Sam Maurer Graduate Student, Ph.D. Program MIT, Cambridge, MA. B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2007 Research Interest: Surface Kinetic Mechanisms of Cellulose Destruction	”Would you rather…eat this entire butter sculpture in one sitting, or be force-fed airline food for 3 months?” sammaurer@gmail.com
Research Summary: Surface Kinetic Mechanisms of Enzymatic Cellulose Deconstruction The rate-determining step in the biological decomposition of lignocellulosic feedstocks is the enzymatic cleavage of lignocellulose found in plant cell walls to simple sugars. Currently, this process is accomplished through the reaction of solid lignocellulose crystals suspended in an aqueous solution containing various enzymes and cellulaseproducing bacteria. The rate of lignocellulose deconstruction is governed by surface interactions between crystalline lignocellulose and aqueous cellulase. Rate data currently available on cellulose deconstruction kinetics has been obtained through batch studies; little is known about the molecular events that trigger the release of cellobiose from the surface of crystalline lignocellulose. We seek to quantify these surface interactions through flow ellipsometry, quartz crystal microbalance, and optical waveguide light spectroscopy, and ultimately hope to create a mechanistic model of cellulase kinetics at a cellulose surface. Click to see almost all of Sam’s Research to date: Sam's Totally Awesome Poster (Sam made this poster in two days and therefore thinks that he has already done enough work for the year 2008.)