The iCons Biodigester Team was founded in 2019 by a group of iCons students interested in anaerobic digestion technologies for improving campus sustainability. As iCons students, we have been impressed upon the need to tackle society's grand challenges in renewable energy through collaboration and innovative thinking. Based on preliminary research, we believed that anaerobic digestion provided a viable pathway with which to reduce the UMass campus's carbon footprint and achieve its goal of 100% clean energy by 2030.
Kieran Tay
ktay@umass.edu
Chemical Engineering '22
Kieran Tay was a member of the URAAD team from 2020 to 2022 and a former undergraduate in Chemical Engineering. He led the development of the lab scale digester and conducted his thesis on improving the feasibility calculator. He is now performing composite materials research at Boeing in South Carolina. Outside of work he loves to travel, rock climb, and make music.
Nicholas Sbalbi
nsbalbi@umass.edu
Chemical Engineering '22
Nicholas Sbalbi was a member of the URAAD team from 2020 to 2022 and a former undergraduate in chemical engineering. He lead the development of the URAAD website and the implementation of the AD economic feasibility calculator. He is currently a PhD student in MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering and Program in Polymers and Soft Matter where he is studying the self-assembly of nanoparticles. Outside of the lab, he enjoys hiking, skiing, and creating generative art.
Michael Forozis
mforozis@umass.edu
Biology '24
Hello! My name is Michael, and I'm a sophomore biology major. My favorite pastime is listening to music, and I also enjoy hiking and watching movies. On the AD team I help with planning and construction of the lab-scale digester, and hope to help manage it in the future when it is up and running.
Flo Sabatini
fsabatini@umass.edu
Mechanical Engineering '25
Hello! My name is Florian Sabatini and I'm a Freshman in Mechanical Engineering. When I'm not in class I thoroughly enjoy paddleboarding, vinyl collecting, and watching a fair bit of anime. As a part of the AD team I facilitate the construction and testing of prototype digesters.
Hansen Tjo
Chemical Engineering '21
Hansen Tjo was a founding member of the iCons Biodigester Team, member of the 8th Cohort, and also a former undergraduate in chemical engineering. He developed the first iteration of the AD techno-economic feasibility calculator and co-lead efforts to win the team's first SIEF grant. He is currently a PhD student in Chemical & Biological Engineering at Princeton University conducting research on metabolic engineering. Outside the lab, he enjoys hiking, powerlifting, and reading.
Joshua McGee
Chemical Engineering '21
Josh E. McGee was a founding member of the iCons Biodigester Team, member of the iCons 8th Cohort, and a former undergraduate in chemical engineering. He was team lead on developing kinetic models for biomethane production under various lab-scale AD conditions using MATLAB, as well as co-lead efforts to win the team's first SIEF grant. As a member of the Perry and Forbes Research Groups, he also conducted research on purifying protein nanoparticles using microfluidics as well as using bacteria for cancer immunotherapy. He is currently a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University conducting research on immunotherapy and drug delivery. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the National Institutes of Health Translational Research in Biomaterials Fellowship, and the Distinguished Biomedical Engineering Fellowship from Boston University. Outside the lab, he enjoys running and eating BBQ with his friends.