Science on Tap to discuss recovering value from wastes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Abigail Engelberth, a Purdue University assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering and environmental and ecological engineering, will lead the next installment of Science on Tap with a presentation on recovering value from underutilized sources and wastes.  

The talk, titled “You’re Doing What With Waste?” will take place at 6 p.m. March 29 on the top floor of Lafayette Brewing Company, 622 Main St., Lafayette. It is free and open to those who are 21 and older. 

Many industrial and municipal process streams contain much higher value products that can be recovered before the stream is sent for disposal. Engelberth’s research focuses on developing methods to recover more of this value. Her presentation will outline various separation techniques that work to recover bioproducts and add value to the biorefinery, industrial and municipal food waste, water and wastewater treatment.

Engelberth received her master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and the University of Arkansas. She was previously a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Maine, where she built a process model to emulate the conversion of hemicellulose into liquid fuels via anaerobic digestion.

Science on Tap, now led by graduate students Elizabeth Phillips, Matthew Pharris and Paula Cooper, provides Purdue faculty and collaborating researchers with the opportunity to share research activities in an informal setting with presentations designed to appeal to a more general audience. Attendance at the event has averaged more than 80 during recent years.

Writer: Olivia Crouse, ocrouse@purdue.edu 

Source: Matt Pharris, mpharris@purdue.edu