Topic Expertise:

Novel engineering for chemical and biochemical processes

Contact:

School of Biomolecular Science & Engineering (BSE), 

Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Wangchan Valley, Rayong, THAILAND

Tel: (+66)33 014 020 | Email: nopphon_w@vistec.ac.th

See More at Nop Research Lab Website

Dr. Nopphon Weeranoppanant pursued his B.S. (2011) in Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, New York, USA. He then moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to obtain a M.S.CEP. (2013) during which he also had opportunities to be technical consultants at General Mills (Minessota, USA) and  Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (Singapore). He then received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at MIT, USA. Prior to taking an academic position in Thailand, he was a director of research for Zaiput flow technologies, a MIT-spinoff startup focusing on novel flow-chemistry devices. He currently holds a dual faculty position at Burapha University and School of Biomolecular Science and Engineering, VISTEC.

Dr. Nopphon received numerous awards and fellowships including Charles F. Bonilla Medal (Columbia University, 2011), David H. Koch Fellowship (MIT, 2011), Postdoctoral fellowship at Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing (MIT, 2016), Delegate of Thailand to the 67th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings (2017), Excellent thesis award from National Research Council of Thailand (2018), and Emerging Investigator (Reaction Chemistry & Engineering journal (2019).

Research overview:

Novel engineering of chemical and biochemical processes

Our multidisciplinary research group focuses on engineering aspects of chemical and biochemical processes. The work in our group can be mainly categorized into three main parts. In the first part, we are interested in developing a continuous-flow process for challenging chemical and biochemical reactions. Flow chemistry is a promising alternative to batch chemistry as it is safe and efficient. Our previous work includes the development of multistep flow synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as the continuous homogeneous catalyzed oxidation. In the second part, we aim to design novel separation and purification techniques. This part often involves studies of multiphase systems (liquid/liquid, gas/liquid). In addition, our research group is also interested in optimization of conventional separation techniques for chemical and biochemical processes such as membrane technology, evaporation, and distillation. In the last part, we aim to study process integration from upstream (synthesis or fermentation) to downstream (recovery, purification). We apply theoretical studies as well as simulation with different experimental strategies to obtain a process that is technically and economically feasible.