A pioneer in biofuels process development, Rahul Basu has been a leader in developing processes for viable conversion of biomass into renewable energy. Basu’s many accomplishments include the startup and operation of one of the country’s earliest pilot plants in fermentation-based biochemical/bioenergy research. Over his career, he has provided technical leadership for the design, commissioning, start up and operation of fermentation-based process plants in the United States. One of the patented technology led to the establishment of a biomass-to-ethanol commercial plant.
More recently Basu has been overseeing the commissioning & startup of a commercial manufacturing unit of fungal fermentation to produce cellulase enzymes for a biofuels plant in Iowa.
He currently serves as application development manager in DSM’s Bio-based Products & Services division. He earned a PhD in chemical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, has been awarded numerous U.S. patents, and holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.