Prof. Zygourakis’ research interests span several vital areas of chemical reaction engineering and bioengineering. Applied mathematics, computer simulations, thermal analysis, digital video microscopy, and chemical reactor design are integral to his research methodology. Currently, his group is focusing on developing and optimizing a novel thermal process for pyro-catalytic remediation of soils contaminated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), petroleum crudes, and other organic contaminants. The new process reduces hydrocarbon and PAH levels to well below regulatory standards while restoring the fertility of treated soils to almost their original level. Prof. Zygourakis and his collaborators have also worked on elucidating the fundamental mechanisms controlling the transport and fate of nitrogen fertilizers in biochar-amended soils and developed hybrid multi-scale models to describe the growth of heterogeneous cell populations in the presence of mass transfer limitations.

He received his Dipl. Eng. from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He joined the Chemical Engineering Department of Rice University faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1980, served as Chair of his department from 1998 until 2013, and retired in 2024.