Society for Biological Engineering (SBE) SBE is a global technological community that promotes the integration of engineering with biology and realize its benefits through bioprocessing, biomedical, and biomolecular applications. SBE provides opportunities for interaction of engineers and scientists, develops products and services bring value to the broad biological engineering community, and infuses awareness of biological engineering among all functions and activities of AIChE.
Food, Pharmaceutical & Bioengineering Division (FP & BE) The FP&BE division coordinates AIChE's activities in the fields of food, pharmaceuticals, and bioengineering.
Forest Bioproducts Division (FBP) The Forest Bioproducts Division promotes knowledge sharing and networking on topics dealing with products obtained from forest resources and other lignocellulosic materials.
2017 AIChE Annual Meeting October 29 - November 3, 2017Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, MNHilton Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MNThe AIChE Annual Meeting is the premier educational forum for chemical engineers interested in innovation and professional growth. Save the date!
2017 Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) June 20-23, 2017Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada SEED 2017 is focused on advances in the science and technology emerging from the field of synthetic biology. This is broadly defined as technologies that accelerate the process of genetic engineering. The conference highlighted new tool development, as well as the application of these tools to...
Biolubricants Development, Formulation and Friction Test Conference PresentationAIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process SafetyTuesday, March 28, 2017 - 3:30pm-5:00pmBiolubricants have exhibited a lot of advantages over the conventional lubricants: excellent lubricity, minimizing of corrosion of metal surfaces,...
Genetically Engineered Algae Passes First EPA-Approved Outdoor Field Test May 5, 2017Researchers at the University of California San Diego and Sapphire Energy have completed the first outdoor field trial sanctioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for...
Biotechnology for Chemical Engineers eLearning (online) CourseWhat chemical engineers working in design, operations and other support functions need to know about biotechnology.
CEP: News Update May2017News Update4D Printing Creates Shape-Shifting Materials Scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology and Singapore Univ. of Technology and Design have developed a way to 3D-print objects that can easily change shape when they are heated. The process could...
May 2017 CEP Preview May 8, 2017Understand the pros & cons of modular design, learn to optimize compressed air systems, reduce produce contamination, and more.
AIChE Journal Highlight: Non-Viral Gene Delivery for Cancer Therapy May2017Journal HighlightAs researchers gain more insight into the molecular basis of cancer cell genesis, proliferation, and metastasis, gene therapy has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment. In particular, the non-viral delivery of therapeutic nucleic acid...
Weakness Identified in Zika Virus Blocks Propagation May 17, 2017Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have published findings that may represent a first step towards a drug treatment for Zika infections. The...
Technical Entity Trends: A World Transitioning to Translational Medicine May2017Technical Entity TrendsGabriel Levesque-TremblayThe failure rate for new drugs and therapies under development exceeds 95%. For the other 5%, it takes at least 14 years and more than $1 billion to develop a successful candidate into a product that can be delivered to patients. The field of...
Microbial Conversion of Methane to Electricity May 22, 2017Researchers at Penn State have engineered a strain of bacteria that is the key to converting methane to electricity. The researchers' goal was to eliminate the need to transport...
Bioseparations: Principles, Applications, and Scale-up Public (classroom) CourseThis course focuses on the principles, applications, and scale-up of bioseparations processes, which are used for bioproducts in the pharmaceutical,...
Gene Editing Eliminates HIV-1 Infection in Vivo May 2, 2017New technique seeks to eliminate latent reservoirs of the virus in the body.
Biomanufacturing for Chemical Engineers eLearning (online) CourseWorking in a biopharmaceutical or vaccine company? Review the unit operations used to manufacture biological products with this online course.
Solar-Driven Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products April2017SBE Special SectionBirger Lindberg MøllerUsing synthetic biology, researchers are harnessing the photosynthetic reducing power generated in the chloroplast for synthesis of high-value products.
Metabolic Engineering 12 June 24-28, 2018The Westin Grand Munich, Munich, GermanyShare the state-of-the-art developments and achievements made in the field of metabolic engineering. The theme of this year's conference is Design, Synthesis and System Integration for Metabolic Engineering.
2018 Spring Meeting and 14th Global Congress on Process Safety April 22-26, 2018 Orlando World Center MarriottThe AIChE Spring Meeting is the year’s key technical conference for practicing chemical engineers. A wide range of subjects relevant to the current needs of industry is covered.
Delivering Genes to Plants April2017SBE Special SectionGozde S. Demirer, Markita P. LandryTraditional methods of gene delivery to plants are labor- and time-intensive, are suitable for only a small number of hosts, and have high toxicity and limited practical applicability. This article discusses how nanoparticle-based approaches could enable efficient gene transfer into plants.
Costas Maranas Discusses Latest Work in Metabolic Engineering March 21, 2017To launch a new series of interviews with authors in biological and chemical engineering, we are pleased to share a conversation we recently had with Costas D. Maranas . Costas is...
SBE Update: The Blossoming Field of Plant Synthetic Biology April2017SBE Special SectionGabriel Levesque-Tremblay, Darlene SchusterSynthetic biology can be broadly defined as technologies that accelerate the process of genetically engineering biological systems. Although the field encompasses both plant and mammalian cells, in recent years, research has targeted mainly mammalian cells.
Interview with Cato T. Laurencin about Regenerative Engineering April 19, 2017The RE Society Journal recently did an interview with Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. to discuss the field of regenerative engineering. Dr. Laurencin is the founding director for...
Synthetic Promoters for Precise Control of Gene Expression in Plants April2017SBE Special SectionC. Neal Stewart, Jr, Wusheng LiuSynthetic promoters can be designed rationally to provide tremendous advantages over their natural counterparts in terms of promoter strength and specificity.
April 2017 CEP Preview April 12, 2017This month: a special feature on becoming a better writer, which anyone can read in full online.
SBE Supplement: Plant Synthetic Biology (Full 28-Page Supplement) April2017SBE Special SectionSBE Update: The Blossoming Field of Plant Synthetic Biology; A Brief History and Outlook on Plant Engineering; Synthetic Promoters for Precise Control of Gene Expression in Plants; Delivering Genes to Plants; Solar-Driven Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products
Interview with Michael Betenbaugh, Winner of 2017 D.I.C. Wang Award April 13, 2017AIChE’s Lucy Alexander sat down with 2017 D.I.C. Wang Award winner Michael Betenbaugh to discuss the ways his career has been influenced by “Danny” Wang and what winning this...
Profile: Innovating Plant-Based Vaccines and Therapeutics April2017Profile“Bringing a new product to market is never an easy task,” says Marc-André D’Aoust, Vice President, Research and Innovation, of Medicago. “At Medicago, we’re developing new products, such as influenza virus-like particles (VLPs), manufactured in a...
Meet Chemical Engineer and MIT Professor Paula Hammond April 20, 2017As part of the ongoing series "Storied Women," MIT recently featured Paula T. Hammond , who is the David H. Koch Chair Professor of Engineering in the Chemical Engineering...
Technical Entity Trends: Making Tissue Regrowth and Repair a Reality April2017Technical Entity TrendsAmro TambalThe ability to regenerate organs, ligaments, or other tissues sounds like something straight out of a comic book, but regenerative engineering has the potential to give us this super power.
A Brief History and Outlook on Plant Engineering April2017SBE Special SectionPatrick M. ShihAdvances in plant mutagenesis and transgenesis will enable more sophisticated and precise engineering efforts in plants.
Ice Cream Engineering Archived Webinar Aug 10, 2016 Ice cream is a multi-phase system. That means the engineering principles applied to making ice cream also apply to other industries, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and consumer products. This webinar explores how phase transitions are controlled to create structural aspects of ice cream that...
Advancing the Design-Build-Test Cycle for Metabolic Engineering of Yeast Archived Webinar Feb 24, 2016 Metabolic Engineering relies on the Design-Build-Test cycle. This cycle includes technologies like mathematical modeling of metabolism, genome editing and advanced tools for phenotypic characterization. In recent years there have been advances in several of these technologies, which has enabled...
AIChE Graduate Research Spotlight - Dec. 2015 Archived Webinar Dec 15, 2015 Three AIChE graduate student members who recently published their graduate level research joined us on this first webinar of our Graduate Research Spotlight Webinar Series. They presented their research and answered questions. The presenters were: Name School Topic Mahmoud Kamal Ahmadi University...
Introduction to Surfactants Archived Webinar Dec 9, 2015 This session is a basic introduction to the types of surfactants found in industry, their properties, and how those properties translate into improved performance in specific applications. Surfactants can be found in a wide range of products we use every day such as personal care products, cleaners...
Metabolic Engineering of Bacteria for Production of Oleochemicals Archived Webinar Dec 16, 2014 This talk describes pathways for producing high-value commodity chemicals derived from fatty-acids and how we have combined synthetic biology and systems biology to improve oleochemical production in bacteria using sustainable feedstocks. I describe my group’s efforts to engineer artificial...
Hollow Fiber Microfiltration of Microorganisms from Food and Water Archived Webinar Dec 3, 2014 This presentation discusses the factors involved in designing and operating an automated hollow fiber microfiltration system for concentrating microorganisms from complex fluids that can rapidly foul membranes. By combining pretreatment of the fluids prior to microfiltration, with an automatically...
In Silico Design Tools for Engineering Microbial Biocatalysts Archived Webinar Nov 25, 2014 Choosing from the great variety of computational tools now being utilized in the metabolic engineering field can be challenging. You need a computational tool that is able to account qualitatively and quantitatively for a wide range of different data types relevant to biological systems. This...
Introduction to Knovel Archived Webinar Jun 12, 2014 For AIChE Members Only Knovel provides answers for chemical engineers and scientists across all disciplines and is used to find technical information, solve design problems, improve processes, validate assumptions and much more. This webinar provides: an overview of the AIChE Knovel subscription...
The Future of Drug Delivery Innovations in Biotechnology and Biomaterials Archived Webinar Feb 12, 2014 Advanced drug delivery systems are having an enormous impact on human health.
Chemical Engineers as Biomedical Innovators Archived Webinar Aug 7, 2013 The design of biomedical materials is rooted in principles of chemical engineering. This presentation describes the connections between chemical engineering and biomedical innovations, and discusses the translation of novel materials into clinical applications.
VLS: Great Inventions That Changed The World Archived Webinar Mar 28, 2013 You will not only learn about inventions and inventors, but also the impact they have had on our lives and the society and environment in which we live today. Inventions solve problems, but they can also directly or indirectly create new problems as well, from pollution to global warming to...
From Biochemical Engineering to Synthetic Biology: A Short History of Engineering Impacts on Biotechnology Archived Webinar Sep 27, 2012 This webinar will focus on how biochemical engineering developed in response to the need for large-scale production of antibiotics in the 1940s and 50s, even though fermentation provided a route to many industrial organic chemicals prior to their production from petroleum.
Biofuels: Metrics and Challenges Archived Webinar Aug 22, 2012 Learn about the critical economic, environmental and social issues that will impact a biofuels project along with the technical programs that could enhance a particular project.
On-Site Biological Graywater Treatment Archived Webinar Aug 1, 2012 An Appalachian State University research team, is innovating the field of biological water treatment by applying a proven technology to salon and spa wastewater to create functional, multipurpose, "living art" within a small business environment. In this informative webinar you will learn how to "...
Electrofuel Production Using Ammonia or Iron in Reverse Microbial Fuel Cells Archived Webinar May 29, 2012 The production of electrofuels requires the efficient transport of electrons from an electrochemical system into a biological system. We have approached this challenge by identifying natural chemical mediators that can be easily reduced electrochemically and are natural substrates for different...
Algae - The New Green Crude Archived Webinar Mar 1, 2012 Algae provides one solution to help the US reduce its dependence on foreign oil and create new green jobs. Barry Cohen and Will Thurmond will discuss both the technology and the commercial framework for the New Green Crude.
Microbial-Electrocatalytic Biofuel Production Archived Webinar Feb 23, 2012 Dr Singer and his lab are developing an integrated Microbial-ElectroCatalytic (MEC) system to produce advanced biofuels from H2/CO2. We have engineered Ralstonia eutropha, an aerobic chemolithoautotroph, to produce biofuel products by manipulating the polyhydroxybutyrate, fatty acid and isoprenoid...
Cheers! The Chemistry of Wine Archived Webinar Feb 1, 2012 This webinar provides all the necessary information to fully appreciate this best companion of good food. It presents the history of wine as well as the chemical aspects of fermentation and of aging.
Engineering Single-Cell Bioanalytics for Discovery and Bioprocess Characterization Archived Webinar Jan 24, 2012 Discovery of new antibodies for therapeutics requires discerning tools to identify rare cells producing specific antibodies among many similar ones. Bioprocess development also relies on methods to identify optimized cell lines producing heterologous proteins. This talk will describe an approach...
Viral Contamination of Biologics Manufacture—Occurrence and Mitigation Archived Webinar Dec 19, 2011 Learn about viral contamination events and risk mitigation strategies that may be used to reduce the potential for contamination.
Molecular Gastronomy: The Science of Flavor Archived Webinar Oct 26, 2011 What gives food its flavor? What makes some foods taste really good while others can be mediocre or even disgusting? How far can science go in answering these and other questions that are so important for domestic cooks and chefs alike? In this webinar, Professor Peter Barham addresses these and...
From Biomass to Biofuels: Breaking the Cellulose Barrier Archived Webinar Oct 5, 2011 Cellulases are of considerable current interest for converting the cellulosic content of biomass to fermentable sugars for biofuels production. To facilitate the enzymatic conversion of biomass to sugars, pre-treatment processes at high temperatures, low pH, and even in ionic liquids are candidates...
Tumor Targeting Theory: Physiological Limits from Scaling Analyses, and Design Principles for Better Magic Bullets Archived Webinar Sep 26, 2011 For the past two decades the capability of protein engineers to devise clever tumor-targeting molecules has outstripped our understanding of how these agents distribute through the body and permeate through tumors. Classical chemical engineering reaction/diffusion analyses help illustrate the...
Microengineered Hydrogels for Stem Cell Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration Archived Webinar Aug 23, 2011 Micro- and nanoscale technologies are emerging as powerful tools for controlling the interaction between cells and their surroundings for biological studies, tissue engineering, and cell-based screening. In addition, hydrogel biomaterials have been increasingly used in various tissue engineering...
Providing Energy to a Growing World: Bio-Gasoline and High-Efficiency Engines Archived Webinar Jun 9, 2011 Dr. Holtzapple describes the challenges of providing energy to a growing world. To address energy needs, he shows how the MixAlco process converts waste biomass into bio-gasoline. Further, he explains how to reduce the need for gasoline by using a high-efficiency StarRotor engine.
Engineering and Health Care Archived Webinar May 16, 2011 Dr. Langer discusses the involvement of engineering in health care, from the discovery of the first angiogenesis inhibitors to the development of controlled drug delivery systems and the foundation of tissue engineering.
Tapping into the Chemistry of Beer and Brewing Archived Webinar Apr 6, 2011 This webinar puts the complexity of malting and brewing into readily accessible terms. Anyone interested in understanding the journey from grain, hops and yeast through to the world’s favorite alcoholic beverage will gain a new appreciation for the skill that goes into making a product with such...
Biomaterials for Stem Cell Tissue Engineering Archived Webinar Apr 5, 2011 Stem cells have become a promising cell source in the tissue engineering field. Intense studies have been focused at the cell and molecular biology levels on understanding the relationship between stem cell growth and terminal differentiation in an effort to control these processes. Recent...
New Technologies from Engineered Chimeric Proteins Archived Webinar Mar 21, 2011 We engineer designer fusion proteins that combine domains and functions from unrelated proteins and enzymes. In bioseparations, we have combined a previously developed pH-sensitive self-cleaving protein with a variety of purification tags to produce simple and economical methods for purifying...
Cybernetic Approach to Metabolic Modeling Archived Webinar Mar 10, 2011 Cybernetic modeling has evolved for well over two decades. This seminar seeks to: (i) introduce its basic tenets, (ii) expound its relationship to other approaches to modeling metabolism, and (iii) to reveal its unique dynamic capabilities. The framework is shown to provide eloquent support for...
Cell Therapy Bioprocessing Archived Webinar Feb 8, 2011 As cellular therapies are advancing through clinical development and getting closer to market, close collaborations between stem cell biologists, clinical cell processing technologists, and bioengineers will be required for effective commercialization of this new class of drugs. New cell production...
Towards Genome Engineering in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells Archived Webinar Dec 14, 2010 Worth over $30 billion, therapeutic proteins, produced by recombinant mammalian cells, have been the fastest growing class of medicines in industrialized nations. Their importance in the health industry in the next decade will be ever greater as their reach expands, improving the quality of life of...
Applications of Biotechnology: History and Prospects Archived Webinar Nov 4, 2010 The vast majority of the early societal benefit and commercial success in biotechnology arose from expressing single genes in bacteria and mammalian cells, to manufacture pharmaceuticals.
More Heat than Light: Opportunities for Extremely Thermophilic Microorganisms and Enzymes in Biofuels Archived Webinar Aug 25, 2010 The recent interest in biofuels has motivated a closer look at microorganisms from extremely high temperature environments, not only for their capacity to deconstruct the carbohydrate content of plant biomass but also for novel metabolic pathways harbored in their genomes that could facilitate...
Biological Synthesis of Fuels and Chemicals Archived Webinar Jul 22, 2010 Global energy and climate problems have stimulated increased efforts in synthesizing fuels and chemicals from renewable resources. Compared to the traditional biofuel, ethanol, higher alcohols offer advantages as gasoline substitutes because of their higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity...
Modular Biocatalysis Archived Webinar Jun 29, 2010 Modularity is a highly sought after feature in engineering design. A modular catalyst is a multi-component system whose parts can be predictably interchanged for functional flexibility and variety. Over the past two decades, much of the research in our laboratory has focused on understanding the...
Breaking the Cell Wall Barrier for Difficult-to-Express Natural and Supernatural Products Archived Webinar May 27, 2010 Modern recombinant DNA expression technologies, by definition, challenge cells to engage in unnatural acts; specifically, the production of new types and large quantities of proteins for which the cells have not evolved. Consequently, many natural products are toxic, do not fold properly, or do not...
Biomass/Bioenergy Patent Landscape: Past, Present & Future Archived Webinar May 17, 2010 Barry J. Schindler, Esq., of Greenberg Traurig LLP's Patent Prosecution Group, addresses Intellectual Properties Issues for chemical engineers engaged in the business of biomass. This webcast is part of the Metro NY Section's 'Biomass as a Feedstock' Miniconference presented on May 17, 2010. This...
Systems Metabolic Engineering Archived Webinar Apr 22, 2010 As our concerns on global warming and other environmental problems are increasing, there has been much interest in developing sustainable system for the production of chemicals, fuels, and materials from renewable resources. As microorganisms isolated from nature are often inefficient in performing...
Molecular Bioprocessing as a New Paradigm for Drug Discovery Archived Webinar Mar 2, 2010 The drug discovery process is expensive and often inefficient. With the emergence of genomic and proteomic information, the growth of critical molecular targets is rapid. Nevertheless, the development of active, selective, and safe drug candidates (small molecule or biopharmaceutical) has not kept...
Molecular Elucidation and Engineering of Stem Cell Microenvironments Archived Webinar Jan 21, 2010 Stem cells are defined by their capacities for self-renewal and differentiation into one or more cell lineages, and these processes are regulated by signals from the stem cell microenvironment, or niche, in various tissues throughout organismal development and adulthood. These niches control cell...
A Bottom Up Approach to Systems Biotechnology – Lessons Learned from Bacterial Signal Transduction Archived Webinar Dec 8, 2009 Bacterial quorum sensing offers an interesting viewpoint from which to study and control cell phenotype. Through the perception of signal molecules (e.g., AHL, AI-2) and their transduction, bacteria coordinate their behavior and act as multicellular units. This coordination is responsible for...
Biomass Energy Systems for Steam, Power, and Fuel Production Archived Webinar Nov 6, 2009 This webinar covers the subject from the forest to stack. The emphasis is on the tried and true, with diagrams and photographs of actual equipment and installations.
Inventing the Biofuel Future – We Can Have Biomass for Fuel and Eat it Too Archived Webinar Oct 22, 2009 Surrounded by a world filled with the fruits of innovation and invention, pessimists generally forget or ignore the role these forces are likely to play in the developing biofuel industry. For example, they cannot seem to imagine how economic profitability and environmental improvement can be...
Industrial Systems Biology Archived Webinar Aug 25, 2009 Cell factories are used extensively to produce many specific molecules used as pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, fuels, materials and food ingredients. Through the use of directed genetic modifications of cell factories – an approach referred to as metabolic engineering – it is possible to develop...
Designing Efficient Metabolic Networks for Biofuels Production Archived Webinar Jun 25, 2009 Biotechnological processes depend to a large extent on the productivity of the organisms used. Recent advances in systems biology and bioinformatics have made it possible to rigorously analyze the functioning of complex metabolic networks using first principles. Such analysis provides a valuable...
Grand Challenges in Sustainable Biofuels Production Archived Webinar Apr 22, 2009 It is now clear that, for many reasons, corn has serious limitations as feedstock for biofuel production. While cellulosic biomass can potentially provide a sizable fraction of the US liquid fuel needs for transportation, current technologies must be further improved to realize cost-competitive...
Body-on-a-Chip -- A Tool for Predictive Pharmacology/Toxicology Archived Webinar Mar 31, 2009 In this presentation, Professor Mike Shuler details his work to understand the response of the human body to various pharmaceutical and environmental chemicals using a combination of whole body modules and micro models Professor Shuler’s research focuses on microfabricated devices combined with...
Systems Biology: Open Challenges and Opportunities for Chemical Engineers Archived Webinar Jan 20, 2009 Systems biology involves the analysis of multiple scales of 'control' in biological networks, from the regulation of gene transcription to the homeostatic regulation of metabolism in the whole body. These natural control circuits are paragons of optimality: over millennia, they have been honed to...
Catalyzing Commercialization: Electrically Active Microbes Clean Wastewater and Produce Energy March2017Catalyzing CommercializationElectrically Active Microbes Clean Wastewater and Produce Energy Municipalities charge industrial customers high annual fees for sewer discharge. These treatment facilities are overloaded with incoming industrial wastewater and sometimes are not...
Lasers Could Provide Improved Cancer Detection March 1, 2017Biomedical engineers at Duke University have devised an improved method for detecting the signs of cancer in a single cell using lasers and a camera.