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The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announced that Maria K. Burka, program director in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems Division of the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, will become president of the 40,000 member organization in 2011. Burka is the second woman to hold the presidency since AIChE’s founding in 1908.

There are many reasons why we game. Some game to escape, others to compete, and my personal favorite, to learn. Now, gamers have another—and even loftier—goal behind their time in front of the screen: contributing to science. Thanks to a new game developed by a team of bioinformaticians at McGill University, players can contribute in a fun way to genetic research.

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This session presented work from a number of groups from one of three Bioenergy Research Centers sponsored by the DOE; the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), and Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). A major focus of the Bioenergy Research Centers is to understand how to reengineer biological processes to develop new, more efficient methods for converting the cellulose in plant material into ethanol or other biofuels that serve as a substitute for gasoline. This session focused on the characterization and breakdown of lignin, a main component of plant cell walls.

By: Sarah Widder