South Africa Conference & Workshop
Sandton Sun Hotel 1 – 4 March 2011
Presenter Biographies
FACILITATORS:
Professor WH (Emile) Van Zyl – University of Stellenbosch
Resume:
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Education: Ph.D – Princeton University, Princeton, U.S.A. (Molecular Biology: 1989)
Position: Professor in Microbiology (1999 – present) and Senior Chair in Energy Research: Biofuels and other alternative clean fuels. (2007 – Present), Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch
Publications: 89 + 2 in press + 2 accepted (all in internationally refereed journals); “h” index = 24
Registered Patents: 18 (14 international, 4 in South Africa)
Presentations: 91 papers/posters at international symposia and 106 at national symposia
Several lectures and research seminars on invitation in South Africa and abroad (Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan and USA)
Post Graduate Students and Research Team:
Ph.D. completed: 19; M.Sc. completed: 32;
Ph.D. in progress: 6; M.Sc. in progress: 6;
Prof. van Zyl’s group generated several patents in the early 2000’s. Since 2006 Prof. van Zyl’s group is also conducting research for Mascoma Corporation (http://www.mascoma.com) in New Hampshire, USA towards commercializing cellulosic yeasts for bioethanol production. Mascoma Corporation has been listed for three years in a row amongst the top 12 biofuel companies in the world on the Biofuels Digest 2008 and 2009 listing (http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/).
Senior Chair of Energy Research: Biofuels – Prof. van Zyl is steering a large research programme towards development of sustainable technologies biofuels/bioenergy production from total plant biomass.
Founding member of Stellenbosch Biomass Technologies with exclusive rights for the production of cellulosic ethanol in southern Africa.
Prof. van Zyl’s research team help developed the proprietary yeast of Mascoma Corporation, NH, USA, which helped positioning Mascoma under the top 12 biofuels companies in the world since 2008.