About the R&D project

Cetogenix is developing world-leading hydrothermal oxidation technology (HTO) to transform municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes into valuable products while solving crucial waste management challenges. A key R&D project at Cetogenix is understanding the fate of critical chemical markers and priority pollutants in their Ceto-Boost™ process. The student will contribute to the following R&D objectives of the project:

• Chemical fingerprinting of post HTO liquors produced from priority waste/agricultural streams
• Evaluating the fate of problematic per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) aka 'forever chemicals' in HTO processing of wastewater/biosolid feedstocks
• Investigating the chemistry of high molecular weight melanoidins and phosphate moieties in HTO liquors

The role you will play in this R&D project:

The student will have an active laboratory-based role undertaking qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis of complex hydrothermal oxidation liquors produced under different processing conditions in both small-scale batch reactors and in a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor.

The student will undertake wet chemistry methods to separate HTO liquors into different fractions and then analysis these fractions by advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques in association with our partnering organisation (Bioeconomy Science Institute – Scion Group). The student will learn to run typical (¹H,¹³C) and atypical isotope (¹⁹F, ³¹P, ¹⁵N) NMR spectroscopy experiments for highly targeted analysis to determine the fate of key chemical markers and environmentally significant pollutants.

About you 

You are a final year undergraduate or recent graduate in chemistry with practical experience in advanced analytical or organic chemistry, ideally including use of NMR and other spectrometry (MS, UV-Vis, FT-IR). You must be able to re-locate to our Rotorua offices/laboratories over the Summer.

*Must be a current or completing student of New Zealand university

About the R&D project the student will be contributing to:

Cetogenix is developing advanced hydrothermal oxidation (HTO) technologies to transform challenging organic waste streams into renewable products while resolving significant scientific and engineering uncertainties associated with process optimisation, reactor scale-up, integrated resource recovery, and demonstration-scale deployment.

As the Ceto-Boost™ platform progresses through laboratory-, pilot- and demonstration-scale R&D, increasingly complex engineering concepts, experimental data and process interactions must be modelled and translated to support the technical performance of these systems and generate commercial-level value propositions for end-users.

This project focuses on developing advanced engineering and knowledge translation tools that will allow our technical team to readily interpret R&D outcomes into design parameters for the evolving technology. The work will involve working from fundamental engineering principals related to mass and energy flow calculations within the hydrothermal oxidation system and extrapolating these to their impacts on the broader unit operations (e.g., upstream feedstock inputs, anaerobic digestion steps and downstream processing) that form the integrated systems targeted by the company.

In addition to the advanced models, the project will generate technically accurate and readily adaptable process calculators, process flow visualisations, resource recovery pathways and digital mirrors of the technology that can be used to deliver end-user value propositions using external, real-time data sets from existing and future waste-to-energy operations – a critical step to quantitatively and objectively assessing the potential benefits of these systems to our future clients and investors.

These outputs will become part of the technical knowledge base supporting experimental planning, design iteration, technical engagement with the market and future technology development.

The role you will play in this R&D project

The student will work closely with the CSO, scientists and engineers to understand, enhance and transform our existing bespoke models into technically accurate resources that support ongoing technology development and commercial engagement.

Responsibilities will include:

• Working directly with the technical team to develop process flow calculators for mass and energy balances and processing models for specific operational parameters and interactions across integrated HTO systems.
• Working directly with the technical team to develop clear technical resources – focused particularly on dynamic visualisation of operational performance - that accurately translate internally-generated data and external client performance inputs into case study outputs.
• Investigate and apply appropriate digital design, visualisation and selected AI-assisted tools to improve the efficiency and quality of technical knowledge capture and translation.
• Build a library of reusable technical assets that accurately reflect the ongoing evolution of the Ceto-Boost™ platform as collateral for project delivery to external clients.

The student will work as an integrated member of the multidisciplinary R&D team, producing technical outputs that directly support engineering development, technical design and commercial engagement throughout the technology programme.

About you

You are a final year undergraduate or recent graduate in process or chemical engineering, preferably with practical experience in modelling technology performance via both engineering design and techno-economic principles. Capacity to develop customer-focused assessment tools and marketing collateral would be an advantage. You must be able to re-locate to our Rotorua offices/laboratories over the Summer.

*Must be a current or completing student of New Zealand university