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 Greg Zeikus, Michigan State University
Eric Larson, Princeton University
Robert Brown, Iowa State University
Winston Ho, Ohio State University
Dr. Greg Zeikus
Michigan State University Dr. Greg Zeikus is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University. His lab research focuses on the design and control of industrial biocatalysts (i.e. microbes and enzymes), an area of research that has been greatly expanded by the application of new bioengineering technologies including genetic engineering. Industrial bioprocesses involve the use of biocatalysts in biochemicals and biomaterials production, drug synthesis and manufacture, sensors and diagnostics, food and feed production, and waste treatment systems. Dr. Zeikus is specifically focused on the development of robust biocatalysts that function under harsh physical chemical processing conditions.
Prior to joining Michigan State University, Dr. Zeikus was president and CEO of MBI International, an organization focused on the development of biology-based technologies and related initiatives to spur economic development and growth. He also served as executive director for the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, a predecessor to MBI International.
Dr. Zeikus received a Doctor of Honoris Cuasa in Applied Biological Sciences from the University of Ghent, Belguim in 1992. He was a visiting research fellow from 1981-82 at the Institute Pasteur; a visiting professor and Humbolt Fellow, 1976-77 at the Universität Marburg; a faculty member from 1972-84 at the University of Wisconsin; and a postdoctoral associate from 1970-72 at the University of Illinois. He received a B.A. from the University of South Florida, and an M.A. and Ph.D. at Indiana University.
Dr. Eric Larson Dr. Eric Larson is a senior member of the Energy Technology Assessment/Energy Policy Analysis Group at the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI). His research interests include technical, economic, and policy-related assessments of advanced clean-energy systems, especially for electric power and transport fuels production from carbonaceous fuels (biomass, coal, natural gas) and for efficient end use of energy. His work addresses technologies of relevance to developed and developing countries. He has participated in collaborative research efforts with colleagues in Brazil, China, Cuba, India, Italy, Jamaica, Sweden and elsewhere. He currently co-leads a new PEI program on low-emission energy strategies and technologies for China, involving a collaboration with colleagues at Tsinghua University (Beijing). This program aims to describe least-cost energy futures for China for the long term based on carbonaceous fuels and characterized by near-zero emissions of both local air pollution and greenhouse gases and to define critical paths to realizing such long-term futures, including identifying key near-term enabling R&D, technologies, strategies and policies. He has previously led research efforts focusing on analysis of production and conversion systems for modernizing renewable-biomass as an energy source, including advanced gasification-based technologies for power generation (various advanced gas turbine cycles) and for production of methanol, hydrogen and other transportation fuels. These efforts have included assessments of potential gas-turbine based biomass electricity supply and use in sugarcane industries, in pulp and paper industries and in stand-alone electric power generation. He has also been involved with assessments of transportation fuels production from biomass and municipal solid waste and the analysis of the economics of alternative vehicle technologies based on these fuels. Larson periodically assists the Global Environment Facility in developing, reviewing and implementing proposals from a variety of countries, including proposals for the development of national energy efficiency and renewable energy programs and for accelerating the commercialization of advanced clean-energy technologies for application in developing countries. Dr. Larson received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Robert Brown Dr. Robert Brown is the founding director of the Office of Biorenewables Programs (OBP) at Iowa State University (ISU), a university-wide initiative that coordinates research, educational and outreach activities related to biobased products and bioenergy. The OBP has established several new research enterprises at ISU including the Center for the Biobased Products Industry, the New Century Farm, the Biorenewables Research Laboratory Building and the Harvest, Storage and Transportation Consortium.
Dr. Winston Ho Dr. Winston Ho is a University Scholar Professor in Ohio State University's Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering. Prior to joining OSU, he was with a member of the University of Kentucky's chemical and materials faculty. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Technology at Commodore Separation Technologies, Inc. in Kennesaw, Georgia. For 21 years prior to that, he was a researcher with Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Corporate Research, in Annandale, New Jersey. Dr. Ho has been published in more than 55 refereed journal publications and has 57 Awarded patents. He was the co-editor of Membrane Handbook, which received the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the most outstanding engineering work of 1993. The New Jersey Inventors Congress and Hall of Fame named him its Inventor of the Year in 1991. Dr. Ho is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, the American Chemical Society, the North American Membrane Society, and Phi Lambda Upsilon, a national chemical honor society. He has also been elected into the National Academy of Engineers (NAE). The NAE was established in 1964 as an independent, nonprofit organization. It operates under the same congressional act of incorporation, signed by President Lincoln in 1863 that established the National Academy of Science, and is among the highest professional distinctions that can be accorded an engineer. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois.
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