Let's get one thing straight: Biochemical engineering has nothing to do with cloning.

"That's the sort of thing people automatically think of when they hear that buzzword 'bio,'" laughs Jim Ely, head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. "Cloning, protein manipulation, gene splicing - that's not what biochemical engineers do."

Nor is that the focus of Mines' new Chemical and Biochemical Engineering undergraduate degree program, which was launched this fall. Rather, the new curriculum emphasizes"industrial biotechnology," the most recent wave of a scientific revolution that is already transforming medicine and agriculture. "That's where the future of chemical engineering lies," Ely says, "and where today's students may find the best job opportunities."

So what, exactly, is industrial biotechnology?

"Traditionally," Ely explains, "chemical engineers have started with an extractable material such as petroleum, and processed it into a synthesized material - a polymer, for example. By contrast, a biochemical process begins with an organic material, like corn, and processes it into ethanol or some other light organic chemical. Both of these operations require chemical engineering expertise, but one involves biological raw materials and processes and the other doesn't."

The example is fitting because it applies tot he energy industry, one of the two sectors (along with materials) traditionally identified with Mines' chemical engineering program. Both of those sectors are evolving, incorporating new biotechnological processes and techniques. Mines is evolving accordingly.

"By 2030," Ely says, "thirty percent of liquid fuels will come from renewable resources. That translates into a current-day equivalent of 60 billion gallons per year of ethanol, although it is likely to be some other bio-based fuel. We currently produce about six billion gallons of ethanol a year, so we're talking about a tenfold increase. Who's going to build and operate all those new biofuel plants? biochemical engineers. That's what we're training these students for. It's a degree for the future."

Biotechnology has taken on such significance, both financially and scientifically, that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology recently altered its program guidelines for chemical engineering programs. ABET now requires all chemical engineering programs to include biological content.

"Any serious university in this day and ageneeds to be strong on the biological side," says John Persichetti, a lecturer in chemical engineering. "That has been a missing component at Mines. The CBCE (chemical and biochemical engineering) program, along with supporting growth in orther Mines' programs, is one way to help us bridge that gap."

"The idea is not to redefine chemical engineering at Mines," Ely says. "The idea is to expand its scope and to better prepare our students for the workplace of the future."

The new degree program will augment, rather than replace, traditional chemical engineering; Mines will continue to offer to standard CE degree along with the new CBCE major. The new degree entails a couple of curriculum changes. First, all chemical engineering students (whether pursuing a CBCE degree or a standard CE degree) will take a new required course called Biological and Environmental Systems. It will debut in the Spring '08 semester and replace a course known as Earth and Environmental Systems. Second, CBCE students will take a special version of EPICS 251 called Introduction to Biochemical Engineering.

Ely doesn't think the new degree will be a tough sell.

"I surveyed more than 400 students," he says, "both current Mines undergraduates and high school students who are considering Mines. Based on those surveys, I would expect an initial total of about 35 CBCE graduates a y ear. It's going to be a great degree in terms of opportunities. Employers and recuirters consistently say they need help with biochemical engineering-type problems. The way companies currently deal with those problems is to take a biologist who works for the company and try to train that person in the basics of chemical engineering. But what they really want are chemical engineers who understand biochemical processes."

"The whole food and beverage sector opens up to students with a CBCE," adds Persichetti. "Anything that's using an enzymatic processes or microbes; anything involving fermentation."

Persichetti's own career illustrates the evolution that's taking place in chemical engineering. During the 1980s and 1990s his work focused on straightforward chemical engineering operations such as petroleum refining and natural gas processing. But in this decade his focus has shifted; he now works on thermochemical conversions of biomass and the production of alternative fuels via enzymatic activity.

"One of my consulting clients, Coors Brewing Company, is actually selling ethanol that they produce from their waste - from sub-grade batches of beer," Persichetti says. "Their energy recovery philosophy seems like a natural partnership for our program. We even have discussed with them the possibility of establishing a bioprocess engineering lab either on campus or at the Coors plant where our students can work hands-on with ethanol production, fermentation and other biological reactions. Our enthusiasm with the new CBCE program comes, in part, from the enthusiastic response we've received from Coors and several other companies."

The program will also foster partnership opportunities with NREL, which is home to the National Bionergy Center, while reinforcing the School's own Colorado Energy Resources Institute. Similarly, this program naturally complements Mines' participation int he Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2), a program that ocnnects reserachers at Mines, CU, CSU, and NREL, whose common goal is to improve fundamental understanding and develop new technologies in these area. Ely notes that there is only one ABET-accredited biochemical engineering program in the western United Statues, and only a handful nationwide. By rolling the new degree out now, Mines maintains its position at the head of the curve and reinforces its long-standing affinity with the energy sector.

"These changes are being driven by knowledge growth," Ely says. "We've learned that there are other ways of doing things. Incorporating that new knowledge into our program is consistent with Mines' mission. You could even say it's necessary to fulfill our mission. There has been a paradigm shift in chemical engineering, and this degree program is going to help us stay on top of things."