News
An Iowa State University research team that helped develop a demonstration-scale pyrolyzer capable of sequestering thousands of tons of carbon dioxide a year has received a prestigious milestone award from XPRIZE Carbon Removal, it was announced on Friday.
Iowa soil is good at growing crops. In fact, it’s probably the best agricultural soil in the world. And, while Iowa’s farmland has proven itself to be a powerhouse for producing cash crops like corn and soybeans, Iowa State University scientists are dreaming up innovative ways to grow new value, new markets and new revenue streams from Iowa soils.
Researching sustainable solutions with the Polymer & Food Protection Consortium
Ames-based biofuels producer, Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) (NASDAQ: REGI), joined Iowa State University (ISU) at the BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) for a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday to celebrate the start of a new hydrotreater pilot plant.
If you’ve ever watched a car commercial set in a laboratory, the tires of a motionless vehicle spinning on rollers, you’ve seen a chassis dynamometer in action.
Alex Kauffman and James Trettin are co-recipients of the Lawrence E. Burkhart Memrorial Award for the spring 2021 commencement.
The honor is bestowed upon graduating seniors, who are named Outstanding Senior Student in Chemical Engineering, with emphasis on scholastic performance. Recipients are selected by department faculty. Burkhart, the award’s namesake, was a member of the department faculty from 1960-1988.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) Mary Jane Skogen Hagenson and Randy L. Hagenson Professor Eric Cochran is part of a team set to be honored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) at its upcoming Spring Meeting.
Ames, Iowa, has recently become a national research epicenter for a rapidly emerging field: plastics “upcycling.” Researchers at Iowa State University, in tandem with Ames Laboratory — a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratory — received multiple awards over the 2020 calendar year, totaling millions of dollars in research funding.
There are many successful university-industry relationships across the country, but it’s likely there are few that check as many of the collaboration “boxes” as the one between Iowa State University and its industry partner, heavy equipment maker Deere & Co.
Jeff Askey, an engineer in agricultural and biosystems engineering, received the Professional and Scientific Research Award.
Selected as the 2020 Neal Smith Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner was Dr. Martin Gross, President and Co-Founder, Gross-Wen Technologies, Inc. (GWT). GWT is an inaugural cohort member of the ISU Startup Factory and an Ag Startup Engine portfolio company.
From ISU-Startup Factory — Gross-Wen Technologies, Inc. (GWT) celebrated the opening of their new Slater office with a Dec. 10 ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. The recently renovated space, located at 404 Main Street in Slater, will function as company headquarters for GWT’s 12 full-time and 3 part-time employees. GWT also holds office space at the Iowa State University Research Park.
From United Soybean Board – High oleic soybean oil is put to work in a new video released today by the United Soybean Board. The video features a paving demonstration where USB, the Iowa Soybean Association, Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa and the research team at Iowa State University came together to showcase a new biobased polymer for asphalt made possible with the power of soy.
From Wallaces Farmer — Iowa State University research engineers have good news for soybean growers: a soy oil polymer for asphalt paving. After nine years of development, the ISU research team is closing in on commercializing a high-oleic soy oil polymer that can replace petroleum-based polymers in asphalt paving. The bio-based binding agent is an economical, efficient and sustainable option for asphalt pavers with the potential to open a new — and large — market for soybean growers.
From Bioeconomy Institute — Learn how autothermal pyrolysis works and what the Bioeconomy Institute is doing to commercialize the technology to convert biomass into fuels and chemicals in this new video.
From Iowa State Daily — Two Iowa State engineering professors presented their work in developing biopolymers from soybean oil for asphalt production Monday at an open house. The open house was hosted at Iowa State’s BioCentury Research Farm after a paving with the soy project took place. A half acre parking lot adjacent to the Research Farm was paved with asphalt created from newly developed soybean-derived biopolymers.
From Iowa Soybean Association — Earlier this week, Iowa State University’s BioCentury Research Farm celebrated soy as a major component of a paving project. The celebration was also the culmination of several years of research at Iowa State University (ISU) with a checkoff investment from the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA).
From WHOTV — Soon enough we may be driving into work on roads made with soybeans. Thanks to researchers and engineers at Iowa State University, soybean oil was used for the first time in Iowa to create a bio-based polymer that acts as a binding agent, or glue, in asphalt.
A research project looking for ways to add value to biochar may have found an unexpected application for the black power that's a co-product of thermochemically converting biomass to a liquid bio-oil. The researchers have found biochar could be a slow-release fertilizer that delivers nutrients to crops while keeping those nutrients from washing away in the rain or leaching into groundwater. More uses for biochar could make thermochemical biofuel production a more economically attractive technology.
From Iowa Soybean Association — Iowa State University researchers are closing in on the commercialization of a bio-based polymer that can replace the petroleum-based polymers currently used as the binding agent in asphalt.
Matt Darr, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, has been named administrative leader of Iowa State University’s BioCentury Research Farm and Precision Agriculture and Industry Partnership Fellow in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Darr, who also serves as the Kinze Manufacturing Fellow in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, began his duties on July 1. He succeeds Kevin Keener, who has served as the farm’s director since 2015, returns to the food science and human nutrition department faculty to focus on research, teaching and industry training initiatives.