WPAC research director wins Young Engineer of the Year award

Fahimeh Yazdan Panah, recently appointed research and technical development director for the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC), has received the 2019 Young Engineer of the Year Award from the Canadian Society for Bioengineering (CSBE).

Dr. Danny Mann, president of CSBE and head of the Biosystems Engineering Department at the University of Manitoba, presented the award to Yazdan Panah at the CSBE annual conference in Vancouver on July 16.

Yazdan Panah has more than 12 years of experience in bioenergy research and discovery.

As the founder of Spark Biomass Consulting and former research associate for the Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group at the University of British Columbia, she managed bio-product projects for clients including governments, manufacturers and technology developers. Her research has covered biofuel densification, pre-treatment, storage and handling, leading to more than 80 technical reports and peer-reviewed publications.

Yazdan Panah serves as the project lead within ISO Technical Committee 238 (Solid Biofuels) and as the chair within ISO Technical Committee 300 (Solid Recovered Biofuels).

She holds a PhD and MASc from the Chemcial and Biological Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia, and a bachelor’s from Amirkabir University of Technology.

Yazdan Panah joined WPAC in April this year. She will be presenting on silo fires prevention and response at the WPAC Conference in Ottawa on Sept. 24. Find details on the conference here.