PFI (MCA): Translation and education of high-throughput microbial strain engineering

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Mid Career Advancement (PFI-MCA) project is two-fold: to dramatically advance microbial engineering technologies for biofuel and biochemical production towards maximal impact; and to develop next-generation engineers with entrepreneurial mindsets and skills, through modernizing the undergraduate and graduate curricula in chemical engineering. This project will develop biotechnologies applicable to a wide range of microbial species and diverse applications, potentially developing sustainable substitutes to petrochemicals. The project will also develop entrepreneurial training for cohorts of undergraduate and graduate students, particularly female and underrepresented minority (URM) students. The proposed project will advance microbial engineering technologies for biofuel/biochemical production, particularly high-throughput strain engineering and screening. This project will: i) extend new approaches for microbial engineering from laboratory model systems to a range of industrially relevant microbial organisms and biomolecules; ii) identify and address bottlenecks in process scale-up; and iii) develop and deliver new educational components and modules for incorporating entrepreneurial training into undergraduate and graduate curricula.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.