Inventor of the Year 2024

Qingguo “Jack” Huang, professor of crop and soil sciences, studies environmental catalysis and its applications in soil remediation, wastewater treatment, and resource reuse. He developed an electrochemical process to successfully degrade PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals”) that are widely present in water resources from longstanding use in manufacturing and as ingredients in numerous products. The global engineering consulting firm AECOM has licensed the technology and markets it as the DE-FLUORO™ system in Australia, Europe, and the U.S. as a means of eliminating PFAS in water streams. Huang also co-founded a company, Tarazyme, to help commercialize patented technologies using enzymes to solve turfgrass-related problems such as thatch buildup. Tarazyme is collaborating with the agricultural technology company Syngenta on product evaluation and commercialization. During his tenure at UGA, Huang has been an engaged innovator, submitting 13 invention disclosures that have led four issued U.S. patents, two issued Australian patents, and multiple pending patent applications.