Biotechnology Processes in Bioenergy

Muhammad Bilal is working as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland. Previously, he served as an assistant/associate Professor at Poznan University of Technology, Poland, and the School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, China. He earned his Ph.D. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, specializing in bioengineering and applied biotechnology. His main research activities are oriented to Environmental biotechnology, nanotechnology, enzyme engineering, immobilization, chemical modifications, and industrial applications of microbial enzymes, liquid, and solid waste management. He has authored over 700 peer-reviewed articles, 150 book chapters, 25 edited books. Dr. Bilal is the associate editor of Frontiers in Chemical Engineering and Frontiers in Environmental Science (Frontiers), and an editorial board member for several journals. He was listed as a highly cited researcher (Clarivate) in 2021 and holds several "highly cited papers" in WOS. Iris Cornet graduated as a bioengineer in biotechnology at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) (1981-1986). She started her career as a researcher in a one-year collaboration project between the VUB and the Artois Brewery (1986-1987). She then worked at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry (CHIS) at the VUB and at the University Colleges of Antwerp and Mechelen. In addition to teaching, she carried out research on immobilisation, biosensors, genetic engineering and fermentation in Mechelen (IHAM), Brussels (Laboratory of Genetics and Microbiology, VUB) and Antwerp (Artesis). She completed her PhD in engineering at BioTeC, KU Leuven, Belgium, on the modelling of stress adaptation of E. coli in computer-controlled bioreactors (2008-2013). Since 2014, Cornet works at the University of Antwerp. She teaches industrial biotechnology and bioprocess engineering at the Faculty of Applied Engineering. In the BioWAVE research group, Cornet leads the industrial biotechnology research aimed at using the biorefinery approach (microorganisms, enzymes and sometimes chemicals) for the valorisation of industrial by-products for the production of commodity and high-value chemicals, such as long-chain diacids, very-long-chain fatty acids, microbial oil and bio-ethanol. Eco-efficient processes are designed and optimised based on novel and improved feedstock, pretreatment technologies and process conditions using biochemical engineering and modelling techniques. Different fermentation strategies such as solid-state fermentation, high-solids fermentation, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation and submerged fermentation are applied. Cornet is and has been the supervisor of several PhD and Masters students, and she coordinates and participates in several funded research projects. She has worked as evaluator of projects for international research agencies and as examiner of Ph.D. theses at UAntwerp and other universities, in Belgium and internationally. Cornet has had international roles, such as representative for Belgium at the annual meetings of Chemistry Europe (2018-2023). Cornet was working group leader in the COST YEAST4BIO action project (2019-2024). She is a member of the CAPTURE Water 'fit-for-use' programme. Cornet is nominated Chemistry Europe Fellow Class 2018/2019.

• 1. Biomass for a sustainable bioeconomy and bioenergy source2. Lignocellulosic biomass, recalcitrance, characterization, and bio-depolymerization3. Ionic liquids solvents as a green solvent for lignocellulose processing4. Deep eutectic solvent as a green solvent for lignocellulose valorization5. Delignifying bacteria and pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass6. Fungal-assisted pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass7. Microalgal and lignocellulosic biomass processing8. Artificially designed microbial consortia for enhanced lignocellulosic biomass degradation9. Ligninolytic armory for biomass processing10. Enzyme immobilization in lignocellulose biorefineries11. Deployment of immobilized enzymes in lignocellulose degradation12. Enzyme co-immobilization strategies in lignocellulose biorefineries13. Directed evolution and hybrid approaches in lignocellulose pretreatment14. Biomimetic delignification for lignocellulosic biomass fractionation15. Metagenomic enzymes for improved delignification and detoxification16. Microfluidic reactor for time-lapsed imaging of pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass17. Advanced computational approaches in lignocellulose pretreatment18. Molecular dynamics simulation: Exploration of lignocellulosic biomass conversion processes19. Artificial intelligence and machine learning for lignocellulosic biomass and bioenergy research20. Saccharification and fermentation of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass for biofuels production21. Utilization of by-products during biofuel production22. Production of value-added products through valorization of lignocellulosic biomass23. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches for better biofuels production24. Immobilized enzymes in biotransformation of products obtained from the depolymerization of lignocellulosic material25. Recovery of resources and Circular-Economy from biomass derived waste26. Potential risks, Toxicology, stability, Economic feasibility, and environmental impacts of biomass conversion27. Environmental and techno-economic sustainability of integrated bio-refinery approaches28. Challenges and future prospective of biomass conversion to various products