NARA member Junyong (J.Y.) Zhu recently received the “Andrew Chase Award” and was elected as an “ALChE fellow” at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE) Forest Bioproducts Division meeting in San Francisco, CA.
Here is the statement read out in recognition of Dr. JY Zhu:
“Dr. Junyong (J.Y.) Zhu is a scientific team leader from the USDA Forest Service, Forest
Products Lab, Madison, WI. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Zhu has made numerous scientific
contributions to chemical engineering related in sustainable utilization of wood and forest
resources for the forest products and pulp and paper industries. He has published more than 150
publications in the area of chemical engineering and forest bioproducts research and has
supervised and co-supervised numerous graduate student research theses.
His contributions to the development of the SPORL process for delignification and pretreatment
of forest lignocellulosic resources have led to some of the first commercial realizations of the
Forest BioRefinery. His processes have successfully converted 60 tons of softwood forest
residue into biojet fuels used for demonstration in commercial flights in 2016.
Dr. Zhu was recognized as a Distinguished Fulbright Chair and Professor at Aalto University,
Helsinki, Finland during 2015-2016. In addition, he has been elected as a Fellow of the AIChE
(2016), Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science (2014) and of the Technical
Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, USA (TAPPI). Prior to his current position at the
USDA FPL, Dr. Zhu served as a professor of chemical engineering at the Institute of Paper
Science and Technology, at the Georgia Institute of Technology.”
Dr. Zhu’s contribution to the NARA project was to optimize and adapt the SPORL technology developed through his lab to large scale production of biojet fuel from forest harvest residuals.