Cornell University

Dear Visitor

Welcome to the Biomass Conversion Laboratory website. Our research and education activities are focused on industrial biotechnology solutions to energy and environmental challenges. We very much enjoy exploring research problems that are at the interface between the biological and physical sciences.

A Collaborative Research Environment

Our research achievements are due in part to the strong collaborative relationships that we have established with molecular biologists, microbiologists, plant biologists, systems biologists, applied physicists, chemical engineers and material scientists. It is through these relationships that we are able to develop innovative methods and research paradigms. The projects and results presented on this website showcase our collective commitment to addressing energy and environmental challenges through science and engineering. Many projects involve using empirical and mathematical models to glean insights into industrial biotechnology problems.

State-of-the-Art Research Facilities

Another core element of our success is the high quality of our research facilities. Many of the projects described on this website are conducted in Cornell's Biofuels Research Laboratory (BRL), which contains 11,500 square feet of space in the East Wing of Riley-Robb Hall. The BRL was designed and built for research on cellulosic biofuels including ethanol, butanol, hydrogen and methane. Within the walls of this laboratory are ten different facilities designed to address physical, chemical and biological barriers to liberating sugars from energy crops such as switchgrass, cold tolerant sorghum, and woody biomass, and to biologically convert these sugars into biofuels. Among the fine resources the BRL has to offer are:

• An advanced imaging laboratory to carry out single molecule studies of cellulases and other plant cell wall degrading enzymes.
• Robotics platforms for high-throughput screening of microorganisms and enzyme cocktails.
• Analytical equipment such as LC-MS, FPLC and FTNIR for measuring and purifying secondary metabolites and assessing chemical compositions of biomass streams.
• Thermochemical reactors for pretreating biomass material and for microbial conversions.

In addition, there is office space designed to accommodate researchers from different disciplines and to provide an environment for them to share research methods, insights and perspectives.

An Integrated Systems Approach

Another fundamental characteristic of the Biomass Conversion laboratory is the "systems" perspective that each member brings to energy and environmental problems. There are a number of ways that advanced biotechnological, chemical and physical processes can be coupled to form integrated "industrial ecologies". This approach can be used to determine optimal resource use; minimize energy use and waste generation in resource obtainment, processing and manufacturing; and to maximize the elimination or reuse of manufacturing waste products.

Many of the attributes exhibited by an "industrial ecology" can be found in microbial systems, and the field of "systems biology" has evolved to capture these attributes through in-silica modeling of metabolic and signaling pathways. Some members of the Biomass conversion laboratory are integrating systems biology tools into our research activities; others are performing input/output modeling and life cycle analysis of bio-based industries. The goal is to strengthen our ability to develop sustainable bio-based industries through a systems approach using sound science and engineering.

Thank you for taking time to visit our website. We hope that this time was well spent.

Best regards,

Larry Walker, Ph.D.

Professor