** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE PROJECT GOAL IS TO FOSTER AND TRAIN AN UNDERREPRESENTED WORKFORCEIN SUSTAINABLE BIOMANUFACTURING. WE, AS A TEAM WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY BACKGROUNDS IN BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, ENGINEERING, ECONOMICS, AND EDUCATION, WILL LEVERAGE EDUCATION, RESEARCH, AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES FROM SEVERAL MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS WITH A RESEARCH THEME OF UPGRADING BIOMASS TO BIOFUELS, PLATFORM CHEMICALS, AND BIOPOLYMERS. EVERY YEAR, TENUNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN DEFINING RESEARCH CHALLENGES, PERFORMING EXPERIMENTS, ANALYZING DATA, AND PRESENTING RESULTS IN FIVE RELEVANT MODULES (M1: BIOMASS DECONSTRUCTION; M2: SACCHARIFICATION AND FERMENTATION; M3: METABOLIC ENGINEERING; M4: PROCESS MODELING; AND M5: ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION). THIS APPROACH SHIFTS THE FOCUS FROM PASSIVE LEARNINGTO ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND STIMULATES CRITICAL THINKING, COLLABORATION, AND THE APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE TO REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS. WE WILL ACCOMPLISH THE GOAL THROUGH THREE OBJECTIVES: 1) ESTABLISH ASPRING SEMINAR SERIES TO DELIVER FUNDAMENTAL AND ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE OF BIOMANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES; 2) PROVIDE SUMMER RESEARCH AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN FIVE MODULES WITH SPECIFIC RESEARCH GOALS; AND 3) HOST FALL SYMPOSIUMS AND CAREER WORKSHOPS TO SHOWCASE THE RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ADVANCE CAREER DEVELOPMENT, RESPECTIVELY. THIS PROJECT HELPS ADDRESS THE DEMAND FOR A BIOMANUFACTURING WORKFORCE BY MENTORING AND TRAINING FIFTY UNDERSERVEDSTUDENTS OVER FIVE YEARS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE WORKFORCE WILL APPLY BIOMANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES TO SOLVE A BROAD RANGE OF CHALLENGES IN THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL FIELDS.