A good grand challenges scholar and engineer can work with various people to solve complex engineering issues. Having communication skills is the basis for collaboration across borders, beliefs, cultures, etc. In the realm of sustainability, engineering solutions are localized and also globalized. Climate change is a global issue, which is why it's called global warming, not local warming. Engineers from all over the world are characterizing issues, analyzing data, and crafting solutions. These solutions are meant for the world as a whole to develop and share, so we can globally curb climate change. 

I was able to take this course before starting my fellowship in bioplastics in Japan and my environmental engineering summer school experience in China. As a person who works to advance sustainable biochemical production technologies, countries like Japan and China are at the forefront of research and development. As an American student and a representative for Arizona State University, I was able to put my intercultural communication skills into practice to succeed in my fellowship and forge ties between students and researchers at Kyoto Institute of Technology and Tongji University with Arizona State University. ASU's sustainability goals are shared with universities all over the world; cross-border collaboration is crucial for the advancement of sustainability.

Looking into the future, it is evident that new biorefinery startups try to collaborate with companies and universities in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America for the advancement and scale-up of commercially viable microbial technologies. Being able to work with global stakeholders is one of the biggest applications of intercultural communication. As a person devoted to scale-up technologies, I will continue to use my intercultural communication skills to work with global stakeholders to advance microbial chemical production in the United States and beyond.

In the Summer of 2024, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Kyoto, Japan, for a three-month fellowship on bioplastic precursor production using fungi. Specifically, we were researching the production of dicarboxylic acids using Aspergillus terreus, a fungus known to naturally produce high yields of dicarboxylic acids, particularly itaconic acid. I was part of Dr. Yuji Aso's laboratory group, and my graduate mentor, Tomoki Okabe, worked with me on the simultaneous extractive fermentation and polymerization of itaconic acid. The goal was to increase the yield of polyitaconic acids by improving the extraction of itaconic acid from the fermentation broth of A. terreus. Furthermore, we wanted to improve itaconic acid polymerization through radical chemistry under anaerobic conditions.

Itaconic acid has been a target chemical for sustainable production since it has widespread usage in paints, fabrics, and pharmaceuticals. One method to produce itaconic acid is using the fungus A. terreus; however, extracting itaconic acid from the fermentation broth presents a new challenge in chemical engineering. Okabe-san and I started by creating a method to quantify the amount of itaconic acid in a solution. We found that it is possible to quantify itaconic acid using a spectrophotometer at 230 nm instead of using a more complex quantification method like HPLC. Conveniently, absorbance increases linearly with concentration, and the R-squared value was 0.99, thus showing that absorbance measuring is a quick and easy way to quantify itaconic acid.

Finally, the polyitaconic acid solution was analyzed using proton NMR. First, we corresponded the NMR peaks to the correct hydrogen. Then, we used the NMR’s software to integrate the itaconic and polyitaconic acid peaks. We then calculated the % polymerization using the area under the peaks since they correspond to the formation of polyitaconic acid. After analysis, we found that about 29% of the itaconic acid had been polymerized. 

I also had an incredible time exploring the culture of Japan. From Hiroshima to Totori, Tokyo, and Hakata, it was such an amazing experience to be able to enjoy the culture. We were in Japan just in time for Gion Matsuri, a very famous celebration with large parades. We also experienced Buddhist and Shinto culture in the temples and shrines. Communication was a key part of the experience. With our grad mentors, there were times when we would be teaching them English and grammar, and they would teach us important phrases in Japanese in order to show respect and get around the country with ease.  Being able to work with people who don't speak the same language is absolutely crucial and is an important characteristic of a good global engineer. Being able to work in an unfamiliar setting has made me more resilient in my engineering and social skills. We were also able to get fluent in the language of science through journal clubs, where we picked a paper to read and present to the group. It was an incredible experience to present to our Japanese mentors. Furthermore, I now have a unique understanding of fungal synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, and I also got the chance to understand the challenges of scaling up sustainable bioproduction in order for economic viability.