On Monday, September 27, NCERC hosted two members of the Illinois General Assembly for the third of multiple "Legislators to Laboratories" tours in Illinois.

This series of events is part of an advocacy effort to build support for the Industrial Biotech Partnership Act, a bill that would support the biotech business community in Illinois and leverage the existing assets, including centers like NCERC, to better attract biotechnology innovation and industrial biotechnology business to the state.

The guest list included Illinois Representatives Katie Stuart and Amy Elik and SIUE leadership including Chancellor Randy Pembrook, Provost Denise Cobb, and Assistant Provost Jerry Weinberg. Staff members of Illinois commodity groups, including Illinois Corn and Illinois Soybean were also in attendance and provided important feedback on the value of this bill for their members.

The event was led by the Illinois Industrial Biotech Coalition, which NCERC is a member of, who will continue to host additional events across the state.

In lieu of an in-person Biofuels Summit, Growth Energy hosted a series of virtual meetings with congressional staffers and Members of Congress during the week of September 20. On Wednesday, September 22, Executive Director John Caupert met with 9 offices of members who represent districts from across the state of Illinois, including Congresswoman Underwood, Congresswoman Bustos, Congresswoman Kelly, Congressman Kinzinger, Congressman LaHood, Congressman Davis, Congressman Bost, Senator Durbin, Senator Duckworth.

During the meetings, the biofuels teams highlighted important issues related to the Renewable Fuel Standard, trade, and increased domestic use of ethanol.

On September 17, the NCERC team met with the Principal, Vice Principal, and Guidance Counselor at Waterloo High School to discuss a new apprenticeship program and how to best tailor it to students entering higher education and want to pursue careers in operations or biomanufacturing. We're excited to enter discussions about what a new apprenticeship program could look like and how we can continue to train the bioeconomy workforce of tomorrow while putting them to work today on projects at the Center. With meetings with other high schools already in the works, we'll continue to report back on the progress we make.

NCERC is pleased to announce that we are now a member of BioMADE – the Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem – a new Manufacturing Innovation Institute dedicated to advancing bioindustrial manufacturing across the nation.

On October 19, NCERC will host its Annual Meeting with collaborators, clients, and stakeholders. Those invited have been asked to RSVP via the online form sent by email.

Date: Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Time: 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM, lunch will be served immediately after

Location: NCERC at SIUE, 400 University Park Drive, Edwardsville, IL 62025*

*For those unable to attend in person, we will provide the opportunity to participate virtually.

An agenda will be sent via email closer to the event. Like years past, a continental breakfast will be made available at 8:30 AM and lunch will be served immediately following the meeting. Tours of NCERC's facility, featuring a preview of our Wet Lab Expansion will be available at 8:30 AM as well. This 2nd half of this year's meeting will include interactive opportunities for discussion where we hope to gather insight from our stakeholders and will use feedback to formalize our next 3-5 year Strategic Plan.

Contact Jackie for questions regarding the meeting.

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.

Open Positions:

Internships:

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

The selected individual will assist the NCERC’s Director of Research and Director of Fermentation in the design of self-initiated research projects as well as projects that fulfill commitments made to external funding sources such as sponsored projects and grants. The Fellow will also assist the Director of Business Development and Client Relations, as well as the Project Management Engineer, with the onboarding and project design of contractual research projects with companies from the private sector.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. (ABD candidates may be considered) in chemical engineering, agricultural engineering, biological sciences or a related field. Experience with biofuels is strongly recommended. Additional technical skills needed include:

-Capable to work independently;

-Ability to design experiments and a strong background in statistics;

-Technical knowledge to troubleshoot analytical equipment;

-Excellent written and oral skills and attention to details.

Application Process - Applicants should submit resume, cover letter, transcripts, and three professional references to:

Barb Randle

NCERC at SIUE

400 University Park Drive

Edwardsville, IL 62025

Completed application packages can also be emailed to: brandle@siue.edu. Please use pdf format when emailing documents.

The Visiting Research Fellowship program is for recent graduates of a bachelor's or master's program in a STEM field. Funded through a Foundation Account, sponsored by the Illinois Corn Growers Association, the Fellowship program is intended to provide training and hands-on experience to prepare the next generation of engineers and scientists for work in mid- to high- skill jobs in the bioeconomy.

The Fellow will serve under the guidance of two supervisors: 1) a Technical Mentor/ Adviser who will work with the Fellow to connect their industrial research practicum to academic theory, 2) an Administrative Mentor/ Adviser who will oversee the Fellow's daily projects and provide professional mentorship. This joint supervisory model ensures the connection of theory to practice, and builds upon the students' undergraduate or graduate studies through applied, hands-on learning in an industrial setting. Graduates of the Research Fellowship Program will be qualified to work in the biorenewables, brewing, specialty chemicals and refining industries. Learn more about the position here.

A Visiting Research Fellow will gain experience through hands-on assignments in the following categories:

-Operation of bioreactors, ranging in scale from 250ml shaker flask to 22,000L

-Troubleshooting and maintenance of bioreactors and fermentation related equipment

-Project design, implementation and project management

-Data collection, analysis, and reporting

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

-Developing and implementing cost budgets, personnel scheduling, and procurement for projects

-Instrumentation, electronics coding and maintenance

-Revising and developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

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

Minimum Qualifications

The Visiting Research Fellowship program is for recent graduates of a bachelor’s or master’s program in a STEM related field.

Application Process

Please submit letter of application, current vitae, and transcripts (unofficial is fine for application), and professional references to:

Barb Randle

NCERC at SIUE

400 University Park Drive

Edwardsville, IL 62025

Or email: brandle@siue.edu

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 FEW and work will continue this fall with the support of students from SIUE. NCERC hopes to continue scaling up this work this fall, depending on the client schedule and available pretreatment vessels. Thank you to IL Corn for funding this exciting research!

Work on hemp to biofuel conversion will continue this fall through funding provided to NCERC Director of Fermentation Dr. Jie Dong from a special SIUE funding program, COVID-19 Assigned Research Time, that enables assistant and associate professors to address promotion and tenure research activities that have been negatively impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic.

As a continued effort to scale up sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) conversion, NCERC has hired another graduate assistant who will assist Dr. Dong in this area of his research throughout the academic year. This research is part of a larger group of researchers who submitted a grant proposal to the Dept of Energy's Bioenergy Technology Office in June with plans to commercialize a corn to isopentenol to SAF method. An NCERC Graduate Assistant working on this project will present a poster featuring research findings at the 2021 Alternative Fuels and Chemicals Coalition (AFCC) in November.

Through funding provided by SIUE’s Transitional and 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. NCERC recently hired a graduate assistant to lead this research over the next academic year, with hopes that we will continue to scale up the conversion method initially established by Director of Research Dr. Yan Zhang.

Virtual

September 8

Virtual

September 13

Waterloo, IL

September 17

Virtual

September 22

Madison, IL

September 24

NCERC Facility

September 27

Des Moines, IA

September 28 - 30

St. Louis, MO

October 7

Virtual

October 7

St. Louis

October 14

NCERC Facility

October 19

Virtual

October 20

San Francisco, CA

October 27 - 29

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