Dr. Haresh Manyar
PhD, PGCHET, miniMBA, FRSC, FICS, FHEA, AMIChemE
Dr. Haresh Manyar is Director of Internationalisation and Reader in Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. He is also an adjunct Professor at Chandigarh University in India. His research focuses on the design and development of new catalysts and chemical processes in batch and continuous flow for sustainable chemical manufacturing and renewable energy. He has received several awards including the 2021 Innovation Award by SHV Energy, 2019 American Chemical Society’s I&ECR Excellence in review award, and 2016 Queen’s Teaching Award for excellence in Teaching. He has been promoting hands on learning experience for students based on Living lab concept using QUB campus infrastructure. He has received over £4 million in research grants from Royal Society, EPSRC, Leverhulme trust, Invest NI, STFC and chemical industry. He has several industrial collaborations including Almac Sciences, SHV Energy, Shell, Coryton advanced fuels, Johnson Matthey, Chevron, and Oleon. His research output includes over 160 papers/book chapters, patents/invention disclosures and conference proceedings with an h-index 29. He is the Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Fellow of Indian Chemical Society (FICS), Fellow of International Association for Carbon Capture (FIACC), and Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK (FHEA). He is Associate Editor of the Journal Frontiers in Chemical Engineering. He is Secretary of SURCAT, RSC’s special interest group on Surface reactivity and Catalysis, and represents UK on the International Association of Catalysis Societies. He is a member of the UK Catalysis hub steering group, QUB Sustainable energy PRP, and research themes on Sustainability and Healthcare. He is also appointed to the Leadership forum of the IChemE Energy Centre Board. He has delivered numerous invited keynote and plenary talks worldwide.
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Postdoctoral Research Associates
Dr. Juan Jose Villora Pico (2024)
Dr. Villora-Picó has done a Master in Materials Science (2016) and subsequently he completed his PhD in Materials Science at University of Alicante earning the distinction of Cum Laude and an Industrial Doctorate. During this period, his research was based on the synthesis of doped carbon materials for catalysis and adsorption applications. Then he joined the University of Seville, where he was involved in the project ‘Catalyst Development for Biogas Reforming’, focusing on the synthesis of catalysts for methane dry reforming. Additionally, he participated in an industrial project in collaboration with CEPSA, contributing to the preparation of catalysts for the Reverse Water-Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction at low temperatures. Currently, he works as a Research Fellow at QUB, working in the research group of Dr. Haresh Manyar on the project “Integrated Capture and Conversion of CO2 to Emission-Free Fuels”, funded by the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE). His current research focus on the design, preparation, and characterisation of heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 conversion to hydrocarbons.
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Yuan Zhu (2024)
Yuan Zhu commenced his Ph.D. studies in Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in October 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Chunfei Wu. He is scheduled to complete his Ph.D. degree in June 2024. Throughout his Ph.D. journey, his Ph.D. focuses on the research areas: integrated biomass gasification with CO2 capture and utilization, and chemicals production derived from thermochemical conversion of renewable and waste resources. Currently, he works as a Research Fellow at QUB, working in the research group of Dr. Haresh Manyar. His current research focus on biochar production from waste brewer’s grains and carbon capture, as well as process optimisation and techno-economic assessment.
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Dr. Rasika Mane (2024)
Dr. Mane completed her Ph.D. in 2014 at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (India) on the topic of “Studies on structure-activity correlation in catalytic hydrogenolysis of renewable glycerol” under the guidance of Dr. C. V. Rode. After completing her Ph.D., her contributions have been further enriched by her active involvement as a research associate within the CSIR- NMITLI sponsored venture, wherein she seized the opportunity to delve into process scale-up, embracing both scientific and engineering dimensions. Then she was awarded a CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Sadhana Rayalu at NEERI, Nagpur (2014-2017). The research topic was “Directing the catalytic pathway through 3-hydoxypropionaldehyde for 1,3 -propanediol from glycerol”. She later, joined Yonsei University, South Korea as a postdoctoral fellow under the Brain Korea 21 (BK21) program from June 2021 to Feb. 2024, working with Prof. Y. Jeon. During this period, her research focused on designing multifunctional catalysts, including supported metal oxides and Mn-based perovskites, for environmental remediation such as soot oxidation and CO2 neutral processes. She has recently joined Dr. Haresh Manyar’s group as a research associate, focusing on designing, preparing, and characterizing heterogeneous catalysts. Her work aims to develop intermediates for sustainable aviation fuels using biomass-derived feedstocks and fragrance chemicals.
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Postgraduate Researchers
Nayan Jyoti Mazumdar (2021)
Project: An Integrated Biorefinery Approach for Unlocking the Potential of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Value Added Chemicals and Fuel. Nayan pursued his Bachelor’s (B.E.) from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Assam Engineering College, India and completed his Masters from the Department of Energy, Tezpur University in 2020. In his final year of Master’s project he worked on ‘Conversion of Furfural by liquid phase selective Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation’ for the development of a unique, cost efficient and green catalyst for hydrogenation of furfural to value added chemicals in CRE Lab, IIT Delhi under the supervision of Prof. K.K. Pant. He joined Manyar Lab, QUB in 2021 for his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Haresh Manyar, Dr. Jillian Thompson (QUB) and Prof. Dhanapati Deka (Tezpur University). His hobbies include composing music and hiking up in the Mournes.
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Masters & Visiting Students
Chinmay Dakhane (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Emma Barnes (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Satirtha Saha (Bachelors, Beloit College, USA)
Gavin Greene (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Brendan McGrath (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Jack Crothers (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Louis Michaelides (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Muhammad Rehman (MSc, Uni of Brescia, Italy)
Krutarth Pandit (BTech, ICT India)
Georgia Raferty (Nuffield placement student)
Ludan Ahmed (Nuffield placement student)
Méabh McAtamney (Bachelors, SCCE, QUB)
Deepali Dilip Gaidhani (MSc, Pharma. Analysis, QUB)
Poornima Jayakumar (MSc, Mat. Sci. and Engg, QUB)
Ruixin Zhao (MSc, Pharma. Analysis, QUB)
Senyao Hu (MSc, Mat. Sci. and Engg, QUB)
Alexander Bell (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Ellen Kindlon (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Emma McNulty (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Meabh Burke (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Shannon Corr (MSc, SCCE, QUB)
Akhilesh Ravindran (MSc, Mat. Sci. and Engg, QUB)
Anna Rovea (MSc, Erasmus Intern, Uni. of Turin, Italy)
Marta Falchetto (MSc, Erasmus Intern, Uni. of Turin, Italy)
Zahida Patel (MSc, Intern, Cardiff Uni., UK)
Lab Alumni
Dr. Ander Centeno-Pedrazo (Research Fellow, 2024)
Ander graduated in Chemistry in 2017 and earned his master’s degree in Applied Chemistry and Polymers in 2018 from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). During this period, he developed a significant interest in research, focusing on the synthesis of enantioselective organocatalysts for Michael reactions, as well as the development of bio-based non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs). In his thesis titled ” Cyclic carbonates from CO2 and vegetable oils as bio-precursors for non-isocyanate polyurethanes development: A journey from monomer synthesis to industrial application” he focused on the development of catalytic systems based on ionic liquids for the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxidized oil. In January 2023, he successfully defended his thesis, earning the distinction of Cum Laude and an Industrial Doctorate. Subsequently, he joined Manyar group as a postdoctoral researcher, where he worked on the design, preparation, and characterisation of heterogeneous catalysts for the development of sustainable aviation fuels using CO2 and biomass-derived feedstocks.
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Krutarth Pandit
(Visiting Student, 2022)
Krutarth is pursuing his Bachelor’s and Masters Degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology (India). His final year masters project is on “Manufacturing of Sustainable Jet Fuels from Hydrothermal Liquefaction Wastewaters”. He was a part of Manyar group from July 2022 to October 2022. His hobbies include trekking, swimming and playing football.
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Dr. Reza Vakili (Research Fellow, 2023)
Reza completed his PhD in Chemical engineering at Manchester University (UK) under the supervision of Dr Xiaolei Fan and Prof. Stuart Holmes. He had his first postdoctoral research associate position at University of Bath (UK), working with Prof. Davide Mattia. In 2021, Dr. Vakili joined QUB, where he is currently focusing on Spatially Resolved Operando Techniques for Catalysis. In this project, he is working with Prof. Alex Goguet and Dr Haresh Manyar.
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Dr. Dipti Wagh (Research Fellow, 2023)
Project: Catalytic production of advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals. Dr. Wagh received her PhD degree (Chemistry) in 2020 from Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India. During her PhD work, she was seconded to The University of Newcastle, Australia, as a visiting student. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Her research interests focus on the synthesis of metal oxides as heterogeneous catalysts and their application in production of biofuels and renewable chemicals.
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Gary Morrison (KTP Associate, 2022)
Gary has a background in chemistry and chemical engineering, having achieved an MSci in Chemistry and MSc in process engineering from QUB. Gary has over a decade of working within the pharmaceutical industry; working in various roles. Currently he is working with an industrial partner, Almac to develop and implement their continuous flow chemistry platform. His research interests include; catalysis, photochemistry and 3D printing.
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Dr. Gunjan Deshmukh (Research Fellow, 2021)
Project: Catalysis at the Water and Energy Nexus, sponsored by UK catalysis Hub. Dr. Deshmukh was Research Fellow from September 2019 to December 2021. This project was amalgamation of academia – industry involving Cardiff University, The University of Manchester, Coryton Advanced Fuels from UK and Shell from Netherlands. This research work mainly focused on design and development of heterogeneous catalyst for conversion of biomass derived wastewater streams into biofuels. They thoroughly studied the role of pristine and sulfated zirconia catalysts in ketonisation reaction of volatile fatty acids. He worked on EPSRC Impact Acceleration funding project in collaboration with Oleon, Belgium for the development of commercial catalyst to directly convert waste cooking oil into drop-in fuels. This project was also shortlisted for UKRI Innovate UK Lean Launch Programme. He has also worked on direct and indirect conversion of CO2 into value added chemicals using glycerol as a feedstock.
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Bello Abdu Isah (PhD, 2023)
Project: Development of Hybrid Support Catalysts for Electrocatalytic Reduction. Bello is a PhD Student working on development of hybrid support electrocatalyst. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria in 2011. He proceeded to SRM University, India and obtained master degree in Chemical Engineering in 2015. His area of interests are in electrocatalysis, hydrogen fuel, renewable energy and in wastewater treatment.
