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

这一创新伙伴关系-职业发展中期(PFI-MCA)项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是双重的：大幅推动用于生物燃料和生化生产的微生物工程技术，以实现最大影响；通过使化学工程的本科生和研究生课程现代化，培养具有创业精神和技能的下一代工程师。该项目将开发适用于广泛微生物种类和不同应用的生物技术，有可能开发石化产品的可持续替代品。该项目还将为一批本科生和研究生，特别是女学生和代表不足的少数族裔学生开展创业培训。拟议的项目将推进用于生物燃料/生化生产的微生物工程技术，特别是高通量菌株工程和筛选。该项目将：i)将微生物工程的新方法从实验室模型系统扩展到一系列与工业相关的微生物和生物分子；ii)识别和解决工艺放大中的瓶颈；以及iii)开发和提供新的教育组件和模块，将创业培训纳入本科生和研究生课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.