Awards

2011 Award Winners

Charles D. Scott Award - Stephen Picataggio, Ph.D.
Raphael Katzen 2011 Award Winner - Patrick Foody, Sr.

Awards will be presented at the annual banquet at the 33rd Symposium.

2011 Charles D. Scott Award Winner

Stephen Picataggio, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Verdezyne, Inc

Stephen Picataggio, Ph.D. is a microbiologist with over 25 years experience engineering industrial microorganisms and developing fermentation processes for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. He is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at Verdezyne, Inc. where he established and leads research programs on the metabolic engineering of industrial yeast strains for the production of ethanol and adipic acid, the precursor for renewable BioNylon. Prior to joining Verdezyne, he was Vice President of Metabolic Engineering at Synthetic Genomics where he established and led research programs on conversion of sugars and CO2 to advanced biofuels. At DuPont Central Research and Development, he formed and led a team that metabolically engineered the non-conventional yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and developed a fermentation process for the production of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, now sold as a neutraceutical under the name Natural Harvest.

Prior to that, he was one of the founding members of the team that engineered E. coli to produce 100MM PPY of 1,3-propanediol. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, he led the team that engineered a pentose metabolism pathway into Zymomonas mobilis and developed an improved process for the conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol, now being further developed and commercialized in a joint venture between DuPont and Danisco.

At Henkel Research Corporation/Cognis, he established a metabolic engineering program and led a team that engineered the non-conventional yeast Candida tropicalis and developed a fermentation process used for the commercial production of long-chain dicarboxylic acids as precursors for renewable polyesters and polyamides. Steve earned his B.S. in Bacteriology and Public Health from Wagner College (1975) and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Rutgers University (1983).

As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he characterized the E. coli xylose operon and expressed the xylose isomerase gene in yeast. He is a recipient of NREL's Staff Award for Outstanding Team Performance, DuPont's Sustainable Growth Award, the Environmental Protection Agency's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and R&D Magazine's annual R&D 100 Award. He is an author of several peer-reviewed scientific publications, book chapters, an inventor on more than 50 issued and pending patents, and has served on the Editorial Boards of Metabolic Engineering, the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, Biotechnology Letters and the Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology.

Past Awardees of the Charles D. Scott Award
1995 – 17th Symposium – Donald J. Johnson
1996 – 18th Symposium – Bruce Dale
1997 – 19th Symposium – Raphael Katzen
1998 – 20th Symposium – Jack Saddler
1999 – 21st Symposium – Charles E. Wyman
2000 – 22nd Symposium – Karel Grohman
2001 – 23rd Symposium – Patrick Foody
1001 – 24th Symposium – Sharon Shoemaker
2003 – 25th Symposium – Thomas W. Jeffries
2004 – 26th Symposium – Guido Zacchi
2005 - 27th Symposium – Lee Lynd
2006 – 28th Symposium – Brian Davison
2006 – 28th Symposium – Mark Finkelstein
2007 – 29th Symposium – Lonnie O. Ingram
2008 – 30th Symposium – Barbel Hahn-Hagerdal
2009 – 31st Symposium – Michael R. Ladisch
2010 – 32nd Symposium – Michael E. Himmel

The Raphael Katzen Award

Patrick Foody, Sr.
Over a forty-year period, Patrick Foody Sr. has seen changes in the biomass industry from an initial emphasis on developing animal feeds as a solution for world hunger to the present emphasis on ethanol fuel market development. Foody is a 1952 graduate of Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland. He came to North America two weeks after graduation and worked in the engineering design and construction of large grain storage and handling facilities. In 1960, he started his own engineering business and designed many major grain handling facilities throughout the world. Foody's colourful career has spanned development work ranging from water filtration to grain cleaning, enzyme production, biomass conversion, and the computer software field.

In the biomass industry, Foody is known for his active involvement since the 1970's when he founded Iogen Corporation in Ottawa, Canada. At that time, research in fibre accessibility led to a patent for steam explosion, as well as the building of a successful enzyme business. Iogen has subsequently built and operated a demonstration plant for the conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol. Mr. Foody has been a regular contributor and sponsor to the Symposium. Foody is the father of six sons, three whom work in the biomass business.

Past Awardees of the Raphael Katzen Award
2008 – 30th Symposium – Raphael Katzen
2009 – 31st Symposium – Douglas Cameron
2010 – 32nd Symposium – No recipient was selected.