This award is in partial support of the "2010 Mississippi State University Biofuels Conference: Fueling America and the World with the Next Generation of Biofuels," which be held in Jackson, Mississippi August 12-13, 2010. National and international experts from industry and academia will describe progress on science and engineering fundamentals, and the challenges with scale-up, regulatory compliance, and distribution for biofuels derived from lignocellulosic feedstocks and wastewater. There is to be significant participation by universities, national laboratories, and companies, and there will be a student poster contest. NSF funding will be used primarily to defray the cost of travel for invited speakers, mostly from universities. The conference will aid in the dissemination of the latest biofuels research in the areas of catalysis, feedstock preparation, and resource utilization. It is also intended to foster collaborations among researchers in industry and academia, resulting in the further advancement of biofuel technology.
The 2010 MSU Biofuels Conference was chiefly sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The conference was attended by over 250 people from all over the US, including students, university faculty, industry representatives, and other biofuels stakeholders. It was also attended by senators and house representatives from Mississippi. This is especially important because the conference served as a forum to educate legislators about the environmental importance and technical challenges of biofuels. These legislators could then make more educated decisions regarding State support for commercial ventures associated with biofuels. Legislators will also have a list of experts to contact for review and technical analysis of specific projects, or regulations The Paul Gallo Radio Show was broadcasted from the conference site. Several of the speakers participating in the conference were interviewed by Mr. Gallo. The topics of the interview were related to biofuel research and commercialization efforts being developed in the State of Mississippi. The show covers most of Mississippi from 6:00 am to 9:00 am. Therefore, the conference indirectly served to educate the general public about state and national efforts being conducted to add biofuels into the portfolio of energy alternatives. The conference provides a forum for graduate and undergraduate students to network with academics and industry. Graduate students had the opportunity to present their work in front of some of the best biofuel research and development experts in the country. These interactions lead to potential post doctoral or graduate school offers, as well as industrial employment. The conference is a great training tool for students and post doctoral staff. It provides a vision of the efforts necessary to develop an idea into a commercial product. This type of information is rarely obtained in just one course. The conference also provides a vision of all the factors that need integration for the successful production of a biofuel: feedstocks, logistics, conversion, refinement, and distribution. The technical and networking foundation built by the conference will serve as material for biofuel courses in the near future. The PI of the conference is scheduled to teach a biofuel course during the Fall of 2011. The PI will use some of the materials presented during the conference as part of the course, and provide the opportunity to the enrolled students to attend the 2011 MSU Biofuel Conference. Student will be asked to prepared technical reviews of some of the technologies presented by the invited speakers, and research posters. The conference will become an excellent resource for research and education. It will become formal training for future engineers and scientists.
