2024 SBFC Recap
2024 SBFC Recap
As we prepare for the 47th SBFC meeting being held May 4 – 7, 2025 in Milwaukee, WI, let’s take a look back at the 2024 meeting. It was my pleasure to organize the 46th Symposium on Biomaterials, Fuels and Chemicals (SBFC) held in Alexandria, VA from April 28 – May 1, 2024. The symposium had 293 participants from 22 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. SBFC continues to serve the academic, government, and industrial scientific communities, with 2024 being no exception. In 2024, government attendees were the single largest group of attendees at 33% of the conference, beating academic participants for the first time in the last five years.
Given our proximity to the US capital and its significant impact on the development of the bioeconomy, a key theme of the meeting was US federal investment priorities and their impact on emerging industrial and research opportunities. The meeting kicked off with a showcase of significant US investment with regards to bioenergy – the US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Research Centers – and a rousing panel discussion with their leadership of future challenges and opportunities for a circular bioeconomy.
The program contained 14 engaging sessions organized within 3 topical tracks – (i) Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Synthetic Biology; (ii) Feedstocks and Bio-based Materials; and (iii) Engineering & Deconstruction of Biomass – by our dedicated topic chairs and conveners. Sessions discussed the latest advances in microbial, microbiome, bioenergy crop, materials, and process engineering, and feedstock utilization, along with special sessions on translation and the economic viability of bioprocesses. All sessions were well-attended and generated vibrant conversations that frequently spilled out into the hallways.
New to 2024 was a highly attended panel with industrial experts sharing lessons learnt ‘translating across scales’. Panelists came from a range of institutions including DSM, IFF, Amyris, DEVCOM (US Army), BioMADE, and Capra Biosciences. To better showcase the breadth and growth of the biomaterials area, we also presented two focused sessions on Engineered living materials, and New performance/process-advantaged biomaterials. Finally, thought leaders from federal and private funding agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy, The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, Schmidt Sciences, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted a packed fireside chat on the future Funding and Regulatory Landscape of the Bioeconomy in a special session. We also continued to celebrate and showcase the next generation of bioeconomy researchers, our students, with 2 student oral sessions and poster rapid fires. Both sessions were packed with standing room only!
To close the program, we recognized and celebrated thought leaders and rising stars in the community. Prof. Huimin Zhao from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was recognized with the Charles D. Scott Award for his “distinguished contributions to enable and further the use of biotechnology to produce fuels and chemicals”, named in honor of the founder of SBFC. Lanzatech was recognized with a Bioeconomy Leadership Award for their significant progress towards “the development of a renewable resource-based fuels and chemicals economy”. Finally, Emily Aicher from Purdue University, and Daniela Ruiz from Texas A&M received diversity travel awards to support their participation at the meeting. Outstanding student presentations were also recognized: Joshua Dietrich, Vanessa Rondon Berrio, and Andrew Hren.
It was an honor and privilege to chair the Program Committee for the 2024 SBFC and work with an engaged team including Ben Woolston (Co-Chair), Carrie Eckert (Past Chair) and SIMB staff Tina Hockaday, Jennifer Johnson, Haley Cox and Suzi Citrenbaum. We also thank our passionate Topic Area Chairs and Session Conveners for their vision in shaping the program and running the sessions. We also thank all our exhibitors for their generous support of SBFC: DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office, Getinge, Scientific Bioprocessing, Inc., USDOE-funded Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs).
The 47th SBFC meeting will be held at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, WI and organized by Program Chair Ben Woolston from Northeastern University. Please contact Ben Woolston (b.woolston@northeastern.edu) if you would like information on this year’s program. You can still be part of the 2025 program, abstract submission deadline is in February 2025. We look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee May 4-7, 2025!
Kevin Solomon
University of Delaware
2024 SBFC Program Chair
