Sasidhar Varanasi

Dr. Sasidhar Varanasi is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Manhattan College, having joined in 2017. Previously, he spent nearly three decades at the University of Toledo (UT), where he was promoted to Full Professor in 1993. He holds a Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo (1983), an M.S. from IIT Kanpur (1977), and a B.S. from Andhra University (Waltair, India).

His research focuses on biomass conversion to fuels and value-added products, particularly using ionic liquids for lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and secured 20 patents, many licensed to startups like SuGanit Systems Inc. His work has been funded by NSF, DOE, USDA, and others, totaling over $13M. He has supervised over 25 graduate students in areas like ionic liquid pretreatment and bio-refining.

Key honors include the Outstanding Researcher Award from UT’s College of Engineering (1994) and the University-wide award (2015). He actively reviews for NSF, DOE, and ARPA-E, and is a senior member of AICHE and ACS. His teaching spans core chemical engineering courses at UT and Manhattan College.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, SUNY Buffalo, 1983
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, 1977
  • B.S., Chemistry, Andhra University, 1975

Research interests include biofuel production, catalytic processes, and sustainable biorefineries. His articles span biofuel precursors, pyrolysis, and microalgal cultivation. Patents cover furan synthesis, nylon precursors, and biomass fractionation.

Grants and funding highlight multi-million-dollar projects from NSF, DOE, and industry partnerships. He collaborates on pilot-scale biofuel facilities and has pioneered cost-effective biomass pretreatment technologies.