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.

• Invited Panel Member, Panel Discussion on Cellulosic Ethanol with the U.S. President George W. Bush, Novozymes, Franklinton, NC, February 22, 2007.
  
• Listed in the Academic Keys Who’s Who in Agriculture Higher Education (WWAHE). 2006.
  
• Listed in the 2005 America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals.
  
• 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:

• J. Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M.S. Chinn, N. Howell. 2009. Effect of microbial pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of cotton stalk for ethanol production. Biomass and Bioenergy. 33: 88-96.
• R. Sharma-Shivappa, Y. Chen. 2008. Conversion of cotton wastes to bioenergy and value‐added products. Transactions of ASABE. 51(6): 2239 – 2246.
• J. Shi, M.S. Chinn, R. Sharma-Shivappa. 2008. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by solid state cultivation of Phanerochaete chrysosporium for bioethanol production. Bioresource Technology. 99: 6556 – 6564.
• J. Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M.S. Chinn. 2008. Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by submerged cultivation of Phanerochaete chrysosporium for bioethanol production. Bioresource Technology. Accepted.
• J. Shi, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M.S. Chinn. 2007. Challenges in quantification of ligninolytic enzymes from phanerochaete chrysosporium cultivation for pretreatment of cotton stalks. Transactions of ASABE. 50(6): 2347 – 2354.
  
• Y. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, C. Chen. 2007. Ensiling agricultural residues for bioethanol production.  Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.143: 80 - 92.
• Y. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, D. Keshwani, C. Chen. 2007. Potential of Agricultural Residues and Hay for Bioethanol Production. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 142: 276 - 290.
• R. A. Silverstein, Y. Chen, 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 Chapters:

• C. Chen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, Y. Chen, D. Wichman, D. Johnson. 2007. Potential of annual cereal crops to serve as fuel ethanol feedstock and livestock feed. In: A Whipkey et al. (ed.), Issues in New Crops and New Products, ASHS, Alexandria, VA.
• 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. Winkler, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M. Chinn. Production of poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) from waste sweetpotato starch. Poster no. 141230. AIChE annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA. November 16 – 21, 2008. 
• J. Classen, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M. Chinn, K. Zering, A. Atkinson. Biofuel Feedstock production at municipal wastewater treatment plants. 2008 WRRI Annual Conference & NCWRA Symposium, Jane S. McKimmon Center, NCSU, Raleigh, NC. October 8 – 9, 2008.
• E. Houghton, R. Sharma-Shivappa. Pretreatment of Miscanthus for conversion to cellulosic ethanol. 7th Annual NC State University Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. July 31, 2008.
• J. Winkler, R. Sharma-Shivappa, M. Chinn. Production of poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) from waste sweetpotato starch. 7th Annual NC State University Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. July 31, 2008.
• Y. Yang, R. Sharma, J. Cheng, J. Burns. Hydrolysis and fermenation of new switchgrass germplasm for bioethanol production. Poster no. 083799. 2008 ASABE annual meeting. Providence, RI. June 29 – July 2, 2008. This paper was awarded 5th place - Graduate Student Paper Competition Award by Association of Overseas Chinese Agricultural, Biological and Food Engineers (AOCABFE) at the ASABE meeting.
• J. Xu, J. Cheng, R. Sharma-Shivappa, J. Burns. Lime pretreatment of switchgrass for bioethanol production. Lecture. Paper no. 083998. 2008 ASABE annual meeting. Providence, RI. June 29 – July 2, 2008.
• R. Sharma-Shivappa, B. Belvin, S. Sawson, M. Boyette. Photocatalytic process for on-site conversion of methane to methanol. Poster no. 083812. 2008 ASABE annual meeting. Providence, RI. June 29 – July 2, 2008.
• B. Thompson, N. Upadhyay, R. Sharma-Shivappa. Fermentation of sweetpotatoes for glutamic acid production. Poster. Bioenergy Forum at NC State, Biotechnology Training and Education Center, NCSU, Raleigh, NC. May 8, 2008.
• Y. Yang, R. Sharma, J. Cheng, J. Burns. Hydrolysis and fermenation of new switchgrass germplasm for bioethanol production. Poster. Bioenergy Forum at NC State, Biotechnology Training and Education Center, NCSU, Raleigh, NC. May 8, 2008.
• B. Belvin, J. Griffin, B. Reynolds, A. Viscuso. (Advisor: R. Sharma). Semi-automated reactor for enzymatic production of biodiesel. Poster. Bioenergy Forum at NC State, Biotechnology Training and Education Center, NCSU, Raleigh, NC. May 8, 2008.
• A. B. Thompson, N. Upadhyay and R. Sharma-Shivappa (Advisor: R. Sharma-Shivappa) Fermentation of sweetpotatoes for glutamic acid production. Poster. 17th Annual NC State University Undergraduate Research Symposium, Raleigh, NC. April 21, 2008.
• Y. Yang, R. Sharma-Shivappa, J. Cheng, J. Burns. Hydrolysis and fermenation of new switchgrass germplasm for bioethanol production. Lecture. Institute of Biological Engineers (IBE) annual meeting. Chapel Hill, NC. March 6 – 9, 2008.
• J. Xu, Y. Chen, Z. Wang, R. Sharma-Shivappa, J. Burns, and J. Cheng. Alkaline pretreatment of switchgrass for ethanol production. Lecture. Institute of Biological Engineers (IBE) annual meeting. Chapel Hill, NC. March 6 – 9, 2008.
  

42 research presentations prior to 2008 and numerous invited and teaching presentations

• 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