News Release

Penn State Harrisburg to create biofuels research and teaching facility

May 12, 2010

Penn State Harrisburg has received an $817,000 grant from the Commonwealth Financing
Authority to develop a $1.6 million Central Pennsylvania Laboratory for Biofuels research and teaching facility on campus.

The college received the funds – available through the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) Alternative and Clean Energy (ACE) Program – on behalf of the Innovation Transfer Network (ITN), a consortium of 13 colleges and universities in the Harrisburg- Lancaster area.

The laboratory project will consist of a 3,000-square-foot biotechnology development and deployment   laboratory and a specialized 3,500-square-foot greenhouse complex.  Bolstered by support from several Pennsylvania businesses, Penn State Harrisburg recently began planning the greenhouse, the initial phase of the biofuels facility.  Ernst Seeds (Meadville); Keystone Biofuels, Inc. (Shiremanstown); Kunj Associates, LP (Harrisburg); and UGI Utilities, Inc. (Reading) donated $650,000 toward the greenhouse in 2009.  The new grant funding and an additional match from the college provide funds to renovate space to create the laboratory.

“Industry support of Penn State Harrisburg is extremely important, allowing us to expand our research and teaching capabilities in ways that ultimately benefit the region,” said Chancellor Madlyn Hanes. “The college is pleased to have joined with the business sector, state government, and other colleges and universities to create the Central Pennsylvania Laboratory for Biofuels.”

Dr.  Sairam V. Rudrabhatla is Penn State Harrisburg’s lead plant biotechnology researcher, investigating ways to alter biofuel crops to thrive in Pennsylvania’s climate and produce higher yields on land with little other agricultural value. The new facility will aid these efforts and serve as a regional center for research collaboration and training in biofuels. (More on biofuels research at Penn State Harrisburg). The lab also will have ample space for educational programs for ITN’s academic and commercial partners and their students. 

“The generous donations from the business community combined with matching funds from the college provided the leverage necessary for us to secure Commonwealth funding,” said Dr. Mukund Kulkarni, Penn State Harrisburg senior associate dean for academic affairs. “The facility will be a boon to central Pennsylvania, with educational programs targeted to faculty, staff, and students at regional academic institutions.”
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and NorthernPA, an economic development agency covering a 32-county region, helped facilitate the biofuels laboratory project. “Our organizational goal is to create synergy among business, industry, and higher education representatives to help stimulate the Commonwealth’s economy,” said Ben Franklin President and CEO Steve Brawley.  “The Central Pennsylvania Laboratory for Biofuels exemplifies the importance – and the potential – of collaboration across sectors in moving the entire region forward.”
“A significant amount of plant research is already underway at Penn State Harrisburg.  In addition to providing hands-on opportunities for students and better informing our faculty as teachers, this research may provide answers to key environmental concerns and may spur economic development through new products,” said Dr. Marian Walters, associate dean for research and graduate studies.  

“The new facility will greatly enhance our potential in all of these areas,” she said. “The facility also will allow significant expansion of regional projects aimed at commercializing faculty research developments, a key goal of the Innovation Transfer Network and the related National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation project. Funded by DCED, the ITN is a group of regional colleges and universities working jointly with industry to move innovative products and ideas into the marketplace.”

DCED’s Alternative and Clean Energy Program provides financial assistance through grants and loans for the utilization, development, and construction of alternative and clean energy projects in the Commonwealth. The program is administered jointly by DCED and the Department of Environmental Protection, under the direction of the Commonwealth Financing Authority.