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PhD (Queensland University of Technology), Master of Business Administration (Technology Management) (Deakin University), Bachelor of Engineering (University of Queensland)
Ian O'Hara is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at QUT. Ian is widely recognised as a leading expert in policies, technologies and systems for developing the bioeconomy and producing bio-based products including biofuels, bioenergy and biomaterials. In addition to his academic role, Ian also represents the Queensland Government as the Biofutures Industry Envoy and acts as an ambassador for Queensland’s Biofutures industry and industrial biotechnology sector. As the Envoy, Ian provides strategic advice to government and assists in securing domestic and international investment to grow the Biofutures sector. Ian is on the International Advisory Committee of the Global Bioeconomy Summit and is a Senior Editor of EFB Bioeconomy Journal.
Ian led the development of the Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant (MRBPP) - a unique publicly accessible pilot scale research facility in Australia for the development and demonstration of processing technologies for the manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts. Ian is a Chemical Engineer with extensive experience in research, consulting, policy development, operations management, process design and engineering. Ian works closely with industry and undertakes consulting projects globally in areas including bioeconomy development, technology optimisation, techno-economics, business strategy and process improvement. Recent research has focussed on the technical and economic development of biofuel and bioproduct production systems including feedstock supply, bioprocessing technologies, techno-economics and systems analysis.
Ian is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Bioplastics and Biocomposites. Ian's current research interests include:
- bioeconomy
- industrial biotechnology
- biofuels and bioenergy
- biorefining and biochemicals production
- process engineering
- pilot plant development, scale up and process demonstration
- techno-economic assessment.
More information can be found on our research website: https://research.qut.edu.au/biorefining/.
Projects
Additional information
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Senior editor of EFB Bioeconomy Journal
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Invited Speaker - 1st Indo Asean Oceanic Business Summit & Expo. India (via zoom)
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Plenary speaker, Thai Institute of Chemical Engineers and Applied Chemistry Conference. Bangkok, Thailand - Via zoom
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Session chair, invited speaker, and conference co-organiser, Life Sciences Queensland. Asia Pacific Bioeconomy Policy Summit.
- Type
- Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Judge at Energy Labs Hackathon
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Invited speaker, Panel session on synthetic biology. 7th International Yeast and Synthetic Genomes conference
- Type
- Advisor/Consultant for Industry
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Appointed as Co-Chair of the R&D Implementation Advisory Committee of the MLA Supply Chain Sustainability Program
- Type
- Appointment to Prestigious Positions
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- International Advisory Committee - Global Bioeconomy Summit
- Type
- Appointment to State/National/International Reference Group or Government Committees
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Chair of the Biofutures Industry Advisory Committee
- Type
- Appointment to Prestigious Positions
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Queensland Biofutures Industry Envoy
- Ketsub, N., Latif, A., Kent, G., Doherty, W., O'Hara, I., Zhang, Z. & Kaparaju, P. (2021). A systematic evaluation of biomethane production from sugarcane trash pretreated by different methods. Bioresource Technology, 319. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205105
- Jayarathna, K., Kent, G., O'Hara, I. & Hobson, P. (2020). A Geographical Information System based framework to identify optimal location and size of biomass energy plants using single or multiple biomass types. Applied Energy, 275. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/202152
- Ainscough, R., Palfreyman, R., Cao, L., Harrison, M., O'Hara, I., Speight, R., Gebbie, L. & Dam, T. (2020). A snapshot of microbial diversity and function in an undisturbed sugarcane bagasse pile. BMC Biotechnology, 20.
- Cox, S., Parker, R., O'Hara, I. & Sinclair, S. (2021). Coordination and legitimacy in the Australian biofuels innovation system 1979 - 2017. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 38, 54–67. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/207231
- Hassanpour, M., Abbasabadi, M., Strong, J., Gebbie, L., Te'o, V., O'Hara, I. & Zhang, Z. (2020). Scale-up of two-step acid-catalysed glycerol pretreatment for production of oleaginous yeast biomass from sugarcane bagasse by Rhodosporidium toruloides. Bioresource Technology, 313. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/202220
- Cai, G., Moghaddam, L., O'Hara, I. & Zhang, Z. (2019). Microbial oil production from acidified glycerol pretreated sugarcane bagasse by Mortierella isabellina. RSC Advances, 9(5), 2539–2550. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/127061
- O'Hara, I. & Glenn, D. (2017). The economic case for bioeconomy development in Australia. Industrial Biotechnology, 13(2), 65–68. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107156
- O'Hara, I. & Mundree, S. (2016). Sugarcane-based biofuels and bioproducts. Wiley-Blackwell. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/94703
- Zhang, Z., O'Hara, I., Mundree, S., Gao, B., Ball, A., Zhu, N., Bai, Z. & Jin, B. (2016). Biofuels from food processing wastes. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 38, 97–105. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/92814
- Zhang, Z., Harrison, M., Rackemann, D., Doherty, W. & O'Hara, I. (2016). Organosolv pretreatment of plant biomass for enhanced enzymatic saccharification. Green Chemistry, 18(2), 360–381. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/91323
- Title
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- CE200100029
- Start year
- 2020
- Keywords
- Title
- Biorefineries for Profit - Phase 2 (RnD4Profit 18-04-016 | 2019/902) (4207/4395)
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 4-BA20OPM
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Agriculture; Bioproducts; Biorefinery; Diversification; Value Chain
- Title
- Cost Effective Renewable Hydrogen through Materials, Modelling and Process Innovation
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- MG030
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Battery and Solar Power; Hydrogen Production; Microgrid Integration; Renewable Energy; Water Electrolysis
- Title
- Wastes to Profits: Value Propositions for Better Management of Wastes in Animal Industry Supply Chains (4303)
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- V.RDP.3010
- Start year
- 2018
- Keywords
- Title
- A profitable future for Australian agriculture: Biorefineries for higher-value animal feeds, chemicals, and fuels (RnD4Profit 14-01-044) (4207)
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 2015/902
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Agriculture; Bioproducts; Biorefinery; Diversification; Value Chain
- Title
- Integrated technologies for economically sustainable bio-based energy(Grand Challenges)
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- GCF020010
- Start year
- 2013
- Keywords
- Biomass; Biofuel; Biorefinery; Ethanol; Alkanes; Lignin
- Title
- Revenue diversification from sugarcane fibre: novel technologies for the processing of bagasse for low-cost biofuels production
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- QUT051
- Start year
- 2011
- Keywords
- Pretreatment; Biofuels; Ethanol
- Title
- Developing a New Renewable Fuel and Food Industry in Australia: Sweet Sorghum
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- PRJ-005254
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Sweet Sorghum; Milling; Biofuels; Ethanol; Food; Fermentation
- Development of a Novel Sustainability-Based Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach for Organic Waste Processing Technolgies in the Meat Industry
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Professor Robert Speight, Associate Professor Kate Helmstedt - Developing bioactive polymers derived from brown algae |
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Lalehvash Moghaddam, Professor William Doherty - OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANAGING HORTICULTURAL FOOD LOSSES USING BIOREFINING APPROACHES
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Jo-Anne Blinco, Adjunct Professor Robert Speight
- A GIS-Based Integrated Modelling Framework for Optimal Positioning of Biomass Energy Plants (2021)
- Biorefining of Sugarcane Bagasse Based on Acid-Catalysed Glycerol Pretreatment (2021)
- Mathematical Modelling of the Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Sugarcane Bagasse (2016)
- Microbial Oil Production from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (2016)
- Experimental and Statistical Investigation of Australian Native Plants for Second-Generation Biodiesel Production (2015)
- Microalgae: an alternative source of biodiesel for the compression ignition (CI) engine (2014)