Professor Sankar Bhattacharya is the Interim Head of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Monash University. He has a strong background in industry and academia. Having started his career in India as a design and commissioning engineer for coal-fired power stations, he then worked in Thailand on the utilisation of agro-forestry residues for gaseous fuels production. Professor Bhattacharya came to Australia as a Principal Research Engineer with Lignite CRC and then as a Principal Process Engineer with Anglo Coal Australia. He then moved to France as a Senior Energy Analyst with the International Energy Agency in Paris managing their Cleaner Fossil Fuels program.
At Monash University, Professor Bhattacharya’s research area includes advanced coal and biomass utilisation for power and fuels production through gasification and combustion and biofuels including algae. Professor Bhattacharya’s research interests includes advanced coal and biomass utilisation for power and fuels production through gasification and combustion, and the production of biofuels utilising biomass algae.