Abstract:     Polymers and advanced material really can be made and commercialized successfully when starting from renewable resources. In order to be successful a shift in thinking is required. The combination of modern biotechnology and chemical processing has opened whole new avenues of what is possible. These advances are enabling a new echelon of green chemistry and materials with improved sustainability having impact reaching from farmers to consumers.

Cargill Dow LLC is bringing to market a family of new polymer materials made from lactic acid. This new material which we are marketing as NatureWorkstm PLA is the first major new industrial polymer product made from renewable resources in since the early 1900's. PLA has value in the marketplace because it works well and addresses sustainability issues. We are operating a world-scale manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 300 million pounds. The technology depends both on industrial biotechnology and modern chemical processing.

In this presentation I'll briefly discuss what we've done, explain the products, why they are valuable, the process and design choices that brought us to where we are; principles of sustainability. I'll talk about principles of designing chemical products for the very real, but emerging, green chemicals and materials market.

Biography:     Dr. Patrick Gruber is the vice president and chief technology officer, Cargill Dow LLC. Gruber has served in his current position since the company's inception in 1997.

Prior to the formation of Cargill Dow, Gruber held several positions in the technology and business development areas of Cargill, Inc., but has spent the majority of his career specializing in chemical products made from renewable resources, targeted to animal feed products, food ingredients and industrial chemicals. During his tenure at Cargill, Inc., Gruber served on several strategy and business teams. He was director of technology development for Cargill's Bioproducts areas from 1995-1998 and technical director of Cargill's BioScience division from 1998-1999. In this position, he served as a member of the business management team where he was involved in the identification and incorporation of several new businesses, as well as increasing capability in the areas of food products and animal nutrition. Several years earlier, Gruber was named leader of Cargill's Renewable Bioplastics project. This position led to the development and marketing of a lactic acid polymer, which is now know as NatureWorks PLA (Trademark of Cargill Dow LLC), and is the basis upon which Cargill Dow LLC is built today.

Dr. Gruber has been recognized by several industry leaders for his achievements, in addition to obtaining more than 47 patents and having more than a dozen pending. In 2001, Gruber received the Discover Award for Environmental Innovation, presented by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation. In 1998, Gruber received the Inventor of the Year Award from the Minnesota Patent Lawyers and in 1993 he was recognized by R&D Magazine's Top 100 Inventions of the Year for advances in stabilizing enzymes. Other awards include The Presidential Green Chemistry Award, Popular Mechanics Design and Engineering Award, Industry Week's Technology of the Year award and the Department of Energy OIT Technology of the Year award.

Dr. Gruber earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology from the College of Saint Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. Additionally, Gruber earned a master's degree in business administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.