July 2009

BEI Launches e-NEWS

In an effort to reduce the email load on your mailbox while keeping you informed of activities within the Bioeconomy Institute, BEI NEWS will be delivered to your inbox at the beginning of each month.

BEI News is a collection point for Institute activities related to research, education and outreach. Included in the online newsletter are details regarding funding opportunities, recognition of achievement, administration issues, and general announcements for our staff, affiliates and students.

BEI and BCRF Welcome New Staff

Ryan Smith recently joined the BEI team in April as program coordinator for industrial collaborations. In this role, Smith manages relationships with current industrial partners and potential sponsors of research.

Smith was born and raised in western Iowa and received a bachelor’s degree in production/operations management at Iowa State. He spent seven years in manufacturing and distribution where he was an operations manager and a leader of continuous improvement and lean manufacturing programs. Smith also worked for three years developing proposals for agribusiness and biofuels facilities for an engineering and construction firm.

When asked what opportunities interested him most at BEI, Smith states, “I find the opportunity to interact with global leaders in research in biorenewable chemicals, energy, and materials very exciting. I am especially interested in solutions to feedstock supply logistical challenges, as well as the effects of policy and the political climate to the bioeconomy.”

In his spare time, Smith enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, Alicia, and two children, Lauren and Cullen.

Andy Suby joined the BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) on June 1 as facility manager. As BCRF manager, Suby coordinates all research projects performed at the BCRF processing facility.

Suby attended Central College in Pella, receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics. He then continued his education at Iowa State earning a master’s degree in mechanical Engineering. Suby comes to the BCRF from Frontline BioEnergy as manager of pilot plant operations. Previously, Suby was employed with the Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies at Iowa State, and was a project engineer and project manager for the Weitz Company.

“I am very pleased to be a part of the ISU team that will take biomass feed stocks from seed to finished products,” Suby says. When not managing the activities of the BCRF, Suby enjoys spending time with family, coaching junior sports teams, restoring antique automobiles and tractors, and studying WWII history.

BEI Posts Two New Videos

The BEI webpage features two new videos, an animated rendering of the Biorenewables Complex and a documentary of the Intensive Program in Biorenewables.

The animation of the new Biorenewables Complex gives you a unique opportunity to preview the interior spaces of the new buildings. The $99 million Biorenewables Complex, located on the site between Howe Hall and Design, will include the Biorenewables Research Laboratory, two additional buildings to house the nationally-ranked Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, and an open atrium connecting all three sections.

The documentary is a video news release of the 2009 Intensive Program in Biorenewables. The inaugural intensive program brought 46 high-caliber students from across the country and around the world to Iowa State for advanced training in the expanding field of biorenewable resources and technologies.

Wright Receives GWC Award

Mark Wright, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering with a chemical engineering minor, was selected by BEI and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) as recipient of the 2009 George Washington Carver Scholarship Prize for Outstanding Student Achievement in Biorenewables in the Iowa State University Biorenewable Resources and Technology graduate program.

This award, in its second year, was established as a memorial to the original vision of George Washington Carver who pioneered the creation and commercialization of sustainable biobased products from renewable agricultural feedstocks.

“Mark well represents the caliber of the young people who are entering the field of biorenewables. He understands the unique challenges of the field and is enthusiastically advancing solutions to support the emerging bioeconomy," states Robert C. Brown, Wright’s major professor.

Wright will be recognized for this award at the Montreal BIO World Congress, July 19-22, where the $4000 prize will be presented. He will also be recognized at the 2009 Growing the Bioeconomy Conference at Iowa State on December 1.

Read more about Wright's academic path and aspirations here.

Faculty Awarded AAEE Grand Prize for University Research

A multidisciplinary team of researchers led by J. (Hans) van Leeuwen, CCEE, received the Grand Prize for University Research from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE) for the entry “Production of Single Cell Oil from Cellulosic Biomass by Fungal Processing.”

The team includes Sam Beattie from FSHN, David Grewell and Tae Hyun Kim from ABE and Prachand Shrestha and Micky Vincent from CCEE as well as other members from food science and human nutrition and the Center for Crops Utilization Research. The research team was honored by the AAEE in Washington, D.C., on May 6-7.

The Excellence in Environmental Engineering Competition of the AAEE exists to identify and reward the best of today’s environmental engineering. Its criteria define what it takes to be the best in environmental engineering practice: a holistic environmental perspective, innovation, proven performance and customer satisfaction, and contribution to an improved quality of life and economic efficiency.

Biobased Industry Center Announces New Projects

The Biobased Industry Center (BIC) announced several newly funded research projects for FY10. This set of research projects recommended by the BIC Board of Directors for the second round of funding reflects the high priority the Board places on identifying game-changing, integrated, non-traditional policies that legislate results. These projects include:

Carbon Burdens as an Alternative to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Brown & Hayes, $86,565)
Linking Carbon Policy and Agricultural Practices (Hayes, $49,371)
Biofuel and Greenhouse Gases: Yields, Yield Growth, and Land Use Effects (Miranowski & Heaton, $49,523)
Techno-economic Analysis of Cellulosic Biomass Upgrading Through Torrefaction (Darr & Anex, $49,820)
Costs and Lifecycle Carbon Footprints of Existing and Proposed Biofuel Feedstocks: Algae, Miscanthus, Switchgrass, and Corn (Raman & Anex, $50,000)

BEI News is a monthly e-newsletter published for affiliated faculty, staff and students of the Bioeconomy Institute.
If you have any questions regarding this issue or have news you would like to share with members of BEI, please contact MaryAnn Sherman, msherman

iastate.edu