Rate My Professor Kamelia Boodhoo

Professor Kamelia Boodhoo holds the position of Professor of Intensified Chemical Processing and serves as Director of Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. She earned her MEng degree with 1st Class Honours and her PhD from the University of Newcastle. Her research focuses on the development of spinning disc reactor (SDR) technology and its applications to various polymerization reactions, including free-radical styrene polymerisation, photopolymerisation of styrene and n-butyl acrylate, co-monomers, cationic polymerisation of styrene using immobilised Lewis acid catalysts, and surfactant-free emulsion polymerisation. Professor Boodhoo investigates fundamental aspects such as residence time distribution, micromixing, and hydrodynamics of thin film flow within the SDR. Her work extends to intensified reactor technologies for bioprocesses, exemplified by the intensification of fermentation reactions of P. Putida using rotating mesh agitators to increase cell growth rate and PHA yield. She also explores green chemistry and engineering principles, including ionic liquid processing and the utilisation of renewable resources like biomass for biofuels and biopolymers.

In her career at Newcastle University, Professor Boodhoo acts as Executive Editor for Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification published by Elsevier. She has been recognised with major awards, including the Teaching Excellence Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Employability in 2018, the ExxonMobil Engineering Teaching Fellowship from 2004 to 2007, the ExxonMobil Higher Education Support Scheme Award in 2004, the SAgE Faculty Certificate of Appreciation for Best Lecturer in 2004, and the ORS Award from 1995 to 1999. Notable publications include 'Spinning Disc Technology for Intensified Continuous Flow Processing: An Overview of Recent Progress and Future Prospects' (Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 2025), 'HiGee Process Intensification in Biorefineries: Innovations, Challenges, and Outlook' (Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, 2025), 'Development of a continuous intensified process for conversion of hemicellulose sugars into furans using an agitated cell reactor' (Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2025), 'Purification of hemicellulose hydrolysates by antisolvent precipitation in a spinning disc reactor' (Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2024), and 'Intensification of Evaporative Precipitation of Lignin in a Spinning Disc Evaporator' (Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 2024). Her research output has accumulated over 3,150 citations, underscoring her influence in the field of process intensification and sustainable chemical processing.