Instruction and Leadership Team

Instruction Team

The instructors for the Master of Engineering Leadership (MEL) in Sustainable Process Engineering are renowned in their fields. They’ve built strong connections and research partnerships with leading industry players and have experience commercializing technologies and launching new ventures.

Dr. Naoko Ellis

Dr. Naoko Ellis is a professor in the UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering with a profound desire to help create a low carbon future. Her commitment to a sustainable future is evident in her research interests, which include biomass utilization (bio-oil upgrading, biochar potential and hydrogen production), sustainability leadership, CO2 capture (chemical looping systems) and transdisciplinary learning. She is curious about how learning with and from “others” – crossing the disciplinary boundaries – can inform and frame the complex societal problems we face.

Sergio Berretta

As an independent consultant helping companies with their chemical process scale-ups, Sergio Berretta brings his passion for applying engineering principles in the development of new technologies and solutions to existing industrial challenges. He has over 25 years of broad experience in the engineering design and commissioning of industrial chemical plants, having led the engineering design and commissioning of eight world-scale chemical industrial plants and novel processes for companies in three continents. He was Chief Operating Officer of BC Research from 2013-2018 and was a founding executive of the Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute.

Orlando Rojas

A recognized global leader in nanocelluloses, Dr. Orlando Rojas holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Forest Bio Products and is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He will lead the UBC BioProducts Institute, an enabler of the transition to a sustainable bio-based circular economy by using plant-based resources. Nanomaterials, colloids and surfaces form the basis of Dr. Rojas’ cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the fundamental principles involved in the design, manufacture and performance of biobased systems. Prior to joining UBC, he directed Finland’s FinnCERES flagship, a scientific cluster to advance the forest-based materials bio-economy.

Emily Cranston

Emily Cranston holds the President’s Excellence Chair in Forest Bio-products and is an Associate Professor in UBC’s departments of Wood Science and Chemical and Biological Engineering. She was previously an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University and held the Canada Research Chair in Bio-Based Nanomaterials. Her research focuses on sustainable nanocomposites and hybrid materials from cellulose and other biopolymers, and her work has significantly impacted the broad scientific community, as evidenced by her H-index of 32, four patents and 85 peer-reviewed publications with over 4000 citations.

The UBC Sauder Robert H. Lee Graduate School business instructors for the MEL in Sustainable Process Engineering are renowned experts who lead the way in Canada and internationally in business and management research and knowledge dissemination.

Perry Atawal

Perry Atwal is a lecturer at UBC Sauder’s Robert H. Lee Graduate School who has also worked as an assistant dean and executive director of Executive Education and executive director for the Centre for Healthcare Management. Perry has led several successful projects with extremely diverse participants from around the world and spanning industries that include health care, transportation and education. He is one of the most highly rated and award-winning teachers at UBC.

Justin Bull

Justin is the academic director for the MEL and MHLP programs and a lecturer at the UBC Sauder’s Robert H. Lee Graduate School , and Chair of the Sustainability and Ethics Group. He teaches extensively on sustainability, innovation and strategy, with a focus on graduate and executive learners. He has worked with big companies – like IKEA, Lyft, and Rolling Stone – to implement climate innovations. Justin serves as an advisor and board member to several technology start-ups and First Nations in Canada. He graduated with a BA in International Relations and a PhD in Wood Science from the University of British Columbia.

Donabel Santos

Donabel Santos is the Associate Director, Business Intelligence at UBC’s Development and Alumni Engagement portfolio where she leads a team of data experts that deliver on operational tasks and strategic data initiatives. A Tableau Accredited Trainer, she has over 18 years of technical and academic experience in the data space – from infrastructure development, data engineering, reporting, analytics and visualization to training and coaching professionals who work with data. She is also the principal of QueryWorks, a boutique consulting and training company specializing in databases and visualization. Donabel was a multi-year Microsoft Data Platform MVP who has authored four technical books and has spoken at numerous conferences.

Leadership Team

Get to know the Sustainable Process Engineering Director who is leading the program.

Vikramaditya Yadav

Dr. Vikramaditya Yadav is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He has a BASc degree in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo, a PhD in chemical engineering from MIT, and was a post-doctoral associate at Harvard. His research group – the BioFoundry – uses metabolic and enzyme engineering to investigate and customize novel biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into better fuels, pharmaceuticals and value-added chemicals.