressures.

I am interested in deploying biology and engineering capabilities to keep helping society with bioinspired solutions.

Research Projects

1. BRIDGE -BioRenewables Inspired Development Geared by Elements. Research and Knowledge Exchange.
2. BiSEMiX -A protocol for Biomass characterization through SEM-EDX. Research and Knowledge Exchange.
3. Viability study on real-time monitoring of healthy omega-3 production in microalgae. SSB-AU022108. BBSRC. Algae-UK.
4. Increasing vertical farming yield through the optimisation of nutrient growth in algae to be used as a fertiliser, with use of digital twin monitoring. Researcher(s): Miss Natasha Vaccaro. Supervisor(s): Dr Ernesto Hernandez and Dr Asma Ahmed. [PhD Research Project]
5. Artificial enzymes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
6. Development of a bioprocess to convert smoky carbon dioxide into commercial carbonates in Malaysia. Ministry of Science and Technology. eScience. Project 03-02-12-SF0252.
7. Bioprocess design as a tool for directing the evolution of man-made enzymes. Ministry of Education. Fundamental Research Grant Scheme. FRGS 2014-1.

• European examiner of PhD works.
• Editorial member of Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2076-3417, IF 2.7), issues "Advancements in Biomass-to-Biofuel Conversion Technologies: Process Optimization, Efficiency, and Sustainability" and the issue "Biotechnology for Biofuel and Biomass Production".
• Editorial member of Frontiers in Chemical engineering (ISSN 2673-2718), -Biochemical engineering section.
• Editorial member: The Journal of Chemical Engineering and Environment (ISSN. 1412-5064, E-ISSN. 2356-1661).
• Senior Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Institution of Chemical Engineers, European Biotechnology Network, European Network for Gastrointestinal Health Research, European Federation of Chemical Engineering, European Society of Biochemical Engineering Sciences and other professional bodies.

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