Phone: 247-5000 local 3301
Email: mcalmendrala@mapua.edu.ph

Honors and Awards

• Best Thesis Adviser - Undergraduate Level, Co-digestion of Distillery Wastewater and Sugarcane Press Mud for Enhanced biogas Production, 2018
• PAEF-Fulbright Grant: Fulbright Advanced Research and University Lecturing Program Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA, September 2009- February 2010   
• ERDT Visiting Professor Program Grant for Dr. Shang-Tian Yang, Ohio State University, USA: Seminar on Production of biofuel and biochemical from plant biomass: Production of Butyric Acid and Butanol from Biomass and  Open Forum on the Importance of Industry-University- Government Collaboration in Reducing Cost of R&D; 2009
• Post-Graduate Studies Program Grant,   University of New South Wales; The School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; July 1996 – November 1996 
• Mapua Institute of Technology ChE-ChM Alumni Association Scholarship, 1989 -1993
• Recipient, DOST-Engineering and Science Education Program Scholarship, 1994 -1997

Research Interest

• Waste to energy conversion:
• Anaerobic digestion of distillery wastewater and  sugarcane press mud for biogas production
• Utilization of corn cobs, sugarcane molasses and other agro-industrial wastes for biofuel production such as bioethanol and biobutanol
• Water and wastewater treatment by  ultrafiltration, electrocoagulation and advanced oxidation
• Ultrafiltration for  food and beverage applications – i.e., fruit juice and wine clarification
• Downstream processing of fermentation process by pervaporation
• Biofuel, green chemicals, and bio-fertilizer production using agro-industrial waste materials, food waste and other biomass through biochemical and thermochemical process.
• Utilization of sugarcane molasses for the production of antioxidant-rich food supplement

Publications

• ​Recovery of Butanol From ABE Mixture Using Pervaporation Hollow Fiber Contained-Liquid Membrane; Michelle C. Almendrala¹, Shang Tian-Yang^{2     1}School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry,  Mapua Institute of Technology, Manila, Philippines.  ²Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. ; Separations Division: Challenging Separations: In Renewable and Sustainable Energy Development, 2011 AICHE Conference Proceedings ISBN 978-0-8169-1070-0
• Recycling Biobutanol Spent Broth by Ultrafiltration; Michelle C. Almendrala¹, Shang Tian-Yang^{2 1}School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry,   Mapua Institute of Technology, Manila, Philippines. ²Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. ; Environmental Division: Pretreatment/Treatment of Industrial Wastewater for Reuse; 2011 AIChE Conference Proceedings ISBN 978-0-8169-1070-0    
• Solving Philippine Environmental and Energy Problems through Membrane Science and Technology; Michelle C. Almendrala; General Assembly of the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education on May 26, 2009, Manila, Philippines; Audience: Educators and Industry Stakeholders; Published in FUSION, Vol. VII December 2010, ISSN No. 2012-4376
• Modeling Permeate Flux in Ultrafiltration of Non-Newtonian Polysaccharide Solutions; Michelle C. Almendrala¹, Shang Tian-Yang^{2 1}School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry,   De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. ²Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the Ohio State University,Columbus, Ohio, USA. ; 20^th Regional Symposium on Chemical Engineering Conference Proceedings 2013
• Multi-Criterion Decision Making for Selecting Municipal Wastewater Treatment Technology, Michael Angelo Promentilla, Aileen Huelgas, Michelle Almendrala, De La Salle University; 2014 Regional Conference on Chemical Engineering, AUN-SEED NET Conference Proceedings Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• Ultrafiltration Flux of Dilute Molasses Solution; Michelle C. Almendrala, Gerald Ang, Edmar Bernades, Cedrick Ong, De La Salle University;  2015 AUNSEED Annual Conference Proceedings, Hanoi Vietnam
• Water disinfection using moringa protein adsorbed on rice husk ash; Sheree A. Pagsuyoin,*¹ Michelle Almendrala,² Kathleen B. Aviso,² Florinda T. Bacani,² John R. Barajas,² Aileen Huelgas-Orbecido,² Jana S. Latayan,³ Michael Angelo B. Promentilla,¹ Luis F. Razon,¹ Joost R. Santos,⁴ Raymond R. Tan^{2    1}Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA ²Chemical Engineering Department, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines ³Acto, -Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, MA 01720, USA, ⁴Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA, Sheree_Pagsuyoin@uml.edu; Chemical Engineering Transactions, Vol 52, 2016, AIDIC ISBN 978-88-95608-42-6
• Quality Improvement of PhilRice “Tapuy” (Rice Wine) by Ultrafiltration Hollow Fiber Membrane; 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota Conference Proceedings