Dr. Sandeep Panda

About

I am a passionate Mineral Biotechnologist working on bio-hydrometallurgical applications for metal extraction from both primary (e.g., mine waste) and secondary resources (e.g., electronic wastes); biodesulphurization of pet-coke and high and low rank coals, mine water (AMD) treatment, since 2009. I have participated/managed projects as PI, Co-PI and Team Member in several R&D, Mobility and Industrial projects that have received funding from the European Commission, Govt. of India and Turkey. Prior to joining GBU, I worked as an Assistant Professor (2018 – 2022) with duties related to teaching, research and administration (academic) at Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey. I am interested in finding novel bio-based engineering solutions for sustainable mineral-metal waste recycling and resource recovery, covering interdisciplinary research in line with the circular economy principles. I enjoy reading and writing articles and am always open to collaboration.

Background

Education:

• 2015: PhD in Life Sciences from North Orissa University, Odisha, INDIA (Specialization – Mineral Biotechnology).
• 2008: M.Sc in Biotechnology from Ravenshaw University, Odisha, INDIA.
• 2006: B.Sc (Zoology Honors) from Dhenkanal Autonomous College (Utkal University), Odisha, INDIA.

Honours and Awards

• 2022: Featured in the World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists (Domain: Mining & Metallurgy; Sub-domain: Environmental Sciences), drawn up based on a subject-wise analysis conducted by the Stanford University, USA in 2020, 2021, 2022.
• 2018: Qualified for the prestigious Marie-Curie IF Fellowship, European Commission (Status – Not Availed).
• 2017: Awarded with the “YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARD-2016” for outstanding contributions to the area of LIFE SCIENCES by the ODISHA BIGYAN ACADEMY (OBA), Govt. of Odisha, INDIA.
• 2017: Qualified for the National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (NPDF) from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India (Availed at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, INDIA).
• 2015: Qualified for the TÜBİTAK – 2216 International Post-Doctoral Scholarship – 2015 by The Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (Availed at Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey).
• 2013: Awarded with the prestigious “MISRA AWARD – IIME Best Paper Published Award” on Hydro-Electro-Bio Processing (Honoured with a certificate and cash prize from Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers (IIME), India).
• 2012: Qualified for the CSIR – Senior Research Fellowship (Direct Scheme) from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (Govt. of India) (Availed at CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials technology, Bhubaneswar, INDIA).
• 2010: Awarded with the “Best Poster Award (Best Research Scholar)” on Research Scholar’s Day, from CSIR-Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.

Research Group Overview

Our research group is interested in the following major areas (but not limited to):
1. Providing Environmental Remediation solutions at Mine Sites or Similar Contaminates Areas: (a) Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) treatment: We are interested in developing novel and engineered biotechnological process to efficiently reduce the sulfate content in AMD, generate safe effluent and marketable metal bearing products. (b) Phytoremediation: We are interested to explore the potential of plants that can work as metal bio-accumulators and tolerate higher concentration of metals (e.g. Cu/Ni/Zn or REEs); especially, how the genetic machinery works and how they can be improved to serve as potential bioremediation agents at the mine site or similarly contaminated sites.
2. Bio-recycling of electronic wastes for metal recovery: We are interested in exploring biotechnological routes (bacterial, fungal or their metabolites) to leach and recover precious and Rare Earth Elements (REEs), in particular, as nano-particles or as nano-powders. To this aspect, our interests revolve around linking the fundamental side e.g. strain improvement through metabolic engineering/synthetic biology applications to the applied side e.g. bioleaching and metal bio-recovery. We are also interested in process scale-up and developing process flow-sheets for industries looking for a technological solution.
3. Building organic batteries for energy storage: We are interested in developing battery materials or battery components from biomass in order to avoid the current usage of toxic chemicals. For example, carbonization of waste biomass and their usage as electrode materials for batteries (e.g. lithium ion, sodium-ion batteries, metal–sulfur, or metal–oxygen batteries etc.).
4. Bio-mineralization and its applications: We are interested in studying the applications of ureolytic microorganisms for calcium carbonate production. Also, we wish to explore and work in the areas where carbonate-bio minerals can be used in sequestration of atmospheric CO2, remediation of environment (e.g. water & soil) and improving durability of buildings.

Publications

1. S. Panda, R. B. Costa, S. S. Shah, S. Mishra, D. Bevilaqua, A. Akcil, “Biotechnological Trends and Market Impact for Recovery of Rare Earth Metals from Bauxite Residues (Red Mud) – A Review”. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Vol .171, pp – 105645 (2021).
2. A. Akcil, Z. Sun, S. Panda, “COVID-19 disruptions to tech-metals supply are a wake-up call”. NATURE, Vol. 57, pp – 365-367 (2020).
3. S. Panda, A. Akcil, S. Mishra, C. Erust “Synergistic effect of biogenic Fe3+ coupled to S° oxidation on simultaneous bioleaching of Cu, Co, Zn and As from hazardous Pyrite Ash Waste”. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 325, pp – 59 – 70 (2017).
4. S. Panda, P.K. Parhi, B.D. Nayak, N. Pradhan, U.B. Mohapatra, L.B. Sukla “Two step meso-acidophilic bioleaching of chalcopyrite containing ball mill spillage and removal of the surface passivation layer”. Bioresource Technology, Vol: 130, pp: 332-338 (2013).
5. S. Panda, K. Sanjay, L.B. Sukla, N. Pradhan, T. Subbaiah, B.K. Mishra, M.S.R. Prasad, S.K. Ray “Insights into heap bioleaching of low-grade chalcopyrite ores- A pilot scale study”. Hydrometallurgy, Vol: 125 – 126, pp: 157–165 (2012) (The paper was awarded with the Misra Award: IIME Best paper published award).