November 3, 2011
From The Atlantic, this article features a conversation with Bruce Rittmann, Distinguished Sustainability Scientist and Regents' Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. As director of the Swette Center for Environmental Technology at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, Rittmann is searching for solutions to the challenges facing our world. Dr. Rittmann's research is aimed at developing microbiological systems that capture renewable resources and also minimize environmental pollution.
In this article, Rittmann discusses a revolutionary innovation that directs photosynthesis to make fuel molecules as a potential substitute for petroleum—the ideal win-win situation—a partnership between microbial workers and human managers.