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.

Researching sustainable solutions with the Polymer & Food Protection Consortium

Since moving to a BCRF lab space in 2021, the Polymer & Food Protection Consortium (PFPC) has settled into their space and begun working on a variety of research-driven and industry partnered projects.

Most recently, the group – directed by Dr. Keith Vorst – has worked on a number of projects dealing with repurposing waste materials and the shelf life of food packaging made from recycled plastic.

Wishing you a Happy Holidays from all of us at BCRF!

As we wind down toward the end of 2021, we looked back at the last year of research activity and tours that have come through our doors. We've put together some highlights to share with you.

 Tours/Events resume post-COVID at the BCRF

As COVID restrictions lifted earlier in the year, BCRF was back to hosting a number of in-person events and tours. Some of our biggest turnouts were:

Innovation in Water Quality/WHO Big Show Event Science and Sustainability I-Lead (Iowa Corn) Class Tour Iowa Highway Research Board (IHRB) Bio-asphalt Plant Tour Renewable Energy Group (REG) Ribbon cutting

Top research activities during 2021

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. This project is the result of a three-year collaboration between REG and the ISU Bioeconomy Institute. 

In this edition:

Packaging, processing and waste reduction: Vorst labs joining the BCRF facility

BCRF Alumni Spotlight: Juli Henderson

Packaging, processing and waste reduction: Vorst labs joining the BCRF facility

With the expansion of research spaces at BCRF comes new research groups and exciting projects. Dr. Keith Vorst, associate professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, recently moved some of his large-scale processing and manufacturing labs from the main ISU campus to BCRF, bringing along sustainability research that fits right in with many current projects at the facility.

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. And with the completion in fall 2021 of a $2.9 million dynamometer facility at the Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy Farm just outside Ames, Iowa State’s will be one of the few publicly available chassis dynamometers in the world capable of testing large construction and farm machinery, including tractors and combines.

In this edition:

Dr. Joe Colletti retiring this month

Center for Crops Utilization Research tackling biofuels and baking products

BCRF Alumni Spotlight: Max Gangestad

Dr. Joe Colletti retiring this month

After more than 40 years with Iowa State University, Dr. Joe Colletti is retiring at the end of June.

Dr. Colletti served as the senior associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the past 16 years of his career, but his journey with Iowa State started in 1978 when he joined the college as a faculty member in the forestry department.

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 – Gross-Wen Technologies (GWT), founded by two Iowa State University (ISU) professors, has announced a new partnership with University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Algix to develop carbon-sequestering molecular films to capture carbon dioxide with algae. This new partnership was awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Earlier in the summer of 2020, the company was also awarded a grant of $240,000 from the DOE to develop the next generation of their algal wastewater treatment process to improve phosphorous removal from wastewater.

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.

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.