Principal investigator
Zong Liu
Assistant Professor
104 Price Hobgood
Research Interests
Processing of animal waste at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and centralized wastewater treatment facilities. Researches emphasize on animal waste management technologies, water/air quantity assessment, organic farming systems development, and value-added material production from wastewater.
Group members:
Xiao Wang
Research Associate
Xiao Wang is a research associate in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering of Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D degree from Iowa State Univesity in 2014. He currently conducts research on next-generation manure-based products, AI systems for animal waste monitoring, and virtual reality training technologies for animal waste management.
Sunghwa Han
PhD student
107 Price Hobgood
Sunghwa Han is a graduate student pursuing an PhD in Bio and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University. Sunghwa received his bachelor’s degree in Bio Engineering from Ajou University (2009, South Korea) and master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (2016, PA). Before beginning graduate school, Sunghwa worked for “Coway, Inc.” as a research associate focused on developing novel disinfection technology for water and air purifier. His current research focused on reducing microbial contamination in water system.
Amirhossein Mahdaviarab
PhD student
127 Price Hobgood
Amirhossein Mahdaviarab is a PhD student in the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering of Texas A&M University. He received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from KNTU University in Iran and master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Tehran, Iran. His current research focuses on designing a solar-powered, self-driving boat to treat lagoons using electrocoagulation and aeration and virtual reality training technologies for animal waste management.
Yuchen (Rachel) Zhang
PhD student
Yuchen (Rachel) Zhang is a PhD candidate in Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department of Texas A&M University. Yuchen received her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Science and Technology Beijing and master’s degree in Ecological Economics from University of Edinburgh. After worked several years in industry focusing on reducing waste in the manufacturing, Yuchen pursued an MBA degree from Rice University. Her direction is in operations and finance. Before the PhD program, she worked in an technological agriculture company to improve the agricultural operation process. Her current research focused on valuation of manure when implemented into different type of soil, design of irrigation and fertilization calendar based on computation of rain-fall and soil quality.
Danadhi Gunawardana
M.S student
107 Price Hobgood
danadhigunawardana@gmail.com
Danadhi Gunawardana is a MSc student in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka. Currently, her research focus is delivery of extension educational materials to the public through virtual reality field tours. Her project involves multiple aspects such as conducting field tours, filming and editing videos and presentation of educational material through workshops and VR videos. She has also conducted research on water treatment during her undergraduate program.
Ruiji Cheng
M.S student
Ruiji Cheng (Reggie) is a student researcher at Texas A&M University. He graduated from University of California, Irvine with a B.S. degree of Biological Science. He is conducting research in regards to the manure coated fertilizer. He plans on pursuing a graduate degree in Water Resource Management and Hydrological Sciences.
Yuanhong Li
Joint graduate student
Yuanhong Li is a graduate student pursuing a PhD degree in South China Agricultural University. He earned his M.Sc. Agricultural Engineering degree in South China Agricultural University and now he is a joint graduate student working at department of biological & agricultural engineering department in Texas A&M University, which is funded by the China Scholarship Council. And his research areas include water image processing, electromagnetic wave signal processing, and artificial intelligence algorithms. He has published several SCI papers, including an article on soil characteristics research in Soil & Tillage Research in 2019 and received some good awards, such as outstanding team of the Mathematical Contest and the Prize of the National Student Competition of Innovation Mechanical Design.
