NEWS
PROFESSOR SAMIR KHANAL
Jun 15, 2018
Congratulation Professor Samir Khanal on the promotion to Professor effective August 1, 2018
DR. KHANAL WAS AWARDED 2018 REGENTS’ MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH
May 16, 2018
Samir Khanal is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR). Khanal is a leading researcher in the field of anaerobic digestion, bioenergy, waste-to-resources and environmental biotechnology.
He has published more than 90 papers in high quality international journals. In addition, he published the book, Anaerobic Biotechnology for Bioenergy Production: Principles and Applications, which was a best seller in 2008. He also recently published a bioenergy textbook, Bioenergy: Principles and Applications.
Khanal has supervised 13 PhD, 17 master’s, 17 undergraduate and 12 high school students, 13 postdocs and 14 visiting scholars. Khanal is an associate editor of Bioresource Technology. He was also a recipient of the CTAHR Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2016.
DR. KHANAL WAS AWARDED THE 2018 BOARD OF REGENTS’ EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARD
April 8, 2018
Dr. Samir Khanal was awarded the highest research award bestowed by the University of Hawai'i. He was selected selected due to your outstanding achievements, and in recognition of his research and scholarly contributions to the University of Hawai‘i (UH) which enhances the lives of our students and the community.
GRADUATES FALL 2018
May 12, 2018
Two Ph.D.s graduated from Dr. Khanal lab this Fall 2018. Sumeth Wongkiew with study of "Nitrogen cycle in aquaponic system" and Duc Nguyen "ORP-based microaeration control system for anaerobic digestion". Congrats graduates
UPDATE APRIL 2018: DR. KHANAL STILL HAS THE MOST READ PUBLICATIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT
April 29, 2018
Follow Dr. Samir Khanal on Research Gate for update
2 STUDENTS FROM DR. KHANAL'S LAB WIN BEST PHD ORAL PRESENTATION IN SRS 2018 SYMPOSIUM
April 12, 2018
Congrats Fernanda and Duc for winning top prizes at CTAHR's Student Research Symposium 2018. Also Duc won the People's Choice Award at the 3 minutes elevator pitch (3MEP). The CTAHR Symposium awardees will be recognized at CTAHR's 30th Annual Awards Banquet, Friday, May 4, 2018
MOST READ IN DEPARTMENT
Feb 26, 2018
Update February 2018, Dr. Samir Khanal has the most read contributions from MBBE department (UH Manoa). Connect with Samir Khanal in Research Gate for updates and collaborations.
FIRST PLACE IN THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION “FRESH IDEAS” CONTEST
Feb 21, 2018
A team of Biological Engineering students—Gowoon Jung, Marissa Kuwabara, Sara Lin, and Kacie Niimoto—won first place in the American Water Works Association “Fresh Ideas” contest for a project entitled “Design of Small-Scale Water Treatment Systems for the Ala Wai Canal.” The team developed the project as part of their Senior Design Course (BE 481/482), mentored by Samir Khanal and taught by Charly Kinoshita.
OUR BIOCHAR REVIEW PAPER: MOST-DOWNLOADED PAPER IN BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
December 4, 2017
The review paper "Environmental application of biochar: Current status and perspectives"
by Fernanda et al. (2017) is most downloaded article in Bioresource Technology Journal in the last 3 months.
Congrats to all the authors.
ANOTHER MOST-CITED ARTICLE IN INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
Nov 20, 2017
Our paper "Anaerobic Digestion-Based Biorefinery for Bioenergy and Biobased Products" published in Industrial Biotechnology Journal was listed among most-cited article of the journal. Congratulation to authors K.C. Surendra, Chayanon Sawatdeenarunat, Shilva Shrestha, Shihwu Sung, and Samir Kumar Khanal. Download our paper here
3 POSTERS WON OUTSTANDING POSTER AWARD
Oct 13, 2017
The two posters that Samir Khanal co-authored and presented at the 15th International Water Association’s World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion (IWA-AD) in Beijing were both awarded outstanding poster! The conference, which was attended by over 1200 participants from around the world, is an international forum discussing state-of-art anaerobic bioprocesses, including wastewater treatment. These posters comprised two of the only 20 awardees chosen from nearly 600 poster presentations. Nanshi Dong's poster is entitled “Effects of hyperthermophilic temperature on biomethanation efficiency and microbial community during hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis,” and Duc's poster “Automated micro-aeration system for enhancing stability of anaerobic digestion at high organic loading rate.” PhD candidate Shilva Shrestha, previous member of Dr. Khanal's lab, was also awarded with “Outstanding Poster Award” for her poster “Production of High-Value Chemicals From Urban Organic Waste Streams Using Anaerobic Bioreactor System”
CONGRATS SUMETH FOR MOST DOWNLOADED PAPER
November 09, 2017
Sumeth Wongkiew review article "Nitrogen transformations in aquaponic system: a review" is among the most downloaded papers in Aquaculture Engineering journal
DR. SAMIR KHANAL HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR THE SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY STARTING IN JANUARY 2018
Jan 13,2017
Samir Khanal (MBBE) has been appointed as associate editor for the scientific journal Bioresource Technology starting in January 2018, due to his international reputation as a researcher in environmental biotechnology, bioenergy, and anaerobic digestion. Bioresource Technology is one of the best journals in the field, ranked No 1 among agricultural engineering journals on bioenergy and the environment, and with an impact factor of 5.651. The journal appoints only seven associate editors globally, so this honor helps to put UHM in the global road map of research excellence and recognition in the field!
FOOD WASTE CONVERSION BY BLACK SOLDIER FLIES
October 1, 2014
CTAHR Professor Samir Khanal is leading the joint effort in bioprocess engineering. He and his group are working on innovative methods of converting food waste into biodiesel products and animal/fish feed through harvesting black soldier fly larvae.
AQUAPONIC-DO IT YOURSELF
Oct 12, 2017
PhD student made video about how to make aquaponic system at home for small business and hobby (Thai language with English subtitle-by Sumeth Wongkiew)
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MAKE WAVES WITH INVASIVE ALGAE RESEARCH-KHON2
May 21, 2012
Invasive algae is a big problem in Hawaii, but two high school students from St. Andrew’s Priory say they’ve found an answer that will help both the environment and the economy.
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TECHNOLOGY IS IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF CAMBODIAN FARMERS, AND SAMIR KHANAL IS HELPING TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN
April 12, 2017
Anaerobic digestion technology is improving the quality of life of Cambodian farmers, and Samir Khanal is helping to make that happen. A few years ago he conducted a 4-day workshop on anaerobic digestion technology for field staff from Southeast Asian nations, at which he learned about the popularity of household digesters in Cambodia. Subsequently he was invited by the National Biodigester Program (NBP) of Cambodia to discuss and train NBP staff in the use of AD technology and digestate utilization, and this year he returned to visit three farmers who have adopted A.D. technology. Cambodia is one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia, depending primarily on agriculture. Household digesters are becoming increasingly popular among farmers in its rural regions, with some 30,000 digesters in use in various provinces of Cambodia. Most are fed with cow/buffalo dung; after digesting it creates biogas, which can be used for cooking, and nutrient-rich digestate, which can be used as a biofertilizer, composted, or used for aquaculture applications to grow algae for fish feed. The quality of life of rural farmers has been positively impacted by biodigester technology, which contributes to increased income, reduced deforestation, the curtailing of greenhouse gas emission, improved health and hygiene, and time saved for other productive activities.
PRE-ACADEMY EDUCATES MIDDLE-SCHOOL TEACHERS THROUGH BIOENERGY WORKSHOP
November 5, 2011
On November 5, 2011, four FIRST Pre-Academy Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) teachers—Jennifer Kuwahara (Mililani Middle), Margaret Magonigle (Hana Middle), David Wong (Ewa Makai Middle) and Erin Yagi (Waipahu Middle)—received laboratory training from Khanal and Takara in a St. John Lab. The goal of the workshop was to impart key concepts necessary to establish hands-on lab experiences in bioenergy for middle-school students so they can develop and apply skills related to physics, chemistry, math and biology disciplines.
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