Biodiesel production has expanded rapidly in response to global demand for renewable fuels, but it generates a significant byproduct that the market has struggled to absorb: glycerol. For Helena Aurellia, a Master's candidate at the China-UK Low Carbon College (LCC) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, transforming this low-value waste stream into fuels and other value-added chemicals has become the focus of her research — and a natural extension of a career spent thinking rigorously about the consequences of industrial processes.
01. From Chemical Engineering to Process Safety Consulting
Originally from Bandung, Indonesia, Helena completed her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology, where her academic record was strong enough to attract early recognition. During her studies she received a scholarship from the US Agency for International Development through the E4SEA program, completed internships in several think-tanks and energy producers, and represented Indonesia at international student summits in South Korea and Japan. Her bachelor's thesis focused on the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol as a green fuel — research funded by Indonesia's Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology — giving her an early grounding in both catalytic chemistry and sustainability-oriented engineering.
After graduating, Helena joined Gexcon, a leading global fire and explosion safety consultancy, as a Safety Engineer. Over several years in that role, she used advanced modeling tools including FLACS and RISKCURVES to simulate explosions, fire, and toxic dispersion scenarios for major energy companies across Indonesia. Her work involved leading safety risk assessments, developing hazard mitigation strategies, and conducting site visits to petrochemical refineries — experience that required both technical precision and a good understanding of how engineering decisions play out at scale.
That professional context ultimately shaped her decision to return to academia. As large-scale battery storage and hydrogen infrastructure become central to the energy transition, the process systems underpinning those technologies introduce new and complex risks. Helena's goal became to engage with those systems earlier in their development. "My motivation is to apply the principles of safety at the highest and most impactful level: at the drawing board," she explains. The Master's program in Energy and Power Engineering at LCC offers the research environment she was looking for.
02. Research Focus: Biomass Waste to Value-added Chemicals
Helena's research addresses one of the more practical inefficiencies in the biofuel supply chain. Biodiesel production yields glycerol as a co-product in quantities that far exceed current demand, making its disposal an ongoing environmental and economic challenge. Helena is developing a photocatalytic system to convert this glycerol waste into green hydrogen and fine chemicals.
The approach connects three areas of active industrial and policy interest: valorization of biofuel waste streams, green hydrogen production, and sustainable chemical manufacturing. Rather than treating glycerol as a disposal problem, Helena's research frames it as an untapped feedstock.Her work sits within LCC's broader emphasis on circular bio-economy thinking, and its outputs are relevant to industries looking to close material loops across the bioenergy value chain.
03. Mentorship and Academic Engagement
Helena conducts her research under the supervision of Professor Yao Lin. She values the balance her supervisor strikes between independence and support. "Professor Yao provides me with the freedom to explore various photocatalytic applications while offering precise guidance when I face some hurdles," she says.
Beyond her research group, Helena has remained engaged with the wider academic community at LCC by attending company visits and academic seminars. She attended an Academician Open Class with Professor Kohse-Höinghaus, where the seminar examined energy consumption patterns across different national contexts and the structural reasons why coal remains dominant in many power systems. She describes it as exactly the kind of event that situates her technical research within a broader policy and industrial reality.
04. Settling into Lingang
Relocating from Bandung, a city set among mountains in West Java, Indonesia, to Shanghai's Lingang District required adjustment. Now that she has comfortably settled into Lingang, her day-to-day activities in her first year are typically split between her classes, laboratory, and the campus library for focused, extended work. Evenings are often spent catching up with friends over dinner at the canteen. Weekends offer a change of pace. She reads novels, visits some parks, tries new cuisines around the district, and regularly cycles through the area — a routine she describes simply as "a lot of fun."
Lingang itself has made a strong impression. As a master-planned city built around innovation and low-carbon development, it presents a sharp contrast to what she was used to. “In Lingang, you can feel how everyone is focused on innovating and advancing a certain aspect of sustainable development, whether that is through developing policies, innovating technical applications, expanding green energy systems, and many others. This shared goal is what unites all of us who come from various parts of China and the world.”
Meet the Supervisor
Yao Lin
Associate Professor
yaol@sjtu.edu.cn
Dr. Lin Yao is an Associate Professor at the China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses on green and low-carbon energy conversion, including photocatalytic and electrocatalytic systems for hydrogen production, greenhouse gas conversion, and artificial photosynthesis. Dr. Yao has been awarded the Fellowship of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was selected as a Representative Chinese PhD Delegate to the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany. She has led multiple national-level research projects as Principal Investigator, including grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key R&D Programme. Her work has been published in leading international journals including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Science Bulletin, and Small.
