Doctor of Philosophy, December 2002. Processing for Added Value of Biological Materials: Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Master of Engineering, December 1999. Post-harvest and Food Process Engineering: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand.

Bachelor of Technology, July 1997. Agricultural Engineering: College of Agricultural Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

• Assistant Professor. May 2003
  Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
• Research and teaching in bioprocess engineering and food safety
  

• Faculty Research Assistant. February 2003 – April 2003.
  Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
  University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
• Isolation of Salmonella and Enterococcus spp. from poultry litter.
• Studying antibiotic resistance of Salmonella and Enterococcus isolates.

• Research/Teaching Assistant. January 2000 – October 2002.
  Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
• Use of ozone, electrolysed oxidizing water, and pulsed UV-light
  for decontaminating alfalfa seeds and sprouts.

• Visiting Scholar. February 1999 to May 1999.
  Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium.
• Moisture transport in fruits and vegetables.
• Reddening of Belgian endives.

• Summer Internship. July 1996.
  Nestle India Limited, Punjab, India.
• Production processes and machinery used in the five constituent plants -Noodles; Sauces & Seasoning; Coffee; Ghee & Sweetened and Condensed Milk (SCM); Cereals.

• April 2002. 3rd prize in engineering, 17th Annual Graduate Exhibition, Penn State University
• March 2001. 1st prize in engineering, 16th Annual Graduate Exhibition, Penn State University.
• January 2000 – October 2002. Assistantship for Ph.D. study at Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dept., Penn State University.
• January 1999. Post-graduate technological studies (PTS) fellowship for research at Katholieke University, Belgium.
• January 1998 to December 1999. Norwegian Government (NORAD) Scholarship for post-graduate studies at AIT.
• 1997. Junior Research Fellowship by Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) to pursue Master of Technology.
• 1994 – 1997. University Merit Scholarship for academic excellence.

Peer Reviewed:

• Y. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, C. Chen. 2007. Ensiling agricultural residues for bioethanol production.  Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. In Print.
• Y. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, D. Keshwani, C. Chen. 2007. Potential of Agricultural Residues and Hay for Bioethanol Production. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. In Print.
• R. A. Silverstein, Y. Chen, Y., R. Sharma-Shivappa, M. D. Boyette, J. A. Osborne. 2006. Comparison of Chemical Pretreatment Methods for Converting Cotton Stalks to Ethanol. Bioresource Technology. In Print/Available on-line.
• Sharma, R. R., A. Demirci, V. M. Puri, L. R. Beuchat, and W. F. Fett. 2004. Modelling the inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 on alfalfa seeds. Transactions of ASAE. 47: 173 – 181.
• Sharma, R. R. and A. Demirci. 2003. Treatment of E. coli O157:H7 inoculated alfalfa seeds and sprouts with electrolyzed oxidizing water. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 86: 231 – 237.
• Sharma, R. R. and A. Demirci. 2003. Inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 of alfalfa seeds with pulsed UV light. Journal of Food Science. 68: 1448 – 1453.
• Sharma, R. R., A. Demirci, L. R. Beuchat, and W. Fett. 2003. Application of ozone for inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 on alfalfa sprouts. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation. 27: 51 – 64.
• Sharma, R. R., A. Demirci, L. R. Beuchat, and W. F. Fett. 2002. Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on inoculated alfalfa seeds with ozonated water under pressure. Journal of Food Safety. 22: 107 – 119. 
• Sharma, R. R., A. Demirci, L. R. Beuchat, and W. F. Fett. 2002. Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on inoculated alfalfa seeds with ozonated water and heat treatment. Journal of Food Protection. 65: 447 – 451. 
• Fabrizio, K. A., R.R. Sharma, A. Demirci, and C. N. Cutter. 2002. Comparison of electrolyzed oxidizing water with various antimicrobial interventions to reduce Salmonella on poultry.  Poultry Science. 81: 1598 – 1605. 
• Mazzoni A. M., R.R. Sharma, G. R. Ziegler, and A. Demirci. 2001. Treatment of alfalfa seeds with super critical carbon dioxide. Journal of Food Safety. 21: 215 – 223.

Book Chapter:

R. Sharma. 2005. Ozone decontamination. Raw material safety: fruits and vegetables. ed. Wim Jongen. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Netherland (CRC Press). pp.373-386.

Research:

• J.Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, and M. Chinn. Studying the kinetics of microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Poster no. 067090. 2006 ASABE annual meeting. Portland, OR. July 9 – 12, 2006.
• K. C. Williams, R. Sharma-Shivappa, and L. Stikeleather. Subcritical water pretreatment of cotton stalks for the production of ethanol. Poster no. 067091. 2006 ASABE annual meeting. Portland, OR. July 9 – 12, 2006.
• S. Dawson, S. Merlau, E. Starkey, C. Williams (Advisor: R. Sharma). Steam distillation: extracting essential oils from plants native to North Carolina  Poster. NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. April 18, 2006.
• J.Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, and M. Chinn. Studying the kinetics of microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Graduate Research Symposium, NCSU. March 30, 2006.
• J. L. Cotter, M. Chinn, R. Sharma, and M. D. Boyette. Solvent extraction and HPLC quantification of capsaicin from Capsicum chinense. Lecture. 2005 ASAE annual meeting. Tampa, FL. July 17 – 20, 2005.
• J. Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, J. Hinestroza, and E. L. Harrel. Selective membranes for the separation of ethanol from plant biomass. Poster no.057013. 2005 ASAE annual meeting. Tampa, FL. July 17 – 20, 2005.
• J. Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, and M. Chinn. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium for bioethanol conversion. Poster. 2005 ASAE annual meeting. Tampa, FL. July 17 – 20, 2005.
• R. Silverstein, Y. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, and M. Boyette. A comparison of chemical pretreatment methods for converting cotton stalks to fuel ethanol. Poster no. 056133. 2005 ASAE annual meeting. Tampa, FL. July 17 – 21, 2005.
• J. Shi, R. Sharma, and M. Chinn. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks for ethanol production. Lecture. ASAE South East Section annual meeting. Charleston, SC. June 2 – 3, 2005.
• K. Williams, R. Sharma, L. Stikeleather and P. Kilpatrick. Supercritical Water Pretreatment of Cotton Stalk for Ethanol Production. ASAE South East Section annual meeting. Charleston, SC. June 2 – 3, 2005.
• J. Shi (Advisor: R. Sharma). Microbial and supercritical CO2 pretreatments as environmentally sound approaches for conversion of cotton stalks to fuel ethanol. Poster. International Research Exposition. OIAISSA-NCSU, Raleigh, NC. April 18, 2005.
• B. Boaz, L. Harrell, M. Jones, and J. Long (Advisors: L. Stikeleather, R. Sharma). Semi automated conversion of waste vegetable oil to biodiesel Poster. NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. April 15, 2006.
• J. Shi, R. R. Sharma, and M. Chinn. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks for bioethanol production. Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI) Fall Meeting. Southern Pines and Raleigh, NC. October 25 – 28, 2004.
• R. Silverstein, R. R. Sharma, and M. Boyette. A comparison of pretreatment methods during conversion of cotton stalks to ethanol. Lecture. 2004 ASAE/CSAE annual meeting. Ottawa, ON, Canada. August 1 – 4, 2004.
• J. L. Cotter, R. R. Sharma, M. S. Chinn, and M. Boyette. Solvent extraction and HPLC quantification of capsaicin from habanero peppers. Indoor Poster. Specialty Crops Field Day, Cunningham Research Station, Kinston, NC. July 13, 2004.
• M. Boyette, R. Sharma, and R. Silverstein. Creating Value-Added Products from Cotton Stalks. Specialty Crops Field Day, Cunningham Research Station, Kinston, N.C. July 17, 2003.
• R. Silverstein, R. R. Sharma, and M. Boyette. A comparison of pretreatment methods during conversion of cotton stalks to ethanol. Lecture. Symposium on Advances in Biological and Agricultural Engineering Education and ASAE Technical Session. Asheville, NC. June 8 – 9, 2004.
• J. L. Cotter, J. A. McDonald, M. S. Chinn, and R. R. Sharma. Solvent extraction and HPLC quantification of capsaicin from habanero peppers. Poster. NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. April 5, 2004.
• R. R. Sharma, A. Demirci, V. M. Puri, L. R. Beuchat, and W. F. Fett. Predicting the inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 on alfalfa seeds by ozonation and electrolyzed oxidizing water. Poster presentation. 2003 ASAE annual international meeting, Las Vegas, NV. July 27 – 31, 2003.
• M. Boyette, R. R. Sharma, and R. Silverstein. Creating Value-Added Products from Cotton Stalks. Specialty Crops Field Day, Cunningham Research Station, Kinston, NC. July 17, 2003.

12 presentations prior to 2003.

Teaching:

• J. Joines, G. Rouskas, R. Sharma-Shivappa, A. Kennedy and L. Bullard. Pedagogy, Laptops, and Student Learning: Providing leadership to faculty in the transformation of courses. Panel Discussion. UNC TLT conference. Raleigh, NC. March 15 – 17, 2006.
• R. Sharma. Industrial Microbiology and Biomanufacturing: in-class laptop activity for enhanced learning. COE teaching with technology seminars. November 6, 2005.
• R. Sharma. Industrial Microbiology and Biomanufacturing: in-class laptop activity for enhanced learning. COE teaching with technology seminars. May 4, 2005.

• Associate faculty member, Department of Food Science. 2006
• Faculty member, Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center. 2005 - present
• Faculty member, Department of Biotechnology. 2004 – present
• Assistant Editor, Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, International Society of Food, Agriculture and Environment. 2005 – present.
• Invited Panel Member, Panel Discussion on Cellulosic Ethanol with the U.S. President George W. Bush. Novozymes, Franklinton, NC, February 22, 2007.

• American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
• Institute of Biological Engineers (IBE)
• American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
• Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE)
• Alpha Epsilon Honor Society of Agricultural Engineering
• Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture
• Sigma Xi Honor Society. Member