Bioprocessing Research

Bioprocessing couples engineering with biology to create unique and valuable products for the sustainable society of the future. Our faculty use the unique metabolic capacities of living organisms in a variety of practical applications such as enzyme and pharmaceuticals manufacture, semiconductor nanomaterials production, biofuels production, and the breakdown of toxic materials. Specific projects geared towards the development of high-value products include the bioreactor production of enzymes for the environmentally-friendly bleaching of wood pulp used in paper making, and the biological fabrication of semiconductor materials possessing the unique optoelectronic properties and nanoscale patterns needed for the next generation of electronic devices. In the area of biofuels, projects include the production of fuel-cell hydrogen using bacteria to split water, the production of fuel-cell hydrogen from carbohydrate waste materials, and the enzyme-catalyzed conversion of vegetable oils to biodiesel.

Faculty

• Christine Kelly - Research focus: Microbial and recombinant bioproducts.
• Gregory L. Rorrer - Research focus: Cell culture, bioreactors, bio-nanotechnology.
• Joseph McGuire Biomaterials and Biointerfaces Laboratory

Affiliated faculty outside of Chemical Engineering:

• Frank Chaplen, Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering - Research focus: Biosensors and systems biology.
  

Laboratory Facilities

Current laboratory facilities of the Bioprocesses and Biomaterials research thrust areas are housed in a total of 2600 ft² space within Gleeson Hall, including 1250 ft² for Bioprocesses research and 1350 ft² for Biomaterials research. Specific laboratories are the Biochemical Engineering Laboratory (Rorrer), Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory (Rorrer/Kelly), Biomaterials and Biointerfaces Laboratory (McGuire). Major equipment in the Bioprocesses research thrust area includes microbial fermenters & instrumentation, cell culture bioreactors & instrumentation, GC, HPLC, UV-VIS spectrophotometers, inverted light microscope, laminar flow hood, incubators, centrifuges, autoclave. Major equipment for molecular biology research, shared with the Environmental Processes research thrust, is housed in the Molecular Biology Laboratory at Owen Hall, and includes a thermocycler for DNA amplification and an electroporator for gene transfer in bacteria and yeast.

Examples of Recent Research Projects

• Biosynthesis of nanostructured semiconductors by marine diatoms (Funded by National Science Foundation)
• Recombinant yeasts for production of peroxidase enzymes (Funded by National Science Foundation)
• Metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for hydrogen production (Funded by U.S. Department of Energy)
• Metabolism of toxic organic compounds by marine algae (Funded by U.S. Office of Naval Research, Oregon Sea Grant Program)
• Fuel cell hydrogen production from carbohdyrates (Funded by U.S. Army)