Iowa State University, industry partners to elevate biobased product testing

In Iowa, Kcrg.com reported that Iowa State University is working with a U.S. Defense Department-backed organization to develop facilities that could make the university and its community a national destination for biobased product testing.

BioMADE, a Manufacturing Innovation Institute focused on bioindustrial manufacturing and supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, announced it has partnered with ISU and the ISU Research Park to create and operate a multiuse fermentation facility.

The report noted that the $40 million project, funded with contributions from the Iowa Economic Development and Finance Authority, BioMADE and Iowa State, will be housed at the university’s BioCentury Research Farm outside of Ames.

Kevin Moore, chief technology officer of the Biobased Products team in the office of the vice president for research, said the goal behind the new facility is to bring in companies to test their products before they have to decide whether to invest in customized, full-scale facilities of their own to mass-produce it.

“The key purpose of the announced facility is to de-risk investment decisions so that we can diversify the products that are made from corn, and also enable all of the various technologies that are being developed via fermentation, allowing them to come to reality,” Moore said.

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