Dr. Liz Wachs
Liz entered Purdue’s School of Engineering in the ABE department, to pursue her PhD (’20) where she researched a variety of important environmental issues–from renewable energy to climate change; from biodiversity loss to the nitrogen cycle. She is most interested in preserving the environment where it joins up with human civilization, and loves working with others to build consensus and to see how environmental issues can bring people together. She is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where her focus is on industrial energy modelling.
Dr. Iman Behesheti Tabar
Iman pursued his PhD in Biological/Biosystems Engineering at Purdue University (’17), during which time he researched pretreatment technologies to increase cost-effective conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol in the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE) in ABE. He is currently the Manager of Crystallization and Chromatography Technology at ADM, where he also worked as a Senior Scientist in the ADM Research Downstream Process Development Group when he joined the company in 2017.
Joey Varikootv
Joey attended the University of Illinois, where he double majored in Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering. His passion is at the intersection of biology and hardware electronics, having worked on deep academic research and fast-paced technology company projects ranging from algae bioreactors, treadmills for fruit flies, neuro implants for mice, to biometric sensors for humans. In 2015, he worked for Fitbit’s R&D team on research initiatives in Machine Vision and Remote Biometric Sensing, using mass-produced, low-cost sensors, found in today’s smartphones and wearables. Leveraging his domain expertise in cutting-edge sensing, low-cost electronics, and biology, he co-founded Amber Agriculture with Lucas Frye in 2015, which was nominated best start-up in the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show.
Eric Kong
Eric Kong graduated from Purdue’s ABE department with his undergraduate degree in 2019 and with his masters in 2021. His graduate research focused on modeling the environmental and economic impact of conventional and autonomous agricultural machinery in row crop production systems. During his time at Purdue, he was involved with the Quarter Scale Tractor team and the ABE GSA, serving as president from 2020-2021. He was also a Teaching Assistant for senior capstone design, for which he received the Estus H. and Vashti Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is currently working for Productive Resources LLC as a mechanical design engineer.
