Dr. Nirakar Pradhan

 

Nirakar Pradhan obtained his PhD in Environmental Technology (2016) from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy. During his doctoral research he developed a new fermentative metabolic pathway using a hyperthermophilic bacterium which could simultaneously synthesise hydrogen and lactic acid from any carbohydrate rich organic substrates. Soon after receiving his PhD degree, Pradhan joined Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) and at SCELSE, he works with Prof. Stefan Wuertz in the Environmental Engineering cluster, mainly on developing and optimizing ANaerobic AMMonia OXidation (ANAMMOX) process for autotrophic nitrogen removal from wastewater. In addition, Pradhan obtained his master degree in Environmental Engineering and Management (2012) from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and there he was adjudged the most outstanding academic performer by the institute. In his previous work at a water and wastewater consulting company, he designed municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, assisted in business diversification and implementation of new ideas in wastewater treatment systems. After his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering (2007), he worked with grassroots level NGOs for empowering rural communities on sustainable agricultural practices, decentralized biogas generation and eco-restoration of deforested areas for soil and water conservation. His research interests include wastewater treatment for resources recovery, industrial biotechnology, microbial fermentation for synthesis of biofuels/biopolymers and green economy. Outside professional work, he takes pride in his many travels around the globe and forging of new paths in the research world.

Email: npradhan@ntu.edu.sg