Breakout Session II
Innovations & New Directions in Oleochemical Research
Moderator: George Kraus, Director of the Center for Catalysis
Richard Larock 
Richard Larock is a University Professor of Chemistry at Iowa State university. His research focuses on the development of soy/corn oil based plastic composites. Larock is a renowned expert in the study of organic compounds and discovered a method of making plastics from soybean oil. From that initial research, Larock
has built a research group at Iowa State that is producing a remarkable range of new rubber, adhesive, elastomeric, and plastic materials from a variety of soybean oils. Larock has been a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation, a recipient of a DuPont Young Faculty Award, and a winner of two
Merck Academic Development Awards, an Iowa Regent's Award for Faculty
Excellence, the 2003 ACS Edward Leete Award, the 2004 Paul Rylander Award of the
Organic Reactions Catalysis Society, and a 2004 ACS Arthur C. Cope Senior
Scholar Award. He is the author of four books on organomercurials and synthetic
organic methodology.
Milford Hanna
Milford Hanna is the Kenneth E. Morrison Professor of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska and the director of the Industrial Agricultural Products Center: Biopolymers, Biochemicals, Biofuels, Biopower. His research interests include value-added process engineering; investigations of changes in starches, proteins and lipids and their interactions as a result of high-temp, short-time extrusion cooking; uses of agricultural commodities in applications such as starch-based "plastic" polymers; uses of vegetable oils and animal fats in biofuel and lubricant applications; extrusion processes for production of levulinic acid, microcrystalline cellulose and modified starches, and the use of plant residues and other waste streams for biopower generation.
Beth Calabotta
Beth Calabotta has 15 years of industrial experience at Monsanto, working in various positions in manufacturing, engineering and research. As Monsanto has evolved, she has applied her skills in traditional chemical engineering disciplines as well as developing whole new technology areas such as seed production and transgenic plants. Calabotta is currently leading a cross functional technical team that is developing oilseeds enriched in omega-3 fatty acids. This includes everything from gene prospecting through food production as well as understanding and building the scientific case for the health and nutrition benefits of these long chain fatty acids.