June was a busy month for NCERC's research team and included the preparation of and contribution to two grant proposals submitted on June 21 to the FY21 Bioenergy Technologies Multi-Topic Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0002396).

The proposal led by NCERC, “Scaling up a Low Cost Low Energy Cellulosic Sugar Production,” was submitted under Topic 2 and contributed to the validation of a low-cost, energy-efficient conversion method for cellulosic materials- and waste-to-biofuel. The funding of this proposal would bring significant value to companies who are pursuing the conversion of a variety of bio-based feedstocks to a sugar stream which can then be converted to countless biotechnologies, such as biofuels, biochemicals, biomaterials, and bioproducts.

Partners on this proposal included leaders from government laboratories, academia, and the private sector, including the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) and Joint BioEnergy Institute of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Idaho National Laboratory, Iowa State University, Northern Illinois University, Aemetis, Recology, Visolis, and Zestbio.

The second proposal included NCERC as a Co-PI and was led by Marquis Energy. The purpose of this collaboration is to scale up a conversion method that utilizes corn as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. The work being done at the intermediate scale will be performed at NCERC and brings together additional research centers including the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and US Navy NAWCWD China Lake to see through a solution that brings significant opportunity for expanding and repurposing the 16 billion-gallon-per-year corn-to-ethanol infrastructure.

By Jackie Pohlman, Director of Business Development & Client Relations

NCERC’s versatile fermentation capabilities make it an ideal partner for researchers developing novel synthetic strains with hopes to commercialize in the biochemical market. Not only does the facility house bioreactors with capacities in sequential increments that allow fermentations to go beyond the bench (5L-30L-150L-1500L-22,000L), NCERC also has an experienced staff with expertise in product scale up and validation. These two benefits are key for biochemical designers who partner with NCERC to de-risk and efficiently scale up, limiting the amount of money and time that it traditionally takes to commercialize.

The Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle is an engineering principle that provides a framework to systemize strain engineering and is biochemical-independent, meaning that all biobased chemical designers can use the DBTL cycle and avoid the R&D bottleneck that has limited biochemicals from commercial success in the past. Pioneers in the biochemical space have spent hundreds of person-years of effort to bring a biochemical to market. The DBTL cycle allows researchers to reassess before taking the next step in scale up, and then perform the cycle again until primed for commercialization, making the R&D phase more efficient and less time-intensive.

“The Design component identifies the problem, selects the desired pathway and host; the Build component selects, synthesizes, and assembles parts for incorporation into the host; the Test component validates the engineered strains for target molecule production, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites; the Learn component analyzes the Test data and informs subsequent iterations of the cycle.”

Read the rest of this blog post on NCERC's website.

On June 4, a concept paper was submitted to BioMADE, a member-driven organization dedicated to enabling domestic bioindustrial manufacturing at all scales, and included contributions from NCERC for an Education and Workforce Development proposal that would utilize NCERC's expertise to contribute to a bioindustrial manufacturing curriculum. The team for the concept paper was led by University of Hawai'i, Hilo and would establish "ALAKA’I" (Aloha Life-Science Academy; Knowledge Advancing Industry), a project with with a multi-phase strategy to develop a Hawaiian academy to advance the bioindustrial manufacturing workforce to benefit rural America, and then disseminate this program for further implementation at national scale.

Other contributing organizations include the California Biomanufacturing Center and Solano Community College, both of which are located in Vacaville, CA and would contribute in similar roles to NCERC in the curriculum development portion of the project. We hope to hear feedback on the concept paper in early July.

Throughout summer 2021, NCERC is working on a client trial that requires significant operations support through dozens of Assistant Scientific Analysts, Operating Technicians, and both Laboratory and Plant intern positions. These temporary positions are incredible opportunities for students, recent graduates, or those who want to work in biochemistry to gain impressive hands-on experience.

The minimum requirements for the analyst/technician positions are a high school diploma/GED and 24 months of experience/schooling in related fields/operations. The only minimum requirements to qualify for an intern position is a high school diploma or GED.

Contact NCERC Business Manager Barb Randle with any questions or leads.

As the RFA's Young Professional Network's chairperson, NCERC Director of Business Development & Client Relations Jackie Pohlman will host an in-person event at the 2021 Fuel Ethanol Workshop. The social hour event will be the YPN's first in-person event since its inception in July of 2020 and is exclusive to YPN members. Those interested in becoming a member of the YPN can learn more at EthanolRFA.org/YPN or contact Jackie with questions.

Location: Johnny's Hall of Fame, 302 Court Ave, Des Moines, IA

Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Time: 6:30 PM

RSVP Required - Contact Jackie with questions

NCERC Independence Day Message

Since completing the propagation of a single cell protein (aka yeast) for fish feed in April, NCERC's laboratory student workers have dried and milled the material in preparation for it to be sent to our fish feeding-trial partners at the University of Idaho Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI), who is still in the process of sourcing the fish. The details surrounding the propagation project will be showcased at the 2021 Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) on July 14 in Des Moines.

NCERC's laboratory 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 will also be showcased at FEW.

NCERC continues to perform a hemp to biofuel conversion project, the data of which will be showcased at a presentation by Dr. Yan Zhang at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop.

Kaitlin has been a valued member of NCERC's team since October 2016 and helps lead on all things lab-related, from preparing for for and performing projects, to delivering data.

According to Kaitlin, something she enjoys most about her job at NCERC is the people, and is proud of her work in helping students grow in confidence and skills as scientists.

Virtual

June 16

Virtual

June 16

NCERC Facility

June 21

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June 22

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June 22

Virtual

June 24

NCERC Facility

June 29

NCERC Facility

July 1

New Orleans, LA

July 12

Des Moines, IA

July 13 - 15

St. Louis, MO

July 20 - 21

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