Dr. Frances Arnold is the Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology and is a world-recognized expert in directed evolution, biocatalysis, and protein engineering. In 2005, she co-founded Gevo, Inc. and serves Gevo as a consultant, Board Member, and Science Advisory Board Member. In May of 2008, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, an honor considered to be one of the highest accolades in the scientific world. She is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, making her one of only eight living individuals to have been elected to all three branches of the National Academies, and the only woman.

Jim C. Liao is currently Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Associate Director of UCLA Department of Engineering's Institute for Genomics and Proteomics. He received his PhD in 1987 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a world leader in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and systems biology. His honors include Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2002), the Lacey Lectureship in California Institute of Technology (2006), the Merck Award for Metabolic Engineering (2006), the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Bioengineering Division award of AIChE (2006), and the Trotter Distinguished Lecturer of College of Engineering of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2007).

Huimin Zhao is an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, and bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1998 under the guidance of Dr. Frances Arnold. Prior to joining UIUC, he was a project leader at the Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory of the Dow Chemical Company. Dr. Zhao has co-authored over 60 research articles and 12 patents with several being licensed by industry. His honors include the National Science Foundation Career Award, DuPont Young Professor Award, Dow Special Recognition Award, Xerox Award for Faculty Research from UIUC College of Engineering, Petit Scholar from UIUC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and University Scholar from UIUC. His primary research interests are in the directed evolution and rational design of proteins, pathways, and genomes for biotechnological and biomedical applications, and in the fundamental aspects of enzyme catalysis and protein biochemistry.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Chemistry from the University of Missouri in 1967, Davide E. Henton went on to receive an MS in Organic Chemistry in 1969 from KU and a PhD from the KU in Organic Chemistry in 1973. He then spent 20 years in the Plastics Department of The Dow Chemical Company developing new products and processes, including patented technology used to produce ABS resins and polymer blends that Dow sells millions of pounds of annually. David spent his last eight years at Dow in the Corporate R&D Materials Department as a Senior Scientist developing technology for PET, thermoplastic composites, nylon fibers, and Polylactic Acid. He holds over 30 U.S. patents and has written numerous journal articles and book chapters on catalytic reactions, polymers and plastics. He was the chairman of Dow’s Materials Technical Advisory Board until he retired in 2004. David also received the 1999 ACS Award for Outstanding Achievement and Promotion of the Chemical Sciences, the 2004 ACS Regional Innovation Award and many internal Dow awards. David currently consults in the areas of organic chemistry, catalysis, materials science, polymerization processes, and applications.

Leo E. Manzer is President and CEO of Catalytic Insights LLC, a consulting company specializing in the field of catalysis and process research, with emphasis on biomass to fuels and chemicals. After receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, Mr. Manzer joined the DuPont Company in Wilmington, DE. During his career at DuPont, he founded and directed the Corporate Catalysis Center and led DuPont’s R&D effort to replace chlorofluorocarbons with ozone friendly substitutes. Dr. Manzer retired from the DuPont Company in 2005 as a DuPont Fellow, a position held by only 15 out of 3,000 scientists and engineers. He is the author of 89 publications and 115 US patents (with over 500 international patents). He has received a number of awards, including: the 1995 ACS Earle B. Barnes Award; the 1997 Catalysis Club of Philadelphia Award; the 1997 ACS Heroes of Chemistry Award; the 1998 Cross-Canada Lecture Tour Award by the Catalysis Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada; the 2001 Eugene J. Houdry Award for Applied Catalysis from the North American Catalysis Society; and the 2003 ACS E. V. Murphree Award. He was also a member of the DuPont team recognized for the 2002 Presidential National Medal of Technology Award for his work in developing CFC Alternatives.