Non Technical Summary
The project goal is to foster and train an underrepresented workforcein sustainable biomanufacturing. We, as a team with interdisciplinary backgrounds in biology, chemistry, engineering, economics, and education, will leverage education, research, and extension activities for undergraduates from several minority-serving institutions with a research theme of upgrading biomass to biofuels, platform chemicals, and biopolymers. Every year, tenundergraduate students will take an active role in defining research challenges, performing experiments, analyzing data, and presenting results in five relevant modules (M1: biomass deconstruction; M2: saccharification and fermentation; M3: metabolic engineering; M4: process modeling; and M5: economic and environmental evaluation). This approach shifts the focus from passive learningto active engagement and stimulates critical thinking, collaboration, and the application of knowledge to real-world problems. We will accomplish the goal through three objectives: 1) Establish aspring seminar series to deliver fundamental and advanced knowledge of biomanufacturing technologies; 2) Provide summer research and extension activities in five modules with specific research goals; and 3) Host fall symposiums and career workshops to showcase the research findings and advance career development, respectively. This project helps address the demand for a biomanufacturing workforce by mentoring and training fifty underservedstudents over five years. Consequently, the workforce will apply biomanufacturing technologies to solve a broad range of challenges in the food and agricultural fields.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
403	0650	2000	50%
403	0680	2020	50%

Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse;

Subject Of Investigation
0680 - Other products of the forest; 0650 - Wood and wood products;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2000 - Chemistry;

Goals / Objectives
The goal of the SMaRT-BioTech project is to foster and train a group of knowledgeable, engaged, and empoweredworkforce who are committed to upgrading various agricultural wastes and achieving a sustainable bioeconomy. We, as a team with biology, chemistry, engineering, economics, and education backgrounds, will leverage education, research, and extension activities in the production of bioproducts from biomass for underserved undergraduates from several institutions. These students will be well prepared to apply the biomanufacturing technologies addressed in this project to solve a broad range of challenges in the food and agricultural fields.

Project Methods
A problem-oriented learning approach will be adopted. Namely, students will take an active role in identifying the research problem, conducting research, gathering information, analyzing data, and proposing solutions. This approach shifts the focus from passive learning to active engagement, promoting critical thinking, collaboration, and the application of knowledge to real-world research challenges. Explicitly, they will be exposed to the research and extension theme of developing cost-effective and eco-friendly pathways for producing ethanol, succinic acid, esters, and polyhydroxyalkanoate from biomass feedstocks. Accordingly, there are five research modules (M1: biomass deconstruction; M2: saccharification and fermentation; M3: metabolic engineering; M4: process modeling; and M5: economic and environmental evaluation) with specific research objectives.