Professor Sue Harrison holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University and is the deputy dean (postgraduate affairs and research) of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT.  She holds the South African DST Research Chair in Bioprocess Engineering and is the director of Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER). In the innovation space, Professor Harrison was a founding member and later Chair of the Board of the regional innovation center the Cape Biotechnology Trust, before its incorporation into the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). Her research in bioprocess engineering boasts a strong interest on quantifying and minimising environmental burden associated with processes.

Abstract:

The circular economy concept provides substantial opportunity for maximising resource productivity and minimising the creation of waste burden.  To this end, substantial opportunity exists for the creation of waste biorefineries, including wastewater biorefineries, as an integrated vehicle to derive renewable products, reduce waste inventories and enhance resource productivity. In this presentation, Professor Harrison will discuss the approaches to process systems and tools integrated in reactor design and operation that promote sustainable development of biorefinery and chemical processes. The focus will primarily be on approaches being researched within CeBER, considered within the framework of waste reduction, and drawing on examples from CeBER’s approach to waste biorefineries, including research on the wastewater biorefinery, biorefineries for the sugar industry, algal biotechnology and acid mine drainage, and the challenges that lie therein.


VENUE: Studio 1, EGS Building, Upper Campus, UCT

DATE: Wednesday, 12 August 2015

TIME: 13h00 to 14h00