Conference: 2025 Circular Bioeconomy Workshop

About This Grant

2520357 (Flach). This workshop will examine the current and future marketplace of industrial bioprocessing feedstocks. It will gather researchers and practitioners with a variety of skillsets, from systems-level modeling to metabolic engineering and bioprocess experts, facilitating an environment for cross-field interactions. The two key aims will be to answer the following questions: (1) What new, sustainable feedstocks have an opportunity to be more effectively incorporated into the circular bioeconomy? (2) What has been learned about the commercialization viability of past feedstocks, and how can those lessons be applied to ongoing efforts? The workshop will take place over a full day and has two primary objectives: (1) Converge a community with a wide array of expertise areas to learn from the experiences of past leaders, applying those lessons to current initiatives; (2) Facilitate a focused discussion among experts to identify strategies for moving forward and the challenges that must be addressed to advance the circular bioeconomy. Following these discussions, a report will be issued, summarizing takeaways from key case studies and offering a path forward on how to most effectively address challenges related to industrial bioprocessing feedstocks to advance the circular bioeconomy. The workshop presents a unique opportunity to gain insights from leaders in industry, academia, and government, each bringing a wide range of expertise. It is targeted to be held in November at the 2025 AIChE Annual Meeting at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. This workshop program will involve experts in the field sharing their insights with the next generation dedicated to advancing the circular bioeconomy. It will bring together current leaders to discuss the challenges and achievements present in today’s circular bioeconomy landscape. Following the workshop, a report will be issued that summarizes presentations, discussions, and findings. The report will highlight current challenges and where to invest resources to overcome them. It will be publicly available and distributed through AIChE’s website, helping others in the community learn from the event. Facilitating knowledge transfer from long-experienced experts to the future generation of engineers advancing the circular bioeconomy will have long term impacts on the development of the circular bioeconomy. Sharing lessons learned and past mistakes will help current engineers and researchers avoid the same pitfalls. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.