Why BioSUCCEED?

How did this all begin? Three prominent Universities in the Southeast who are focused on biomass research believed it was time to actualize the material into modules for instruction given its timeliness in the current US economy. NCSU, NCA&T, and UT, each having strengths in various aspects of biomass science & engineering, decided to harmonize their strengths to develop an integrated course package that can be used to instruct anyone (teacher, student, corporate employee, policy maker) who will be involved in our future biomass economy. We have two pathways at our disposal to disseminate our work and thus have a positive impact on our nation, viz., Conference/Presentations and Publications/Proceedings, shown below:

CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

We have worked hard as part of our project scope to deliver the teaching & research content to a variety of national venues of high impact and caliber. In addition, we will solicit concurrent input from the audience of several conferences below via an on-line survey to gauge the value and importance of the materials that we will present. Below are the venues we are providing content. We encourage all visitors to our site to participate in these educational venues.

1. 239th National American Chemical Society Conference: March 20-26, 2010 in San Francisco, CA; the theme is "Chemistry for a Sustainable World" which perfectly aligns with the thrust of our BioSUCCEED program. This is a major venue attracting over 10,000 chemists from around the world. We are confident that our presentation in the Division of CHEMICAL EDUCATION will have a big impact/splash given the nature of the Conference.

   Division of Chemical Education Presentation Download
   

2. 2010 Annual American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference & Exposition: June 20-23, 2010 in Louisville, KY; The ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition is the only conference dedicated to all disciplines of engineering education.  It is committed to fostering the exchange of ideas, enhancing teaching methods and curriculum, and providing prime networking opportunities for engineering and technology education stakeholders such as deans, faculty members and industry and government representatives.

   2010 ASEE Presentation Download
   

3. 4th Annual ACS Green Chemistry Conference: June 21-23, 2010 in Washington, DC.  With the theme "Innovation and Application" and with one of the renowned founders of green chemistry, Dr. John Warner (President and CTO, Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry) as the chair, this conference is a another ideal forum to share the work that we have fostered in BioSUCCEED! Confirmed keynote speakers include the popular environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken, as well as US Congressman John Tierney (D-MA), co-sponsor of the “Green Jobs Act.” This Conference is a great way to involve government, academe, and industry in a unique setting.

   2010 ACS Green Chemistry Presentation Download

4. 2010 AIChE Annual Meeting: November 7-12, 2010, Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT ; The AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. A wide range of subjects relevant to latest research and newest technologies in emerging growth areas will be covered.

   Highlights of the 2010 meeting will include:

   -62nd Institute Lecture
   -Professional Progress Award Lecture
   -SBE’S James E. Bailey Award Lecture
   

   Plus, topical conferences on Environmental Sustainability, Hydrogen, Oil, and Gas Production, Nanotechnology in Medicine, and Green Process Engineering.education stakeholders such as deans, faculty members and industry and government representatives.

   Poster Session: Sustainability and Sustainable Biorefineries

   2010 AIChE Poster Presentation Download

5. Development of an Integrated Bioenergy Education, Extension, and Internship Program for Professionals and Students from 1890 Universities Prof. G. Shahbazi (North Carolina A&T), NCA&T (Summer 2011).

   The volume of biofuel production in the United States has doubled in the last five years. According to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the amount of biofuel production will quadruple within the next twelve years (36 billion gallons per year in 2022). In 2007, production and construction in the ethanol industry supported the creation of about 240,000 jobs in all sectors of economy (DOE, 2009). The workforce to be required to serve the growing biofuel industry will be several times higher than this within the next decade. However, most scientists in the 1890 universities lack sufficient resources to obtain skills and engage in advanced bioenergy projects and technologies. The lack of energy-related resources has been a major impediment to conducting energy research, teaching energy courses and providing Extension services in bioenergy technologies and products. The long term goal of the proposed project is to develop an integrated bioenergy education, research, and entrepreneurship program to serve 1890 universities. We intend to double the number of energy related courses to be offered in 1890 universities by training faculty members, Extension specialists and students through three annual experiential workshops. These workshops will teach advanced energy topics, and promote excellence in bioenergy research and exciting outreach activities.

   The following are specific objectives of this proposal:  

   Obj-1: Develop and provide in-service courses and on-line educational resources in bioenergy technologies to faculty and students in 1890 universities; Obj-2: Provide program participants with skills and hands-on experience in specified bioenergy processes and technologies during the proposed annual bioenergy workshops; Obj-3: Incorporate entrepreneurial and hands-on experience into the Agricultural and Biological Engineering curriculum through independent study and capstone design projects.

   Through the workshops, faculty in 1890 universities can build their teaching, research and Extension capacities and build a platform to establish collaboration with other bioenergy researchers. Furthermore, development of industrial internship opportunities will strengthen our ties to private industry and enhance our students’ design capabilities and problem solving skills.

   The proposed project is relevant to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Strategic Goals 2 within the Program Priority Area Bioenergy/biofuel. It addresses both baccalaureate and graduate degree-levels, and needs for Faculty Preparation and Enhancement for Teaching and Student Experiential Learning in the Agricultural science and Engineering Disciplines.

    

6. NACTA 2011 (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture), June 14-17, 2011

   North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) is a professional society that focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning agriculture and related disciplines at the postsecondary level. Members of NACTA are from two-year and four-year colleges/universities, public and private.
   
   See Program:
   
   http://www.ales.ualberta.ca/nacta2011/Program.aspx
   
   BioSUCCEED Presentation Download
   

7. Natural Products Science & Engineering in the Lucia Group, FORBIRC (Forest Biotechnology Industry Research Consortium), NCSU (June 26, 2007).

    

8. SERMACS 2011 (Southeast Regional Meeting American Chemical Society), October 26-29, 2011

SERMACS 2011 will be held at the Omni Hotel in Richmond Virginia between Wednesday, October 26 and Saturday, October 29, 2011.  The theme of the meeting is Charting Chemical Connections.  Chemistry is central to many of the leading edge technologies and theory that are prevalent in society including medicine, nanotechnology and sustainability.  SERMACS 2011 will consider any symposium that considers the traditional connections within chemistry or the connection of chemistry to other disciplines.   A symposium is a collection of talks centered around a common idea or topic.  This document will provide some of the directions and contact information needed to help you develop your symposium.

We have received special support ($7,500) from ACS, a sponsoring organization for the work of BioSUCCEED, that will allow us to promote the overall educational value of our work for another broad audience in the Southeast. In addition, SERMACS will also give us $1,000 support for the seminar.

Funded proposal may be accessed by clicking here.

 

PUBLICATIONS/PROCEEDINGS

In addition to our venues, we have worked assiduously to publish the work that has been transpiring in our undergraduate & graduate laboratories, classrooms, and research centers. Below is a compilation of the published journal/book work, conference proceedings, or publications in progress inspired by, supporting, and under the auspices of our program:

1. BioSUCCEED: Bio-Products Sustainability, A
   University Cooperative Center for Excellence in EDucation, Schimmel, K.; Lucia, L.; Lou, J.; Shahbazi, A.; Rials, T. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition 2010, AC 2010-1985, Louisville, KY, June 20-23, 2010.
2. Cellulose nanocrystals-based nanocomposites: A Fruit of the BioSUCCEED Biomass Platform, Cao, X.; Lucia, L.A. J. Chem. Ed. 2010, submitted.
3. BioSUCCEED: Creation of a successful framework for inter-university teaching & research to help meet US future needs for sustainable fuels & materials, Lucia, L.A.; Hubbe, M.A.; Kelley, S.S.; Venditti, R.A.; Jameel, H.; Filpponen, I.; Cao, X.; Schimmel, K.A.; Rials, T.G. J. Chem. Ed. 2010, in progress.
4. Cellulose Nanocrystals: Chemistry, Self-Assembly, and Applications, Habibi, Y.; Lucia, L.A.; Rojas, O.J. Special Invited Article. Chem. Rev. 2010, in press.
5. One-pot Polymerization, Surface Grafting, and Processing of Waterborne Polyurethane-Cellulose Nanocrystal Nanocomposites, Cao, X.; Habibi, Y.; Lucia, L.A. J. Mat. Chem. 2009, 19, 7137-7145.
6. Cellulosic Nanocomposites: A Review, Hubbe, M.A.; Rojas, O.J.; Lucia, L.A.; Sain, M. BioRes. 2008, 3, 929-980.
7. A Review of Biomass as the New Feedstock for the Material and Energy Needs of the 21st Century. ITALIC 4. The Science & Technology of Biomass: Advances and Challenges (Rome, Italy, May 8-10, 2007). Lucia, L.A.; Argyropoulos, D.S.; Adamopoulos, L.; Gaspar, A.R.
8. Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Potential Feedstock to Replace Petroleum, Lucia, L.A. BioRes. 2008, 3, 981-982.
9. Forest Biomaterials: A Renewable Resources-Based Product and Energy Platform Proposed by NCSU for the Future Global Economy, Kelley, S.S.; Lucia, L.A. Southeast TAPPI Newsletter. July 2006.

OTHER SUPPORTING TEACHING & RESEARCH TOOLS

In addition to the other materials available from the internal work, we also feel that the following extramural tools can significantly complement the work we are expounding. Please feel free to peruse these materials and let us know if they are helpful.

1. The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Active and Cooperative Learning

AWARDS, PRIZES, & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. Ms. Teresa Silva, a student here at our Department, has been working under this project and was just awarded an all expenses Summer internship in CO administered by the ACS Institute of Green Chemistry to study the twelve (12) Principles of Green Chemistry.
2. Summer student, Mr. Jordan Hall (Garner HS, NC), was awarded a $500 cash prize for “Excellence in EnvironMental Health Research” at National EnvironMentors Fair in Washington, D.C. (May 2010) for his understanding of renewable hydrogel-based biomedical materials. He has decided to matriculate to NCSU as a result of this experience. He will be in the Paper Science Engineering (PSE) program.
3. Summer student Jordan Hall (Garner HS) was awarded Honorable Mention at the 4th Annual 2010 NCSU CNR EnvironMentors Poster Presentations, 2010.