This Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) project--a Type III (A:C) partnership between Kansas State University, an NSF PFI graduate (0438691), and Pittsburg State University (PSU), an institution new to the PFI Program (defined as one that has never been a PFI grantee)--seeks to simultaneously develop and formalize a process to accelerate the commercial development of bioscience products, processes and technologies and provide meaningful Early-Stage Technology Development (ESTD) experience to Kansas's future technology engineers and entrepreneurs. This project will accelerate the movement of bioscience discoveries to commercialization for a leading agricultural biotechnology state and region, Kansas. In particular, there is merit in designing ways to produce more value from current bio-based waste streams, including those from ethanol production processing streams. This project represents a new approach to linking world class agriculture and bioscience investments in the state to new innovation methods, particularly scale-up methods for bio-processing.
The project will enhance general economic well being in Kansas. It will increase the transfer of technologies to Kansas companies; stimulate the formation and assist the development of technology-based businesses in Kansas; increase new products brought to market; and provide access to a coordinated Early-Stage Technology Development (ESTD) resource that significantly accelerates the development and hardening of new bioscience-based products, processes, and technologies in Kansas. The major societal impact will be the creation of wealth and high-paying jobs for the citizens of Kansas. In addition, creating a model process that benefits both the technology creator/inventor and the recipient will stimulate transformation of intellectual property created in both company and university laboratories into commercial products. Both undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in education about commercialization activities and thus, Kansas's future technology entrepreneurs will learn to define and conduct successful bioscience ESTD projects.
Partners at the inception of the project are Academic Institutions: Kansas State University (lead institutions), Pittsburgh State University (PSU), and Kansas State Olathe-Innovation Campus; Private Sector Organizations: Kansas Environmental Management Associates (KEMA) LLC.; Lifeline Foods (St. Joseph, MO); MGP Ingredients, Inc. (Atchison, KS); and State and Local Government: Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA) and Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC).
The objective of this project was to establish a state-wide science and engineering center to develop and commercialize bioscience-based products, processes, and technologies. In line with the objectives of the PFI program, a related goal was to establish a collaborative research partnership between Kansas State University (a national university and PFI graduated grantee/lead institution) and Pittsburg State University (a regional university and New Participant Institution). To accomplish this objective, the project team worked to identify a group of university experts from the two collaborating institutions to help bridge the "Valley of Death" for early-stage bioprocessing products and technologies in Kansas. Ultimately, personnel from four university organizations worked together to conduct early-stage bioprocessing product and technology development projects. The team included Kansas State University personnel from the Advanced Manufacturing Institute, the Bioprocessing Industrial Value Added Program, and a newly established Kansas State University campus: K-State Olathe. Personnel from the Kansas Polymer Research Center (KPRC) led this Partnership For Innovation project at Pittsburg State University. Altogether, 20 faculty and unclassified professionals – twelve from Kansas State University and eight from Pittsburg State University were engaged in this project. In addition, three graduate students, seven undergraduate students, and two postdoctoral researchers got involved in the project. To build this partnership the project investigators focused their efforts on finding and completing industrial innovation projects that required expertise from multiple people, especially those that required expertise from more than one partnering organizations. Each project forged collaborative engineering and science relationships that will extend beyond the scope of this grant. Project activities included: feasibility analysis, technology research and development, design and engineering, and pilot plant process and product development. The partners completed collaborative research and engineering projects with 17 private companies, three other university organizations, and three non-governmental organizations. Two different state agencies were also engaged in this effort. Projects could be categorized in the following four areas: animal health technology and products, biobased materials and products, byproduct recovery, and new business and research partnerships. Products from the grant included: nine journal papers, six conference papers/presentations, three book chapters and four other/one-time presentations or publications. A significant example of the project work completed as part of this grant was the work that was done through multiple projects on a Phosphorous Reduction System (PHRED) for waste streams. PHRED was invented and patented during work on K-State's first PFI grant (EEC 0438691) with specific application to removing phosphorous from waste lagoons at concentrated animal feeding operations. During this current PFI grant, the team developed a better understanding of how the system was working in real waste streams and modeled the system dynamically. Consequently, PHRED was significantly enhanced and improved technically and has also been applied to reduce phosphorous in other waste streams such as those generated from ethanol production. Furthermore, the team was able to secure further funding to support PHRED research and development from other sources including the USDA SBIR program. This grant successfully introduced and brought together faculty from Kansas State University and Pittsburg State University to work on engineering and science projects of particular interest to industrial sponsors to accelerate the commercial development of bioscience products/technologies. Though the NSF Partnerships For Innovation project is complete, the grant investigators expect that relationships forged by this project will continue to develop and lead to further collaborations that result in the development and hardening of new bioscience-based products, processes, and technologies in Kansas.
