Kansas Corn Award

Today, we celebrate the achievement of our Ph.D. student, Victor Sharma for receiving the Kansas Corn Next Generation Scholarship for his solid academic accomplishments that may contribute to the corn industry. To promote the on-going research endeavors, this award aims to support students in post-secondary education who are making an impact in the corn and agriculture sector. The state of Kansas is a major contributor to the corn market, ranking in the 5th position of overall area planted, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Given its importance to the state economy, efforts have been invested in the development of technologies to promote alternative uses of corn-based products. Victor’s research is focused on the biocatalytic conversion of corn-ethanol to higher-value chemicals, combining process engineering with enzymology to investigate greener processes for ethanol valorization as well as their techno-economic feasibility. His research is expected to positively impact the Kansas corn farmers by creating a bigger market for the ample corn-ethanol produced in the state.  Congratulations, Victor. We are looking forward to your upcoming accomplishments!