PhD in Biotechnology

Current position: Technology Associate at NineSigma Inc. Bangalore, India

Research focus: Open Innovation

Through her work in Germany, Saumita managed to enrich her dissertation and broadened the subject to an area she would have otherwise left unconsidered. The Green Talents programme helped expand her knowledge of environmental technologies and also taught her about future trends in her field of research. She then joined Siemens Corporate R&D as a research engineer to work in an area closely aligned with her PhD work. In her current role, Saumita is helping organisations accelerate their innovation cycle by helping them find new solutions, knowledge, and partners, from beyond their organisational boundaries.

CV as submitted for the Green Talents award (2009):

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Nagpur, India

Research focus: biotechnology for the use of biomass as a renewable energy source

The biotechnologist Saumita Banerjee is currently working on her Ph.D. work at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur in central India. Her topic is the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass, which is one of the most promising options for greenhouse gas reduction. That is because lignocellulosic biomass comes in a variety of forms, including wood residues and paper waste.

Hence, such a technology could help to solve both a garbage disposal as well as an energy supply problem. Saumita Banerjee is still at the beginning of her scientific career. According to the jury, she shows a lot of potential in the field or renewable energies. With her visit in Germany, Ms. Banerjee not only hopes to expand her own knowledge in the area of environmental technologies, but also to learn more about future trends in her field of research.