Nicholas Callow, PhD

e-mail: NVCallow@gmail.com

Education

PhD in Chemical Engineering, The University of Akron

• Dissertation: “Exploring the controlled pellet formation of Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 for improved fermentation”

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, The University of Akron

• Minor in Chemistry
• Honors Designation: cum laude
• University Honors Scholar
• Honors Project Thesis: “Development of a simple analytical model for the plasma enhanced vapor phase polymerization of octafluorocyclobutane”

Technical Experiences

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Akron (1 yr 8 mo)
  • Developed cost models to understand how process conditions affect overall production costs for enzymatic soy protein production
  • Repairing lab equipment (HPLCs, GCs, MS)
  • Writing and editing papers for publication
• Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Akron (6 yr)
  • Conducted laboratory experiments and applied engineering principles to biological systems to optimize culture media and processes for continuous, batch, and fed-batch fermenters
  • Reduced the cost of cellulase production by 60% by using specialized fermentation of T. reesei
  • Solved the pellet problem of T. reesei fermentation by developing a patent pending technology to form consistent, controllable fungal pellets for enzyme production (patent application US2011027858-A1)
  • Designed economic models to understand soy protein production
  • Created standard lab methods, operating procedures and educated others in good lab practices.
  • Helped produce novel bio-surfactant based polyurethanes
  • Tested market potential of bio-polyurethene with NSF I-corps program
  • Wrote LabView programs for advanced fermenter control
  • Setup, operated, designed and tested fermenters for goal oriented studies
• Teaching Assistant (4 mo)
  • Helped teach The University of Akron’s Tools for Chemical Engineering
  • Responsible for web-module setup and maintenance, learning assistance, and student progress evaluations
  • This class focused on teaching Microsoft Excel
• R&D Engineer, Cooperative Education at Aircraft Braking Systems Corporation (2 yr)
  • Created embedded Visual Basic software to analyze carbon brake parts for longevity
  • Worked on support hardware for carbon-carbon airplane brakes
  • Helped study and design anti-oxidation coatings for ceramic-carbon/carbon composites
  • Used an SEM for analytical contamination testing
• Research Assistant at the University of Akron (1 yr)
  • Responsible for aiding in graduate research, which included the operation of fermentation equipment, testing and data analysis for the in-situ production and foam fractionation of fungal cellulase.

Technical Skills

• Hardware / Electrical / Software Design:
  • PLC and Controls – Ladder logic, ModBus, signal collection w/ ADC converters
  • Integration with softwareProcess Mass Balance & Analysis
  • Python, FORTRAN, VBA, HTML, LaTeX
  • Fermenter controls with LabView / NI / DAQ boxes / Pyro Sciences
  • Custom Electronics / SMT / TTL / I2C
  • Fermentation Equipment Construction and Optimization
• Process:
  • Process Mass Balance & Analysis
  • Process Flow Diagram and P&ID creation & data integration
  • Equipment Selection & Optimization
    • centrifugation, filtration, liquid-liquid extraction, evaporation, heat treatments
  • Process and Equipment Troubleshooting (boilers, drives, motors, electrical systems)
• Safety:
  • HazCom Training, Emergency Action Plans, GHS, DOT, RCRA, OSHA related
• Fermentation:
  • Process Design, Media Optimization and Statistical Analysis
  • Setup, Design, Operation, Analysis and Control
  • How does your microbe respond to different growth factors, nutrients, pH, oxygen, etc?
  • Leveraging expected metabolic processes to achieve a desired outcomes
  • Fermentation equipment: New Brunswick series, Mettler Toledo pH/dO2 controllers, custom designed hardware
  • Fungal/Bacterial/Yeast Culture Maintenance, Storage, and Inoculation Techniques for Contamination Free processes
  • Safe operation, sterilization, aseptic techniques
  • Management of fermenters, shakers, autoclaves, and biosafety cabinets
  • Experienced with scale up from shake flasks to fermenters (4000+L)
  • Open air fermenters
• Laboratory:
  • Standard operating procedures (SOP) and standard chemical safety procedures
  • SEM/EDX testing (Cambridge S360, HITACHI TM-3000)
  • HPLC-MS (Agilent LC1100/LC1200, Bruker Esquire, Shimdazu, Softa)
    • Method development for APCI MS analysis of algae lipids, Bio-Surfactants, and carbohydrates
    • Normal, Reverse Phase, and IonExchange method development and optimization
    • Maintained all equipment and upgraded from 10Base2 to 10Base-T
    • Repaired Shimadzu auto-injector and rebuilt pumps
  • GC (Shimadzu)
    • Experience with algae lipid analysis
    • F.A.M.E. analysis
    • SimDis & Headspace
  • Culture Collection Maintenance, pipettes, centrifuges, etc.
  • Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (Olympus FV1000)
    • Studying soybean degradation
    • Analyzed the metabolic state of fungus with fluorescent probes
• Software Skills:
  • Microsoft Excel/Office/Access
  • Polymath, ChemCad, DWSIM
  • KiCad, FreeCad, OpenSCAD

Publications & Presentations

Aspergillus niger production of pectinase and α-galactosidase for enzymatic soy processing (2020) Q Li, CS Ray, NV Callow, AA Loman, SMM Islam, LK Ju. Enzyme and microbial technology, 134, 109476

Leveraging pH profiles to direct enzyme production (cellulase, xylanase, polygalacturonase, pectinase, α-galactosidase, and invertase) by Aspergillus foetidus (2018) Q Li, A Al Loman, NV Callow, SMM Islam, LK Ju. Biochemical Engineering Journal 137, 247-254

Single-step enzyme processing of soybeans into intact oil bodies, protein bodies and hydrolyzed carbohydrates (2018) A Al Loman, NV Callow, SMM Islam, LK Ju. Process Biochemistry, 68, 153-164

Nutrient Control for Stationary Phase Cellulase Production in Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 (2016) by Callow, N.V.; Ray C. S.; Kelbly, M. A.; Ju, L.-K. in Enzyme and Microbial Technology doi:10.1016/j.enzmictec.2015.08.012

Rhamnolipids as platform molecules for production of potential anti-zoospore agrochemicals (2015) S Miao, SS Dashtbozorg, NV Callow, LK Ju in Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 63 (13), 3367-3376

Ethyl rhamnolipids as a renewable source to produce biopolyurethanes (2014) Miao,S., Callow N. V., Ju, L.-K. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, 117, 2, 156-160. doi:10.1002/ejlt.201400295

Ethylation of di-rhamnolipids: A green route to produce novel sugar fatty acid nonionic surfactants (2014) S Miao, N Callow, SS Dashtbozorg, JL Salager, LK Ju in Journal of Surfactants and Detergents, 17 (6), 1069-1080

S. Soybean Oil-Based Polyurethane Networks: Shape-Memory Effects and Surface Morphologies (2013) Miao, S., Callow, N., Wang, P., Liu, Y., Su, Z., and Zhang,  Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 90, 1415–1421. doi:10.1007/s11746-013-2273-5

Enzymatic synthesis of oleic acid-based epoxy monomer for the production of value added polymers (2013) Miao, S., Callow, N., Zhang, S., Su, Z., Wang, P., and Liu, Y.  Biotechnology letters, 35, 887–90. doi:10.1007/s10529-013-1162-1

Promoting pellet growth of Trichoderma reesei Rut C30 by surfactants for easy separation and enhanced cellulase production (2012) Callow, N. V and Ju, L.-K. . Enzyme and microbial technology, 50, 311–7. doi;10.1016/j.enzmictec.2012.02.006

Roles of extracellular lactose hydrolysis in cellulase production by Trichoderma reesei Rut C30 using lactose as inducing substrate (2010)  Lo, C., Zhang, Q., Callow, N. V., and Ju, L.-K. Process Biochemistry, 45, 1494–1503. doi:10.1016/j.procbio.2010.05.031

Cellulase production by continuous culture of Trichoderma reesei Rut C30 using acid hydrolysate prepared to retain more oligosaccharides for induction (2010) Lo, C.-M., Zhang, Q., Callow, N. V, and Ju, L.-K. Bioresource technology,101, 717–23. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.08.056

Patents

JU, L., SRINIVASAN, N., and CALLOW, N. V. Modifying fungal morphology useful to produce cellulase, comprises introducing surfactant (e.g. rhamnolipid) to a fungus, or to a growing mixture containing a fungus e.g. Trichoderma reesei and Trichoderma viride. (2011). Patent Number: US2011027858-A1

Presentations

 2013 AIChE Annual Meeting (2013 International Congress on Energy (ICE)): Engineering Strategies to Improve Cellulase Production: Trichoderma reesei as a Pellet. Nicholas Callow, Lu-Kwang Ju and Matthew Kelbly

2008 AIChE National Student Conference (Regional Conference Host Session): How to plan a conference and tips for future hosts

Past Activities and Groups

• Member of The American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Croatian Fraternal Lodge member and volunteer
• President of the ISPE student group at The University of Akron
• Founding member & vice president of ChemESO, a graduate student organization
• Akron student chapter of The American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Chairman of the 2008 – North Central Regional Conference Planning Committee
  • Student organization treasurer
  • Webmaster
• Chem-E-Car Design Team
  • Captain of the Akron student organization
  • Webmaster
• University of Akron Honors Program
• Member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars

Past Awards and Honors

• The University of Akron Honors Program “University Honors Scholar”
• “Outstanding Senior Student” award from the Akron AIChE group, Akron E-Week 2008
• “Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Exceptional TA award”

Scholarships

• The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation Scholarship
• Robert C. Stell Scholarship
• University of Akron Honors Scholarship
• Harold Rasmussen Scholarship
• Babcock & Wilcox Scholarship
• The University of Akron College of Engineering
• 717 Credit Union
• William Farr Masonic Lodge