OIT Times: New R&D and Education Projects Selected

December 21, 2000

The Agriculture Team has selected six new R&D projects, and, for the first time, six Education Initiative projects for funding. The R&D projects address key barriers to processing or using plant material that have been identified by industry technology roadmap. The education grants encourage universities to design multi-disciplinary academic programs that will help equip graduate-level students to excel in the emerging bio-based products industry. New solicitations for both R&D and Education Initiative projects will open shortly. See www.oit.doe.gov/agriculture for details...

The Team has been very active in Iowa recently. That State Corn Growers Assoc. hosted the Team Leader and Denise Swink on tours of a corn dry mill/ethanol plant and grain harvest and dairy operations near New Hampton, IA, and at a community meeting in rural northeast Iowa. The Team also met with a citizens advisory panel at Iowa State Univ. to help guide a new state-IOF program, initially focused on the bio-based products and Metalcasting industries... Team members also addressed various forums at Kansas State Univ. and Buffalo, NY... The Team traveled to Dupont Corp. in Wilmington, DE to discuss increased collaboration with Dupont recently created new business unit for bio-based products and bio-processing. (Contact: Doug Faulkner, 202-586-2119)