Olaf Andreas Hougen OLAF ANDREAS
HOUGEN (1893–1986)
former Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was one of the outstanding original contributors to the science and practice of modern chemical engineering. He is remembered for his inspired teaching, his leadership in engineering education and research, and his volunteer work in retirement for the university and the profession. It is in his honor that this symposium is named.

In his research activities, Professor Hougen developed important original and fundamental principles for the mainstream of modern chemical engineering: heat transfer, gas adsorption, thermodynamics, catalysis, applied kinetics, and process design. In his teaching, Professor Hougen's warmth of personality and sincere interest in each student's future were a source of inspiration to chemical engineers around the world. He instilled in his students a sense of responsibility to their profession and to society. Professor Hougen's influence on chemical engineering education in the United States and abroad was achieved through his numerous publications, many of which established patterns for chemical engineering teaching and research. He was the author or coauthor of seven books and 156 papers.

His many honors included five awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Esso Award of the American Chemical Society, and the Lamme Gold Medal Award of the American Society for Engineering Education. From 1961 through 1963, he served as a scientific attaché at the American Embassy, Stockholm, Sweden, and in 1974 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

THE OLAF A. HOUGEN SYMPOSIUM is supported by the Hougen Professorship Fund of the University of Wisconsin Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Colleagues and former students of Professor Hougen, other friends and corporations have contributed to the fund to honor one of the founders of the modern chemical engineering profession. Professor Hougen believed that leading research departments have an obligation to provide leadership to their professions through activities that strengthen the crucial link between the generation and dissemination of new knowledge. It is in this spirit that we continue this symposium series by inviting distinguished colleagues to present public lectures on a topic of current interest and importance to the profession and to society generally.

Chaitan Khosla

Stanford University
Standford CA

Assembly Line Biosynthesis of Polyketide Antibiotics

Abstract
Many complex natural products are synthesized by multi-enzyme systems that operate as assembly lines. Their apparently modular architecture has opened the door to biosynthetic engineering of new natural products by rationally manipulating the DNA encoding these megasynthases. Understanding the structures and mechanisms of these assembly lines represents a challenging and exciting frontier in multifunctional catalysis.

Bio
CHAITAN KHOSLA (Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Stanford University) received his PhD in 1990 at Caltech. After completing postdoctoral studies at the John Innes Centre in the UK, he joined Stanford University in 1992. Over the past two decades, his research on polyketide synthases has opened the door to fundamentally new approaches for biosynthetic engineering of antibiotics. More recently, he has also investigated celiac sprue pathogenesis with the goal of developing therapies for this widespread but overlooked disease. He has co-authored over 250 publications and 50 U.S. patents, and is the recipient of several awards and honors including the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award; the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering; the Allan P. Colburn Award and the Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, the Pure Chemistry Award, and Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society; and the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation. He is an elected member of the American Academy for Arts and Science and the National Academy of Engineering.

Please see Dr. Khosla's website here

Schedule of Events

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Lectures in room 1610 Engineering Hall

9:00-9:45 am
Gregory Stephanopoulos
MIT
Metabolic Engineering: synthetic chemistry of the 21st century

9:45-10:30 am
Huimin Zhao, UIUC
Synthetic Biology: Putting Synthesis into Biology

10:30 -11:00 am Break

11-11:45 am
James Liao,
University of California, Los Angeles
A Tale of Two Butanols: Exploring Metabolism for Fuels and Chemicals

11:45-1:30 pm Lunch
(on your own)

1:30-2:15 pm
Chaitan Khosla
Stanford
Assembly Line Biosynthesis of Polyketide Antibiotics

2:15-2:45 pm
Brian Pfleger
UW-Madison
Integrating Systems and Synthetic Biology for Engineering Chemical Production in Bacteria

2:45-3:15 pm
Jennifer Reed
UW-Madison
Tools for In silico Design of Microbial Biocatalysts

3:15-5:00 pm
Poster Session
Engineering Hall Lobby