Esteban Chornet

Esteban Chornet is Cofounder and Director Emeritus of Enerkem, having led the team that developed the company’s proprietary technology. As Director Emeritus, he provides Enerkem with vision, direction, mentoring and engineering expertise in catalytic reactions and process integration.

Dr. Chornet is also a member of the American Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. The Biomass Research and Development Board is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It coordinates research and development activities concerning bio-based fuels, products, and power across federal agencies. 

From 1970 to 2007, Dr. Chornet taught the fundamentals of the discipline as Professor of Chemical Engineering and conducted advanced research with his students and collaborators in the fields of biomass, energy, and environment at the University of Sherbrooke, in Québec, Canada. From 1993-2003, Dr. Chornet was also a Principal Research Engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Colorado (USA). He has contributed to over 200 papers/articles published in scientific and engineering publications with peer review committees.

In 2010, Dr. Chornet was bestowed the title of Professor Emeritus by the University, in recognition of a successful 37 year career with the University’s Faculty of Applied Sciences (now the Faculty of Engineering). He also received the 1984 Steacie Fellowship Award from the Government of Canada, was a 2004 laureate of the Prix Lionel Boulet from the Government of Quebec, received a Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in 2009 and was awarded the 2013 Don Klass Award for Excellence in Thermochemical Conversion Science by the Gas Technology Institute. Dr. Chornet is a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada's Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Chornet holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from ETSIIB in Barcelona, Catalunya (Spain) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania (USA).