Business Briefs

Superior Industries has appointed Kevin Krieger as territory sales manager throughout the Mountain and Northwest regions of the U.S. He most recently served as a territory manager for Fenner Dunlop. The company has also appointed Bill Humphrey as territory sales manager throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley regions. He was most recently employed by Aggregates Manufacturing International. Krieger and Humphrey will work closely with dealers in their respective regions to bring innovative conveying equipment to bulk materials producers.

CSX has announced winners of its 20th annual Chemical Safety Excellence Award, which recognizes customers for their commitment to safe transportation of hazardous materials by rail. This year’s winners include Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge Corp., Cardinal Ethanol LLC, Cargill, POET Biorefining and Valero. 

Hasan Atiyeh, assistant professor in biosytems and agricultural engineering at Oklahoma State University, recently received a South Central Sun Grant Award to advance the development of a new hybrid gasification-syngas fermentation technology.

Premium Plant Services Inc. has announced a new service center in Dubuque, Iowa. The new location will service plants in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The company also has service centers in Hibbing, Minn., and Tracy, Minn.

Three Rivers Energy LLC has joined Growth Energy. Three Rivers Energy is a 50 MMgy facility located in Coshocton, Ohio.

The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has added Parisa Fallahi to its research team. She is a postdoctoral fellow specializing in ethanol coproducts research. Fallahi received her master’s degree in chemical engineering from Azad University,Tehran, Iran, and a doctorate in biological sciences and agriculture and biosystems engineering from South Dakota State University.

Syngenta has announced an agreement with Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quad County Corn Processors, to license its Adding Cellulosic Ethanol technology.

Poet Biorefining—Preston has announced Chris Hanson as its new general manager. Hanson was previously employed as technical manager of the plant. He will now be responsible for overseeing the 46 MMgy facility.

Purdue University researchers are launching Spero Energy Inc. to develop technology that can make high-value chemical products from lignin with simultaneous production of lignin-free cellulose in one step using a catalytic process. The technology portfolio is based on research efforts at Purdue’s Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio). The company will be led by Mahdi Abu-Omar, the R.B. Wetherill Professor of chemistry and chemical engineering and associate director of C3Bio.

Siouxland Energy and Livestock Cooperative has changed its name to Siouxland Energy Cooperative. The change aligns the company name with its mission of returning value to members’ corn through the best cost production in the renewable fuels industry. 

Anna Wildeman, an attorney at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, has been named one of Super Lawyers Magazine’s 2014 Washington, D.C., Rising Stars. She is a member of Michael Best’s Energy Practice Group and Agribusiness, Food Processing & Distribution Group.

U.S. Water Services Inc. has announced the acquisition of  Water Chemical Service Inc. (Waterchem). The acquisition includes Waterchem’s corporate headquarters and production facility in Aberdeen, Md., and surrounding sales territories. The acquisition is expected to increase U.S. Water’s presence on the East Coast and adds to its pathogen control capabilities nationally.

Purthanol Resources Ltd. has completed negotiations with Dorax Investment Co. Ltd. to finance the acquisition of 60 ethanol modules for a total of $39 million. The modules will be used to demonstrate the Purthanol process, which produces sorghum ethanol.

Tae Seok Moon, an assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation for his project, titled “Engineering Biological Robustness Through Synthetic Control.” Moon received a five-year $400,000 grant to understand the principles of biological robustness by using synthetic DNA in basic bacteria cells. The research could have implications for biofuel production and several other industries.