Members

End-of-year celebration 2026.

Group photo for Fall 2025 (where are we from?).
Front: Vicky, Yu, Shirui, Charlotte, Marali;
Back: Ali, Basil, Yalin, Nizam;
Not pictured: Ouwen.

Group photo for Fall 2024 (where are we from?).
Front: Naman, Basil, Yalin, Ali;
Back: Jason, Saket, Kevin (Washington and Lee University);
Not pictured: Maggie, Charlotte, Xavier, Venus, Jonah.

Lead

	Yalin Li
	Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University. Yalin received B. Eng. from Tongji University, M.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Ph.D. from Colorado School of Mines, all in Environmental Engineering. Yalin was a visiting scholar at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) during graduate study. Prior to joining Rutgers, Yalin worked at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) at UIUC. CV   |   Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn

Postdoctoral Researcher

	Ouwen Peng
	Dr. Ouwen Peng is a postdoctoral researcher in the Bioprocess Engineering team (co-advised with Dr. Jeremy Guest at UIUC) at PreFerS, the Centre for Precision Fermentation and Sustainability. Ouwen received his B.Eng. in Materials Science and Engineering from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the National University of Singapore (NUS). His current research focuses on techno-economic analysis, life-cycle assessment, and optimization of precision fermentation processes. Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn

	Cesar Ramirez
	Dr. Cesar Ramirez is a postdoctoral researcher working on the Cell-Free Systems Toward Increased Range of Use-Inspired Applications (CFIRE) initiative. Cesar received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University at Buffalo and obtained a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. His current research focuses on process design, techno-economic analysis (TEA), and market survey/analyses of cell-free systems. Google Scholar

Graduate Students

	Ali Ahmad
	Ali received his Chemical Engineering B.S. from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) and Renewable Energy Technology M.S. from the University of Dhaka. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rutgers. His research interest lies in the intersection of sustainability assessment tools and applied machine learning. Google Scholar

	Basil Mansoor
	Basil received his Bachelor in Environmental Engineering from National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (NUST). He is currently pursuing a MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers. His research interest lies in sustainable renewable energy with a specific focus on wet organic waste to energy generation (e.g., hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel [SAF]). Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn

	Nizam Uddin
	Nizam received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) and Master’s from Georgia Southern University, both in Civil Engineering. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rutgers. His research interest lies in valorization of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) products and sustainability analysis. Google Scholar   |   LinkedIn

	Shirui (Rae) Zhang
	Shirui (Rae) received her bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture and her master’s degree from Beijing University of Technology, where her research focused on municipal wastewater treatment. She later worked as a civil engineer at the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, concentrating on stormwater management. Her current research focuses on the fate and conversion mechanisms of microplastics. Google Scholar

	Yu Zhou
	Yu received a master’s degree from Beijing Normal University and a bachelor’s degree from Nanjing University, both in Environmental Science. Currently, Yu is pursuing a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of low-carbon concrete. Google Scholar

Undergraduate Researchers

	Vicky Du
	Vicky is a rising sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering at Rutgers University, with a strong interest in research areas such as sustainability, carbon capture, and biomedical applications. She joined the Li Research Group as a 2025 Aresty Summer Science scholar to further explore these interests. LinkedIn

Alumni

Charlotte Orton, Environmental Chemistry, Honors research/thesis Fall 2024-Spring 2026.

Elene Burdiashvili, Electrical Engineering, Project SUPER Scholar, Spring 2026.

Marali Akula, Environmental Engineering, independent research Fall 2025-Spring 2026.

Naman Shah, Computer Science/Data Science, Aresty Summer Science 2024; independent research Fall 2024-Spring 2026.

Maggie Wisneski, Civil Engineering, Aresty Research Assistant Fall 2024-Spring 2025.

Jason Chiang, Materials Science and Engineering, Aresty Research Assistant Fall 2024-Spring 2025.

Xavier Lennard, Biochemistry, LSAMP Scholar Spring/Summer 2024.

Venus Ikinnagbon, Biology/Women and Gender Studies (minor), LSAMP Scholar Summer 2024.