Iowa State has been awarded three grants for students to learn how to turn plants into products for the emerging biobased products industry.

The National Science Foundation and two U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling more than $1 million will fund both graduate and undergraduate course work.

The DOE is expecting the biobased industry to expand at a rapid pace in the next few years, said Robert Brown, professor in mechanical and chemical engineering. The DOE is awarding these grants to make sure there are future employees who are appropriately trained in biobased science and engineering, he said.

A new graduate college major focusing on the science and technology behind biobased products will be created, said Charles Glatz, professor and chairman of chemical engineering.

New laboratory modules for undergraduates in chemical engineering also have been created, and the first two of these will be used for the first time this spring, he said.

The modules will use a problem-based learning approach, Glatz said.

“Opposed to having a course syllabus, we will give them a problem, and they will have to figure it out,” he said. “[Their professors] will give them information on the way. If the answer can’t be found, [the students] will use the laboratory to find solutions by experimentation.”

The goal behind biobased technology is to replace existing base chemicals and products such as fuels, lubricants and building materials, Brown said. Biodegradable products such as sugar can be used to make plastics, he said.

Right now, biobased products are expensive, Brown said, but the rewards can outweigh the cost. An alternative to biobased products – petroleum-based products – release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and many industries are shying away from polluting the environment, he said.

“Some industries are looking for green chemicals,” he said. “Green chemicals are chemicals that break down easier in the environment.”

Although the biobased industry is still a relatively unknown field, Brown said, “it is an exciting opportunity to move into a field that is just emerging.”

Having these new programs at Iowa State will give students an opportunity to learn about something that is new and on the cutting edge, he said.

The university also will gain a lot from these new programs, Glatz said. Because the university has a good reputation for the programs it offers and has good people working on them, students will come, he said.

“We are one of a handful of schools that are doing this right now,” Brown said.

“Recruiters don’t know where else to turn.”