Dr. Viruja Ummat

Dr. Viruja Ummat is a Research Scientist at Munster Technological University, based at  the green biorefinery and anaerobic digestion demonstration platform at Farm Zero C. She works on the EMBEDED project (funded by the European Union), which focuses on converting underutilised agricultural residues such as grass and green biomass into bio-based products, exploring sustainable and scalable market solutions. 

 She completed her PhD in Food Engineering at University College Dublin, based at the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Dublin, supported by a Teagasc Walsh Scholarship. Her research, funded by BiOrbic Bioeconomy Research Centre and Science Foundation Ireland, focused on seaweed biorefinery and developing green extraction methods (novel technologies) in collaboration with industry. A significant part of her research involved scale-up work conducted at an industrial site. Following her PhD, she taught food engineering and post-harvest courses at university level, engaging both graduate and postgraduate students. 

Viruja holds a Master’s in Processing and Food Engineering, with a minor in Mechanical Engineering, where she fabricated an ozone processing system to study its effect on post-harvest shelf life extension. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology and worked on the production processes of Kingfisher lager at United Breweries, focusing on both R&D and production operations. 

 She previously worked on a Newton-Bhabha (India-UK Research and Innovation Bridges) funded BioFreshPak project, focusing on bio-based packaging for fresh food and green processing methods, supported by Innovate UK and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT-India). 

 Her expertise lies in sustainable food and agro-processing, biorefinery, novel technologies, and green innovations, with a focus on translating eco-conscious solutions into scalable industrial applications.