The federal grant application season is underway and NCERC's research team is busy applying to two competitive grant opportunities being provided by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Through the DOE grant opportunity, "FY22 Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries and GHG Reduction in First Generation Ethanol Plants (Scale-Up+), NCERC will submit two proposals with focuses on scaling up a corn stover to biofuel technology and a MSW to biofuel technology. These proposals are due on September 9, 2022.

The USDA proposal is being offered through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Bioproduct Pilot Program which seeks to study the benefits of using materials derived from covered agricultural commodities for manufacture of construction and consumer products. Through this program, we are working on a corn-to-bioproduct scale up project and will submit by the deadline on August 31, 2022.

On July 13, NCERC Director of Business Development & Client Relations Jackie Hayes was featured on "The Ethanol Report" podcast, which has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) since 2008 and is hosted by Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman of EnergyAgWired.com.

Jackie spoke on behalf of her role as the Chairperson of the RFA's Young Professionals Network (YPN) and talked about the different events the YPN hosts, how the YPN has grown since starting in July 2020, and why it is important to connect young people in the ethanol industry together.

Earlier this year, we announced a partnership with the University of Hawai'i at Hilo and Solano Community College to develop industry-relevant training for delivery in Hawaiʻi and across the United States, wh

"Applied Life-Science Academy: Knowledge Advancing Industry" - aka ALAKA'I hosted its first bootcamp at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo the week of July 17 through a series of engagements inside and outside of the classroom. The classroom training coincided with three events that were focused on showcasing the cultural and natural assets of the state of Hawaii, including a walking tour of the Hawai‘i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, a farm-to-table dinner at Onomea Country Market and Cafe, and a Polynesian Voyaging Canoe experience.

The bootcamp training focused on a variety of bioeconomy relevant topics including Feedstocks & Sustainable Agriculture, Industrial Fermentation, Downstream Processing & Chemical Conversion, Communication Best Practices for Bioeconomy Professionals, and others.

Plans are underway for the 2023 bootcamp, which will take place in Hawaii in July 2023. Reach out to Jackie Hayes at jhayes@ethanolresearch.com if you're interested in participating or learning more.

Recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Biology or Environmental Sciences, and currently enrolled at SIUE Graduate School.

 The National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) is seeking a Research Assistant from SIUE. The RA will assist scientific supervisors with executing funded research projects through assignments in the following categories:

-Operation of bioreactors, ranging in scale from 250mL shaker flask to 30L.

-Analytical testing on media, culture, fermentation broth, etc.

- Experiment on product harvesting and purification

-Data collection, analysis, and reporting.

-Troubleshooting and maintenance of bioreactors and fermentation related equipment.

-Communications with internal, interdisciplinary teams as well as industry clients, academic collaborators, and external stakeholders.

-Revising and developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

-Utilizing experimental and empirical methods to interpret results and recommend design, testing, and maintenance solutions.

"When you think about the team at the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center, you likely first think of people working in the different laboratories or Pilot Plant and the research staff that supports all of the different projects taking place at the Center. Initially, you might not think of the administrative staff and the different team members who work on the marketing/public relations side of the business. Fortunately, as an SIUE student earning a degree in Applied Communication Studies (ACS), I’ve been able to work directly with this important part of the team as an intern over the past several months. Needless to say, I’ve learned a lot about the field I’m studying, but also about how it intersects with lots of different industries, including biotechnology and agriculture." 

Meet our newest student intern, Will Hicks, who is earning a Mechanical Engineering degree from Missouri S&T. Check out this video to learn more about Will and his duties at NCERC, and why he thinks working here is an asset to his degree program!

NCERC's research team has been working on an in-situ fermentation of corn kernel fiber with intentions to produce high-protein DDGS for use in an aquaculture feeding trial. The early results of this study were showcased at the 2021 FEW and a new round of results will be showcased at the 2022 FEW. This project is in partnership with the University of Idaho's Aquaculture Research Institute.

Through funding provided by SIUE's Transitional & Exploratory Projects (STEP) grant program, NCERC will continue our research on the conversion of municipal solid waste (MSW), waste that comes from both residential and commercial sources, to biofuel. Ajay Venigalla, the student who lead this research over the last academic year, prepared this project for scale-up under the guidance of Dr. Yan Zhang. This work will continue when the NCERC research team has time in between contractual research projects. A special thanks to Waste Connections for providing quarterly samples of MSW!

NCERC Facility

July 7

Virtual

July 19

University of Hawaii at Hilo

July 17-22

Madison, IL

July 29

NCERC Facility

August 3

SIUE

August 4

Bloomington, IL

August 8

Godfrey, IL

August 9

Minneapolis, MN

August 10-12

Virtual

August 31

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