I am Tawsif Rahman, born and raised in the mega city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. My academic journey started at the local elite schools, and later, I chose mechanical engineering as a bachelor degree major at a unique military school in Dhaka. I became inclined toward renewable energy and sustainable technologies during my undergraduate thesis of developing an pedal powered generator. After a brief teaching career, I started my master's in biofuel production in South Korea. There I learned a very fascinating technology called pyrolysis which involved disintegrating organic materials into value-added products in high temperature without air. For more advanced knowledge in liquefaction technology, I enrolled in the doctoral program in biosystems engineering at Auburn University, USA. I have gone through rigorous Ph.D. training to acquire expertise in waste material treatment under high pressure and temperature with subsequent upgrading technologies. After graduating with a Ph.D. degree, I started my career as a postdoctoral researcher in the biosystems engineering department of Auburn University to expand my skills in research, collaboration, lab management, grant writing, and other management activities. From January 2025, I have started my second postdoc in the college of forestry, wildlife and environment at Auburn University where my research focus is the bio-based composites. I have experience and skills from three countries and multiple disciplines, including mechanical, environmental, biosystems engineering and bio material science.
I am looking forward to the next challenge and beyond.
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Doctor of Philosophy
Auburn University, AL, USA
December, 2022
Master of Engineering
University of Science and Technology
Daejeon, Republic of Korea
February 2017
Bachelor of Science
Bangladesh University of Professionals
Dhaka, Bangladesh
January 2012
Timeline
01/2025-Present Postdoctoral Fellow, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment Auburn University, USA
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Postdoctoral Supervisor : Maria Soledad Peresin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Forest Biomaterials at the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
Leader and founder of the AU Sustainable Bio-Based Materials Laboratory
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
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Responsibility: Maintaining collaboration between research groups, developing standard methods for biomaterial performance testing, mentoring graduate students, and oversee laboratory maintenance.
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Research Projects
- Development of biobased composites using wood flour, bio-oil, and commercial phenol-based resin for additive manufacturing
- Fire performance testing and method development for oriented strand board (OSB) and other wood products
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Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant/Back-Up Instructor – “BIOP 5800/ 6800 - Biopolymers for Biomaterials and Packaging” (Spring 2025)
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Acquired Skills: Preparation of bio-based phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF) resin, operation of Masuko's Supermasscolloider series of friction grinding machine, synthesis of bioplastic films via solvent casting procedures.
02/2023-12/2024 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, USA
Postdoctoral Supervisor: Sushil Adhikari, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biosystems Engineering
Director, Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
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Responsibility: Laboratory management-maintenance; mentoring students; maintaining collaboration with different research groups, assisting research proposal writing, preparing scientific articles, participating in academic conferences
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Research Activities
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- Liquefying waste plastic for sustainable fuel and monomer recovery
o Comparison of pyrolysis and HTL methods for polyurethane plastic upcycling by monomer recovery
o Co-liquefaction of polyethylene and polystyrene plastic with subsequent hydrotreatment for aviation fuel products
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- Utilizing rotary kiln reactor system to produce advanced liquid fuels from forest biomass
o Pyrolysis of Pine biomass with low-cost catalysts for improved pyrolysis oil properties
o Sequential upgrading of pine derived pyrolysis oil by hydrotreatment process for transportation fuel
- PFAS treatment by hydrothermal liquefaction and adsorption techniques
o Conceptualizing the PFAS destruction by thermochemical conversion technologies
o Preparing standard solution for PFAS quantification in aqueous medium
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- Developing and operating the 2-liter continuous hydrothermal reactor system for scaling up HTL process
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- Collaboration Projects
o Co-liquefaction of polystyrene and pine biomass to formulate aviation fuel range compounds
o Characterization of commercially available biochar products to evaluate the result variation and to establish standard method
o Exploring glycerol as in-situ hydrogen donor in catalytic deoxygenation of palm oil to synthesize conventional fuels
o Investigation of the hydrogen donor capability of ethanol on waste cooking oil hydrotreatment for renewable diesel
o Effect of reaction solvent, temperature, reaction holding time, and catalyst amount over HTL of food waste
o Selective production of phenolic monomer via catalytic depolymerization of lignin
o Phosphorus adsorption from wastewater using chemical and metal chloride activated pyrolysis biochar
Academic Conference : The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2023, 2024 and American Institute of Chemical Engineers(AIChE) 2024
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Teaching Experience​
Guest Lecturer – “BSEN 5540 / 6540 - Biomass and Biofuels Engineering”, Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University (Fall 2023)
Teaching Assistant - “BSEN 2240 - Biological and Bioenvironmental Heat and Mass Transfer”, Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University (Spring 2023)
Mentorship
Graduate Students
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Dale Hartmann, Ph.D. student (Spring 2023 - Fall 2024), Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University
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Noor Fatima, Ph.D. student (Summer 2023 - Fall 2024), Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University
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Undergraduate Students
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Quenton Quarterman, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Summer 2023, Auburn University
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01/2023-02/2023 Research Associate, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, USA
Responsibility: Conducting experimental research, data analysis, maintaining research collaboration, preparing scholarly articles
Research Project
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Producing and characterizing pyrolysis derived biochar from pine biomass by rotary kiln reactor set up
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Analyzing the data to evaluate the biochar efficiency for greenhouse gas mitigation and soil carbon stabilization
08/2018-12/2022 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, USA
Doctoral Advisor: Sushil Adhikari, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biosystems Engineering
Director, Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
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Responsibility: Performing experiments with diverse organic feedstocks in high pressure system, conducting chemical analysis of the product, assisting other graduate students in research and scholarly article writing, operation and troubleshooting laboratory instrument, presenting research in academic conferences
Research Projects
Doctoral Dissertation: Biocrude production from biomass and mixed plastics via hydrothermal liquefaction(HTL) for fuel and chemicals
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HTL of municipal sewage sludge under ethylene gas with red mud catalyst to enhance the biocrude yield and properties
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Exploring the effect of reactive gases on HTL of algal feedstock by nickel on red mud support catalyst for improved oil
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Depolymerization of simulated plastic waste via reduced red mud catalyst assisted HTL for lighter hydrocarbon synthesis
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Investigating the influence of ethanol co-solvent and metallic iron catalyst over HTL of pine with downstream processing
Collaboration Projects
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Hydrotreatment study by biochar assisted catalyst for only carinata oil or mix of carinata and HTL/ pyrolysis oil, poultry fat
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Bio lubricant synthesis by hydrotreatment of HTL biocrudes, poultry fat and carinata oil
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The influence of extraction solvents on hydrotreatment of municipal sewage sludge derived HTL biocrude
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Sorption and recovery of phenolic compounds from aqueous phase of sewage sludge HTL using pyrolysis biochar
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Academic Conferences: The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 2021, 2022
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Acquired Skills: Thermochemical conversion - Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Pyrolysis · Catalyst Characterization - SEM & EDS · Biofuel Characterization - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) , GC-MS , Elemental Analysis · Waste Water characterization - TOC,TN and COD Analysis . Statistical Analysis Software – R & SAS
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Prominent Coursework : Biomass and Biofuels Engineering , LCA for Biosystems , Deterministic Modeling, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Polymer Chemistry
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Mentorship
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Reagan Hurla, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Summer 2022, Auburn University
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04/2017-03/2018 Intern, Department of Clean Fuel & Power Generation, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials, South Korea
Responsibility: Operating Bubbling fluidized bed reactor, liquefaction product analysis, data analysis
Research Projects:
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Optimization of energy crops (Miscanthus) liquefaction by fast pyrolysis technique in bubbling fluidized bed reactor
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Studying known acidic solutions by FTIR technique to determine organic acid content of biofuel
03/2015-02/2017 Research Assistant/Trainee, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials, University of Science and Technology , South Korea
Responsibility: Participating in pilot scale pyrolysis unit operation, learning and applying pyrolysis technology for diverse feedstock liquefaction, preparing master’s thesis on liquefaction of palm industrial waste, participating in Korean government funded projects by characterizing municipal solid waste materials from commercial entities for quality measurement, attending conferences.
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Research Project
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Exploring the effect of reaction temperature over fast pyrolysis of coffee residue in tilted slide pyrolysis pilot scale unit
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Optimizing pyrolysis bio-oil yield of palm kernel shell in bubbling fluidized reactor by varying temperature and particle size
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​Acquired Skills: Experimental Design · Laboratory Management · Research Ethics · Biomass Liquefaction Technique: Fast Pyrolysis · Biofuel Characterization: Fourier, transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis, Karl-Fischer Titration, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) , Bomb Calorimeter , Viscometer · Data Analysis
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Mentorship
Quynh Van Nguyen, MS student (Spring 2016-Spring 2018), Department of Clean Fuel & Power Generation, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, University of Science and Technology, The Republic of Korea
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Academic Conferences : 2016 Annual Fall and Spring Meetings of the Korean Society for New and Renewable Energy, International Conference on Environment and Bioscience (ICEBS2016)
9/2012-12/2014 Lecturer, Textile Engineering Department, The People’s University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Responsibility: Preparing lessons, teaching undergraduate level engineering courses, grading assignments, preparing exam questions, grading exam scripts
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Courses taught: Engineering Materials, Machine Technology and Maintenance of Textile Machinery, Elements of Mechanical Engineering, and Workshop Practice.
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I gained experience in education business management, lesson planning, curriculum implementation, cooperative learning, performance assessment, and technology integration.
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Used differentiated teaching methodologies according to the students’ academic and intellectual capabilities, which yielded incredible improvements in the learning process.
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Analyzed students’ strengths and weaknesses and developed personal strengths of each using a student-centered approach.
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Possess a positive and effective teaching style with the willingness to work in a stressful environment.
11/2010 -12/2010 Industrial Trainee, Eastern Refinery Limited, Chattogram, Bangladesh
Responsibility: attending on-site training sessions regarding feedstock logistics, plant process, product analysis and supply management of petroleum refinery process
Achievement : First-hand working experience in the largest refinery plant in Bangladesh
02/2008 - 12/2011 Undergraduate Student , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka, Bangladesh​
- Completed total 162.75 credits of coursework
- Prominent Coursework: Basic Thermodynamics, Numerical Analysis, Conduction & Radiation Heat Transfer, Convection, Boiling, Condensation and Mass Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, Production Process, Internal Combustion Engine, Power Plant Engineering,Machine Design, Engineering Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Metallic Materials, Mechanics of Machinery, Mechanical Engineering Drawing,Industrial Management
- Achieved two awards : MIST Dean's List 2009,MIST Commandant's List 2010.
- Under graduate Thesis: Design and Manufacturing of a Pedal Powered Generator
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Developing a pedal powered generator by coupling automobile alternator with the rear wheel of bicycle structure
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Investigating the performance of the pedal powered generator by output measurement with varying pedal speed