Trends reported by industry suggest capital project delivery is sub-par and not improving, despite an intensive focus on execution. Fewer projects meet original goals, business intent, or within budget. In the United States alone, this less than optimal performance costs organizations billions of...Read more
Process Safety Management is certainly not new to Cargill. However, according to Cargill’s Vice President for Environment Health & Safety, Al Johnson, “Collaborating with CCPS/AIChE on this recent Faculty Workshop, is one of the significant ways we are expanding our ongoing co
This issue’s SBE supplement showcases recent advances in synthetic biology. The first two articles examine new additions to the synthetic biology toolbox — massively parallel DNA synthesis and CRISPR-Cas systems. The final article in the supplement describes how one company found commercial success by establishing an integrated computational and experimental bioengineering platform that harnesses the synthetic biology toolbox.
Stephanie Culler, PhD, is the cofounder and CEO of Persephone Biosciences. She is a graduate of the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator and has spoken at TEDx San Diego. Prior to establishing Persephone Biosciences, she was a senior scientist at Genomatica, where she developed and applied synthetic biology tools to the engineering of microorganisms as biocatalysts for the commercial production of sustainable chemicals. She received her PhD in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Christina Smolke and has numerous publications and patents...Read more
Chase L. Beisel, PhD, is a group leader in the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research. Dr. Beisel received his BS in chemical engineering from Iowa State Univ. and his PhD in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, and he held a postdoctoral fellowship in bacterial genetics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He then began his faculty career as an assistant professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at North Carolina State University. After being promoted to associate professor with tenure, Dr. Beisel transitioned to the Helmholtz Institute.Read more
Michelle L. Luo is a PhD candidate in the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State Univ. (Email: mlluo@ncsu.edu). After completing her BSE at Princeton Univ. in 2012, she began her doctoral work at NCSU under the supervision of Chase Beisel. Her graduate research focuses on developing CRISPR-based genetic tools to rapidly understand and engineer bacteria. She is broadly interested in applying science and technology to address human health needs.
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An invention must be both novel and nonobvious to qualify for a patent. Once novelty is established, the inventor must confirm that their invention is nonobvious. Unfortunately, there is no clear and straightforward definition of nonobvious, which has made this term the subject of debate ever...
Jim Richardson has worked in R&D, sales, and technical service in the field of catalysis related to chemical, petrochemical, and refining industries at Süd-Chemie/Clariant for 42 years before retiring in March 2015. He is now the owner of Catalysts and Chemicals (Email: jim.richardson@cat-chem.com), which provides consulting and start-up services for syngas plants. He has a BS degree in chemical engineering from Tennessee Technological Univ. He was a member of the AIChE Ammonia Safety Committee from 1990 to 2015, and in that role he...Read more
VENKAT PATTABATHULA, P.E., is the Principal Consultant at SVP Chemical Plant Services. Prior to this position, he was the global ammonia technology manager for Incitec Pivot Ltd., where he supported manufacturing facilities in Australia and North America. His specialties include process design, project development, commissioning, plant operation, process safety management, and manufacturing excellence programs. Pattabathula has been a member of AIChE since 1989 and has been an elected member of AIChE’s Ammonia Safety Committee since 2005. He is a chartered professional engineer of...Read more
