Wyman, C. E.
Charles Wyman has devoted most of his career to leading advancement of technology for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol and other products that will reduce our excessive dependence on petroleum. He has been the Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering at the Center for Environmental Research and Technology and a professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering for the University of California at Riverside since 2005. Prior to that, he was the Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College where he continues as an Adjunct Professor.
Dr. Wyman is also the cofounder, Chief Development Officer, and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Mascoma Corporation, a startup company focused on biomass conversion to ethanol and other products. Before joining Dartmouth College in the fall of 1998, Dr. Wyman was Director of Technology for BC International and led process development for the first cellulosic ethanol plant planned for Jennings, Louisiana. Between 1978 and 1997, he served as Director of the Biotechnology Center for Fuels and Chemicals at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado; was Director of the NREL Alternative Fuels Division and Manager of the Biotechnology Research Branch; and held several other leadership positions at NREL, mostly focused on R&D for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals. He has also been Manager of Process Development for Badger Engineers, an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire, and a Senior Chemical Engineer with Monsanto Company.
Wyman has a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, MA and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from Princeton University, and an MBA from the University of Denver. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, made more than 50 presentations for publication and more than 150 other presentations, many invited, written over 30 technical reports, chaired numerous technical meetings and sessions, edited 9 symposium proceedings, edited a book on biomass ethanol technology, and been awarded 12 patents. He is also on the editorial board of several technical journals and the board of directors or board of advisors for a number of organizations and institutions. Since 1980, Dr. Wyman's research has almost exclusively focused on biological conversion of abundant and inexpensive cellulosic biomass to commodity products including ethanol for use as a transportation fuel based on his conviction that modern biotechnology provides a powerful tool for cost-competitive, sustainable production of ethanol and other fuels and chemicals with unique and powerful environmental, economic, and strategic benefits. A substantial portion of this research is directed at enhancing knowledge and advancing technologies for the most expensive and critical unit operations: pretreatment and cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis.
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