CARBONDALE — Geology Professor Ken B. Anderson, director of the SIU Advanced Energy Institute (AEI) in Carbondale, was honored September 18, 2025, with the Southern Illinois University System Inventor of the Year Award.
Anderson
The award honors an exemplary faculty member who has shown an ability to innovate at the highest level, advancing scientific achievements that will be useful to the public at large. Recipients must have worked with SIU’s Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations (OTMIR) to produce patents and exhibit a record of success at developing their discoveries.
As AEI director, Anderson is responsible for coordinating and facilitating energy-related research and scholarship across SIU’s entire campus, and he serves as the focal point for SIU’s energy-related outreach and interaction with individuals, businesses and communities throughout southern Illinois and elsewhere. Anderson’s current focus for SIU is the development of a large agrivoltaic and ecovoltaic research and development facility at SIU’s campus in Carterville. “Agrivoltaics” refers to the dual use of land for solar energy and agriculture. With “ecovoltaics,” scientists co-prioritize energy production and ecosystem services during the design and management phases of solar development.
As a faculty inventor, Anderson holds 14 patents, with several additional patents currently pending. Through his research, he developed a process called Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution (OHD), which uses only heat, water and oxygen to convert waste biomass and other organic solids into usable products, in an environmentally friendly way. He is currently working with private investors to deploy the first commercial-scale OHD units.
“Dr. Anderson is an entrepreneur who embodies innovation with business prowess. His work at SIU benefits our students and our region,” said Robert Patino, OTMIR director. “His startup company called Thermaquatica and its OHD process provide a whole new way to think about removing carbon from the atmosphere. That is great news for SIU and for the climate.”
“I’m very honored to receive this recognition, and very grateful to have the opportunity to work on important problems with the support of a great team here at SIU”, said Anderson.
Anderson received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Melbourne in Australia, was a postdoctoral research fellow and organic geochemist at the Argonne National Laboratory and joined the SIU faculty in 2003. He was named the SIU Innovator of the Year in 2011 and received the SIU Teaching Excellence Award in 2019. He has published 49 peer-reviewed articles and six conference proceedings. He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2024.