Fiaz Ahmad

PERSONAL INFORMATION          

Fiaz Ahmad

JOB APPLIED FOR          

Researcher

03/2014–06/2017

Doctorate in Hydraulics and Sanitation (Environmental Biotechnology)

01/09/2010–15/06/2011

M.Sc. Sustainable Biotechnology (Guest Student)

Secured 60 ECTS

09/2008–08/2010

M.Sc. (Hons) Food Technology

Overall grade B

09/2004–07/2008

B.Sc. (Hons) Agricultural Sciences

Overall grade B

2013

Six Sigma Green Belt (ASQ BoK)

WORK EXPERIENCE          

08/2018–Present

Postdoctoral researcher

02/05/2012–15/02/2014

Junior Production Officer

PERSONAL SKILLS          

Mother tongue(s)

Urdu

Communication skills

Scintillating communication skills acquired overtime through presentations and job experience as production officer

Organisational / managerial skills

▪       Project management skills by completing Ph.D. and MSc research projects

▪       Leadership ( was responsible for a team of almost 70 people on production line)

Job-related skills

▪       Biomass characterization, pretreatment of biomass

▪       Biomethane potential test

▪       General molecular techniques; DNA extraction, PCR, vector cloning, gel electrophoresis,gene sequencing (basic knowledge of Bioedit Sequencing Alignment Editor)

▪       Working Knowledge of Nanodrop™ for Protein Quantification

▪       Gas chromatography, basic user of peak simple chromatography software

Digital skills

▪       Holding Computer Application Certificate with A+ grade awarded by Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority under Punjab Board of Technical Education Lahore, Pakistan (01-01-2010 – 31-03-2010)

▪      Independent user of Design-Expert

▪       Basic user of R Statistical package

▪       Basic user of Bioedit Sequencing Alignment Editor for gene sequencing

▪       NCBI BLAST

▪       Basic user of MEGA v 6.0 for phylogenetics

Honours and awards

▪       Erasmus Mundus Mobility for Life Scholarship

▪       Coordenação de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Scholarship for Ph.D. in Brazil

Projects            

PhD Thesis          

Methane production in response to sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide assisted hydrothermal pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse

Projects            

M.Sc. (Hons.) Thesis          

The research project was designed to utilize the agricultural wastes for the production of xylitol (artificial Sweetener). Banana peel was utilized as substrate; hydrolyzed by acid, detoxified by neutralization, charcoal treatment and concentrated hydrolysate was obtained by vacuum evaporation. Candida tropicalis was employed in the project to ferment the detoxified hydrolysate at different pH levels. pH 2.5 was found best treatment for maximum xylitol recovery.

Projects            

Semester Projects Aalborg University          

▪       Lb. buchneri DSM 20057 was utilized to convert the wheat straw into valuable products lactate, acetate ethanol and methane. Novo CTec2 was tested for its efficiency at different enzyme loadings alone and in combination with HTec2. Strain was tested for substrate inhibition. Pretreated wheat straw and raw wheat straw were tested for biogas production at different inoculum ratios (oral presentation)

▪       Biomass (wheat straw) was characterized for TS, VS and Charbohydrates; Lactobacillus buchneri DSM 20057 and Pachysolen tannophilus DSM 70352 were studied for their 3metabolic paths and for their fermentation products, products were subsequently utilized in biogas production accompanied with mass balance for a virtual continuous process (oral presentation)

▪       Compost sample was studied to screen different strains of Thermomyces lanuginous and compost bacterium by classical and molecular screening method identified by incorporating into E. coli DH5 α vector using “Bioedit Sequencing Alignment Editor" as a tool. (oral presentation

Conferences            

▪       2017 - Sakamoto, I.K., Ahmad, F., Varesche, M.B.A. 2017. Diversity and microbial composition from the granulated sludge of UASB reactor used in swine wastewater treatment. 29thBrazilian Conference on Microbiology - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil            

▪       2015 – “The sulfur cycle in Environmental Engineering” held at University of Sao Paulo – Brazil            

▪       2014 – “1st Latin-American workshop on biohydrogen” held at University of Sao Paulo – Brazil            

▪       2011- Lecture night on “Next Generation Gene Sequencing” held at Faculty of Life, University of CopenhagenBIOSA – Denmark            

▪       2010 - International conference on “Recent advances in human nutrition with special reference to vulnerable groups” Held at National Institute of Food Science & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad – Pakistan            

▪       2010 - 3 days international workshop on “economic use of post-harvest in a cold chain” hosted by National Institute of Food Science & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad – Pakistan            

▪       2009 - International Workshop on “Food Safety Issues in Current Scenario” hosted by National Institute of Food Science & Technology, Endowment Fund Secretariat, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad – Pakistan in collaboration with USDA            

▪       2007 - International Symposium on “Emerging Trends in Food Science & Technology” organized by National Institute of Food Science & Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad – Pakistan

Presentations

Poster presented on topic 'Life Cycle Analysis of biorefinery of bark and slaughterhouse waste' (Semester Project, Aalborg University)

Publications            

▪       Ahmad, F., E.L. Silva, M.B.A. Varesche. 2018. Hydrothermal processing of biomass for anaerobic digestion - A review. Renew Sustain. Energy Revs. Vol. 98. 108-124. (IF - 9.184 ). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.09.008            

▪       Ahmad, F., I.K. Sakamoto, M.A.T. Adorno, F. Motteran, E.L. Silva, M.B.A. Varesche. 2018. Methane production from hdyrogen peroxide assisted hydrothermal pretreatment of solid fraction sugarcane bagasse. Waste Biomass Valorization. p. 1-20. (IF - 1.874) https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0452-1            

▪       Ahmad, F., S.U., Rehman and Z. Mushtaq. 2012. Impact of xylitol on physicochemical and sensory parameters of rusks. World Applied Science Journal. Vol. 20 (9): 1287-1292.

▪       Rehman, S.U., M. Nadeem, F. Ahmadand Z. Mushtaq. 2013. Biotechnological production of xylitol from dried banana peel hydrolysate and its impact on physicochemical properties of rusks. J. Agr. Sci. Tech. Vol. 15: 747-756.

References            

Prof. Ass. Maria Bernadete A. Varesche
           Departamento de Hidráulica e Saneamento
           Centro de Pesquisa, Desenvolvimento e Inovação em Engenharia Ambiental
           Laboratório de Processos Biológicos
           Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos - EESC
           Universidade de São Paulo - USP
           Engenharia Ambiental - Bloco 4-F
           Av. João Dagnone, 1100 - Santa Angelina
           13.563-120 - São Carlos, SP - Brasil
           Tel: +55 (16) 3373-8356
           varesche@sc.usp.br
           bernadetevaresche@gmail.com          

References            

Prof. Marcelo Zaiat          

Centro de Pesquisa, Desenvolvimento e Inovação em Engenharia Ambiental

Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos - EESC

Universidade de São Paulo - USP

Engenharia Ambiental - Bloco 4-F

Av. João Dagnone, 1100 - Santa Angelina

13.563-120 - São Carlos, SP - Brasil

Tel: +55 (16) 3373-8360

Email: zaiat@sc.usp.br            

ORCID - http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7336-9093