AU New Doctoral Graduate of Biotechnology: Acting Capt. Dr. Jakaphan Ratanapoompinyo

Acting Captain Dr. Jakaphan Ratanapoompinyo and his family visited and expressed their thanks to Rev. Bro. Dr. Bancha Saenghiran, President-Rector Magnificus, Assumption University of Thailand (AU) on November 24, 2021 at the Office of the President, De Montfort Hall, Hua Mak Campus on the occasion of completing his doctorate in Food Biotechnology, Theophane Venard School of Biotechnology Class 49.

AU New Doctoral Graduate of Biotechnology: Acting Capt. Dr. Jakaphan RatanapoompinyoActing Captain Dr. Jakaphan’s Educational Background:

  1. Bachelor’s Degree: Food Science and Technology, Kasetsart University
  2. Master’s Degree: Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology (FEBT), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
  3. Doctoral Degree: Food Biotechnology (Joint Program between Assumption University of Thailand (AU) and University of California, Davis, (U.S.A.)

Motivation and benefits of studying in this program:

Biotechnology is quite inevitable for mankind, not only for this generation but also for the generations to come.

Nowadays, there are a lot of products in the market involving biotechnology such as foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, packages, and even spaceships. Therefore, I decided to continue studying in this unique program because I not only want to comprehend more about the cutting-edge technology such as Genetic Engineering, Nanotechnology, Fermentation, and Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy but also, according to this unique Joint Program between Assumption University and the University of California, Davis, I could have a golden opportunity to experience and immerse in the culture between two countries (Thailand and United States of America).

Furthermore, after studying in this program, I could plausibly apply the scientific knowledge and entrepreneurial skills that I have learned from this program into the real situations of working and business as international standard quality on my products and services.

 The Impressiveness of Faculty:

I am impressed that this faculty provides a chance for students between two countries to exchange their experiences, cultures, and studies together. During studying in this faculty, I also had opportunities to participate in many international seminars and competitions and also met many foreign friends and professors, it makes me curious and enthusiastic about the conversation that we had to discuss.

These experiences mold me to be a person who is thirstily to learn everything in this universe to gain knowledge and create a topic to make a conversation with surrounding people. Furthermore, I was also impressed by the hospitality and the effort of my professors and officials not only from this faculty but also outside faculty that supported me to completely pursue my dream.

Why does your research focus on Durian peel?:

It makes me retrospect to the moment when I freshly finished all my coursework as the first part of this program. At that time, I had a lot of fundamental knowledge about biotechnology which made me hesitate to start my dissertation because every topic was all-important to do research such as Genetic Engineering, Nanotechnology, Biomimicry, Biosensor,  Vaccine, Fermentation, and Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy. Therefore, I had to ask myself and evaluate my possibilities like my research budget and advanced knowledge in biotechnology, what topic should be suitable for me to implement.

Thank God! At that time (during my contemplation), I was invited by the Embassy of the Netherlands (at that time, H.E. Kees Pieter Rade was an Ambassador) to participate in the event called “DUTCH-THAI SUSTAINABILITY DIALOGUE”. In that event, I saw many representatives from well-known companies in Thailand participating in that event and the really important one was the Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands (H.E. Prof. Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende).

At that moment, it was my turning point for starting my research because I noticed that why did many people pay attention to the topic of sustainability? (Not only the private company but also the government of Netherlands) and after listening to a speech from Netherlands Prime Minister and representatives from private companies, I felt that this topic would impact our society rather than other topics that I have ever learned.

Furthermore, according to the rising trend of durian consumption around the world, I noticed that many people that I know love eating durian even though the price of this fruit is quite expensive but it could not stop their desires.

However, the interesting question is … after consumption, how can they manipulate the wastes of this fruit? I certainly believe that many consumers (including me) just throw this waste away after consumption because the knowledge about waste utilization has not been prevalently recognized. At that time, I also didn’t know much about waste utilization but my goal was just want to utilize them and generate value-added products from this waste, for example, I and my professors converted durian peel into sugar solution for further producing other byproducts used in biorefinery processing e.g. bioethanol (or biofuels) and other possible products that use sugar solution as a substrate to create Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy and reduce pollution problems that can be possibly generated from the combustion of this agricultural waste.

Therefore, I had to read many scientific papers relating to waste utilization, especially on durian peel. I found that there were not many papers researching about durian peel utilization and if they did, the final products were not the same as I required. Therefore, the research topic that I chose to do on durian peel would be quite different from others and could be possibly unique enough for publication. In addition, the most important thing is if I could exhort many people about the methods or procedures of this waste utilization, it would also definitely benefit mankind as a sustainable living lifestyle in long term.

  

    Getting full text his dissertation: Study of pretreatment impacts on sugarcane bagasse and durian peel by using response surface methodology. Available in Assumption University Institution Repository (AU-IR)