Renewable Systems Engineering training course

The Renewable Systems Engineering grant (RENESENG) is a new FP7 Marie Curie project that researches and trains a new breed of engineers with project experience in biorefinery. RENESENG continues and builds on a series of successful European and national projects and is aimed at training future scientists and engineers in biorefinery related topics. Its emphasis is on

• Advanced process design
• Synthesis
• Model-based screening
• Analysis and process integration.

The course will be followed  by the First annual RENESENG project meeting on November 6th (for RENESENG project members only).

Who should attend?

This training course is aimed at professionals (MSc, PhD or equivalent experience) in biochemical engineering, fermentation, biorefinery or modelling with a basic working knowledge of the other disciplines.

ECTS credits

Participants will get 1 ECTS point. For a for poster presentation, 0.5 ECTS extra is awarded.
For Reneseng participants only: 0.5 extra for participation in the plenary Reneseng meeting of Thursday 6 November.

About RENESENG

The Renewable Systems Engineering grant (RENESENG) is a new FP7 Marie Curie project that researches and trains a new breed of engineers with project experience in biorefinery. Its emphasis is on advanced process design, synthesis, model-based screening and analysis and process integration. RENESENG continues and builds on a series of successful European and national projects and is aimed at training future scientists and engineers in biorefinery related topics.

RENESENG aims to prepare a new generation of highly-qualified researchers in biorefinery and bio based Chemical Systems Engineering Sciences in Europe. The programme is expected to have a high impact on the design of newly establishing industrial complexes in biorefineries  and more generally in eco-industries. RENESENG brings together interdisciplinary academic and industrial teams of high-quality experts, embracing disciplines in agricultural sciences, chemistry and chemical engineering, biology and biotechnology, computer science, process engineering, logistics and business economics, as well as social sciences (with an emphasis on life cycle analysis skills).

The project   mobilizes a critical mass in Europe that is already particularly active in this area but needs to coordinate the efforts and reduce fragmentation of knowledge. The principal scientific challenge of the network will be to foster interdisciplinary research from expert groups with dedicated interests in bio-renewables. To realize this,  a model-assisted systems approach is used as an integrating aspect to address complex and large problems. The aim is to develop and validate modelling, synthesis, integration and optimization technology, addressing:

• Lignin-based and cellulosic processes
• Water-based paths to biomass production
• Waste treatment paths
• Hybrids of bio-renewables with other forms of renewables

Please find more info on the following websites:

• RENESENG project website

Organising partners:

• Delft University of Technology, Bioprocess Engineering
• Wageningen Food & Biobased research, Fermentation Technology (in Dutch)
• Bioprocess Pilot Facility, BPF

Programme:

Poster session

A poster session will be part of the programme. You are invited to submit an abstract using this template. Please upload the abstract with your registration.

Please find below info on the course locations. For more info, we refer you to this document.

The course will be held at:

1. Delft University of Technology

Department of Biotechnology
Julianalaan 67
2628 BC Delft
the Netherlands
P +31 (0)15 278 1922

For info on the location and a TU Delft campus map, please follow this link. Several busses from the Delft Central train station stop close to the course location. For planning your trip by public transport, you can use this website.

We will arrange a bus to transport you to the second course location on Tuesday (and back).

2. Wageningen University and Research Centre

Axis, building number 118
Bornse Weilanden 9
6708 WG Wageningen
the Netherlands

3. Bioprocess Pilot Facility

Alexander Fleminglaan 1
2613 AX Delft
the Netherlands

The BPF can be reached by bus. For planning your trip by public transport, you can use this website. If you plan a walk, please note that Google may send you right across the DSM factory site. The only entrance to the site and the BPF is at the Alexander Fleminglaan 1, via the Provincialeweg.

Course fee

RENESENG project members: €100,-
External participants: €400,-

The fee includes transfer from Delft to Wageningen and vice versa, course materials, lunches and the dinner buffet on Monday 3rd. The fee does not cover other meals and lodging.

When the number of participants is too low to have a fruitful course, the Institute BSDL will cancel the event no later than six weeks before the start of the course. The course fee will be reimbursed within three weeks after cancellation. In case a speaker will not be able to present his/her lecture, due to unforeseen circumstances, BSDL will arrange an equivalent replacement.

Course materials will be supplied at the start of the course.

General payment information

Course fees can be paid by bank transfer or credit card (we are required to charge extra costs for this option; please contact us). TU Delft employees can use their internal (project) code. Customers are requested to pay the course fee at the latest one weeks before the course starts (October 24th). Participation without payment is not possible. In case of cancellation by the participant, the fee is non-refundable.

BSDL will not reserve a hotel for you. Delft is a popular tourist destination, and there are many hotels in the city centre and many bed and breakfast locations that can be easily found on the internet.

We collected some info for you on this page.

Course board

Dr. Ana María López Contreras
Dr. Ana López Contreras is a research scientist and project leader at the Bioconversion group of WUR. She is an expert on the production of acetone, iso-propanol, butanol and ethanol by fermentation of a variety of biomass resources and is author of >20 scientific publications and one patent. She has supervised many Master theses.

Dr. Els Schulten
Dr. Els Schulten is Manager Operations at the Bioprocess Pilot Facility in Delft. Previously Line Manager Pilot Plants at DSM Biotechnology Center and scientist at DSM, Unilever and Gist-brocades. Expertise: Bioprocess design and operation.

Dr. Adrie Straathof
Dr. Adrie Straathof is Associate Professor in the Bioprocess Engineering group of the Department of Biotechnology of the Delft University of Technology. Previously he was Assistant Professor and Ph.D. student in the Biokinetics and Organic Chemistry groups, respectively, at the same university. He was visiting professor at UNICAMP, Campinas (Brazil), and at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He was programme leader of the Bulk Chemicals program in the B-BASIC (biobased sustainable industrial chemicals) consortium. His research interests are (a) enzymatic and microbial manufacturing of fine chemicals, bulk chemicals, and biofuels; (b) in-situ bioproduct recovery using crystallization, adsorption, extraction, membrane permeation; (c) model based and experimental bioprocess integration; and (d) kinetics and thermodynamics for biotechnological processes. Co-author of 150 scientific publications and several patents, and supervised 20 PhD students.

Lecturers

Dr. Rob Bakker
Dr. Rob Bakker is project leader Biofuels at Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research.

Dr. Willem Brandenburg
Dr. Willem Brandenburg is senior scientist in biosaline agriculture at Plant Research International. 

Prof. Gerrit Eggink
Prof. Dr. Gerrit Eggink is since 2004 Professor of Industrial Microbiology at the Wageningen UR and Program Leader Industrial Biotechnology at Food and Biobased Research-WageningenUR. He has coordinated EU, national and industrial projects. Author of over 100 scientific publications and several patents.

Dr. Richard Gosselink
Dr. Richard Gosselink is researcher at Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, working on lignin valorization.

Dr. Miao Guo
Dr. Miao Guo is postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, and Consultant at LCAworks Imperial Consultants. She was Visiting Researcher at the Universidad Austral de Chile. Her work contributes to the methodological issues underlying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) modelling approach.

Prof. Sef Heijnen
Prof. Dr. Sef Heijnen worked at DSM (then: Gist Brocades) for 15 years and in this period he also completed his PhD thesis in bioprocess technology at Delft University of Technology. In 1988, he became full professor and group leader in Cell Systems Engineering within the Department of Biotechnology of Delft University of Technology. He has an impressive track record: he is (co-) author of over 400 scientific publications, has supervised 50 PhD students and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). His research interests are (1) metabolic engineering and systems biology applied to industrial microbial processes using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Penicillium chrysogenum and Escherichia coli, (2) metabolome measurement and 13C-tracer analysis in steady state and dynamic conditions, and (3) thermodynamic and kinetic modelling of metabolism and fermentation. Prof. Heijnen teaches a wide variety of courses, and was elected at TU Delft’s 2003 ‘Leermeester’ (best lecturer).

Prof. Jeroen Hugenholtz
Prof. Jeroen Hugenholtz is Corporate Scientist Food at Corbion-Purac, formerly Principal Scientist at NIZO food research. He has been affiliated with the University of Amsterdam since May 2006 as professor of Industrial Molecular Microbiology.

Dr. Robbert Kleerebezem
Dr. Robbert Kleerebezem is Assistant Professor at the Delft University of Technology, Environmental Biotechnology, the Netherlands. His research interests are: Microbial community engineering for the production chemicals and bioenergy; Microbial carbon, nitrogen and sulphur cycle; and Thermodynamics and kinetics of microbial processes in natural and man-made ecosystems.

Prof. Antonis Kokossis
Prof. Dr. Antonis Kokossis is a chemical engineer with an 18-year academic career in US and UK. He is Chair of Process Systems Engineering with 23 years of experience in process synthesis, optimization, process design and modeling. He is National Representative at the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE/CAPE), the International Energy Agency (IEA Bioenergy), and the Industrial Energy-related Technologies and Systems. He has over 150 publications and 132 conference presentations, has graduated 21 PhD students and 60 MSc students.

Dr. Solange Mussatto
Dr. Solange Inês Mussatto Dragone graduated in Industrial Engineering Chemistry and in Biotechnology from FAENQUIL, Lorena, Brazil. She holds a PhD degree in Biotechnology from Lorena and the University of São Paulo (2007). After a post-doc position in Portugal at the Department of Biological Engineering at the University of Minho, Portugal, she moved to the Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) in 2014. She currently focuses on lignocellulose biomass pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and the related fermentation processes.

Dr. Athanassios Nikolakopoulos
Dr. Athanassios Nikolakopoulos holds an MSc and a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from NTUA . He has more than 12 years of research experience in mathematical modeling and optimization procedures in chemical engineering process design and logistics. His research interests include the design of industrial processes for waste valorization, the design of integrated Bio-refineries, and in particular process modeling, flowsheeting, process integration and optimization in the use of energy and materials. He has 15 scientific publications.

Prof. Henk Noorman
Prof. Dr. Henk Noorman was trained as Chemical Engineer from Groningen University (NL). He obtained a PhD in Bioprocess Technology from Delft University of Technology (NL, 1991), on microbal systems modeling. He became a post-doc fellow in a Nordic research consortium, and co-ordinated a fermentation scale-up project among academic groups in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. He then joined Gist-brocades and DSM in Delft (NL) and worked on fermentation development and implementation projects, mainly in the area of antibiotics and bio-based products. He also has been project manager for innovation projects, and received the DSM R&D Award 2010. Henk Noorman is currently working as Corporate Scientist Bioprocess Technology in the DSM Biotechnology Center and involved in numerous projects in Industrial Biotechnology, Food Specialties, Anti-Infectives, and the Corporate Research Program. In addition he is honorary professor at Delft University of Technology working on Bioprocess Design and Integration. Teaching activities include courses in Delft, Wageningen (NL), Brac (Croatia) and Shanghai (China).