Energy and Efficiency Division
Asanga is a Senior Research Scientist in the Chemical & Biological Process Development Group in the Energy and Efficiency Division at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He joined the lab in 2004 as a Postdoctoral Researcher, after completing his Ph.D. work on light-emitting polymers at the University of Southern California. Asanga's expertise includes rational design of molecules, multi-step organic syntheses, liquid scintillators, solid state lighting, techno-economic analyses, and catalytic and electrocatalytic conversion of biomass-derived materials to renewable transportation fuels and chemicals. He has managed several DOE/EERE and industrial projects in solid state lighting as well as biomass conversion. His recent research focus is on process development and optimizations for the conversion of sugars to distillate fuels, electro-catalytic reduction of bio-oils and waste streams, as well as development of standard methods for bio-oil analyses.