In addition to Harvest’s own technology team, we are proud to work with some of the world’s pre-eminent experts in organics recycling.

David P. Chynoweth, Professor Emeritus

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida

Following a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from the University of Louisville, Dr. Chynoweth continued for a master’s in environmental chemistry and biology and doctorate in environmental microbiology from the University of North Carolina. After postdoctoral study at the University of Florida and seven years on the faculty of the Department of Environmental and Industrial Health at the University of Michigan, he became Assistant Director of Biotechnology and Environmental Research at the Institute of Gas Technology in Chicago.

He is currently Professor Emeritus in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at the University of Florida where he was responsible for research and feasibility programs in the area of applied microbiology with emphasis on production of methane and other chemicals from renewable resources, degradation of environmental pollutants, microbial influenced corrosion, and indoor air quality. He was recently Deputy Director of the UFL/NASA Environmental Systems Commercial Space Technology Center. He currently is a consultant in the fields of anaerobic digestion and environmental microbiology.

Dr. Chynoweth has been a member of seven professional societies and author of over 140 technical publications, including two books and eight patents. He has served a reviewer for the USDOE, USEPA, and Gas Research Institute research programs and has chaired several sessions at scientific conferences.

 

Robert J. Cummings

Former Chief Technology Officer, Ecovation

Robert J. Cummings graduated with his Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Vermont in 1973. He immediately began his professional career as a research faculty member in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department of Cornell University, remaining there for twenty years, focusing on the development of high rate anaerobic treatment and digestion technologies.

In 1993 Mr. Cummings left Cornell University and founded AnAerobics, Inc. which later was renamed Ecovation Inc. While growing the company as the Chief Technology Officer, he patented a high rate anaerobic treatment technology in 1998 that became known as the Mobilized Film Technology and followed this in 2000 with a high rate anaerobic digestion technology known as the Floating Bed Technology. Using these two core technologies, Ecovation grew and was named the fastest growing Company in Rochester, NY in 2007. A year later, 2008, Ecovation was sold to Ecolab for $210 million dollars. Mr. Cummings remained with Ecolab as VP of Technology until he retired in December 2009.

 

Dr. Pratap Pullammanappallil

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

University of Florida, Gainesville.

 

Dr. Pullammanappallil is a biochemical engineer with expertise in the areas of bioprocess design, modeling and optimization for production of biofuels and pollution control.  He currently leads projects in the areas of anaerobic digestion, nutrient recovery from wastewater, biodiesel production and enzymatic saccharification of biomass. 

He has over 20 years of experience in the field of anaerobic digestion of wastewater, solid wastes and biomass and has worked on several research, pilot and full-scale projects pertaining to the microbial characterization, and development and implementation of novel process designs and stable operating strategies for anaerobic digesters.  His pilot-scale experience include design and operation of two-stage temperature phased systems for  sludge digestion, bioreactor landfill test cell and a biogasification system for sugarbeet processing residuals.  Full scale experiences have included trouble-shooting operation of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket systems, Anaerobic Filters, Anaerobic Contact processes and sewage sludge digesters.  He has also developed mathematical models for anaerobic digestion process that have been tested and validated for full-scale systems.        

He has published widely in major international journals reflecting his extensive experience gained from the many research projects and consultancies and has over 100 technical publications in the area of anaerobic digestion including 75 peer reviewed publications in international journals and conference proceedings.  He teaches courses in Bioprocess Engineering, Waste Management and Applied Microbial Biotechnology, and currently mentors 10 PhD students.

He has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a PhD from University of Florida; both in Chemical Engineering.