BCHE 8210 - Fermentation Engineering Laboratory (Microbial Physiology and Bioprocess Engineering)


Spring Semester 2026

Course Instructor

Dr. Mark A. Eiteman
021 Riverbend South
eiteman@engr.uga.edu
email is a terrific way to communicate with me!

Meeting Times

Monday, Wednesday
9:55 - 11:15
1314 Driftmier
Three labs will be scheduled during the semester. These will vary in their length and schedule. Lab 1 will require a three hour block of time; Lab 2 will require students to schedule a 15 minute sampling time throughout a day' Lab 3 will take three days, but the actual sampling will be a single time.
Students will also be responsible for setting up and conducting an independent "lab experiment". The goal of this lab experiment will be to develop and implement a lab that would be suitable for undergraduate students (e.g., as part of 'Advanced Biochemical Engineering' - 4180L).

Description of course

This lab/lecture discussion course will cover microbial cell physiology and bioreactor operational modes (i.e., batch, fed-batch, chemostat). How do microbes behave under different conditions? How do cells modify their behavior in response to certain example gene knockouts? How does one quantify microbial behavior? The course will also assist students in designing microbial fermentation experiments and interpreting results. The focus will be bacteria. Although E. coli will be used as the principal example, some discussion will be on other species.

Detailed Syllabus

Detailed Course Outline

Lecture Set 1

Final Exam

The "final exam" will consist of a 30 minute (oral) discussion between the instructor and a single student. This one-on-one session will explore the knowledge gained by the student on the subject matter covered in the course. Each student will schedule a time for this exam, and each 30 minute "exam" will take place during the regularly scheduled exam period for the course: Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 8:00 - 11:00 am

AssignmentDue Date
Problem #1Wednesday, January 28
Problem #2Monday, February 2
  • Jantama et al. 2008
  • Problem #3 Wednesday, February 4
  • Wang et al. 2018
  • Problem #5Wednesday, February 11
    Problem #6Monday, February 16
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    Critique #1Wednesday, February 18
  • Martinez et al. 2008
  • Centeno-Leija et al. 2013
  • Centeno-Leija et al. 2014
  • Critique #2TBD
  • Guevara-Martinez et al. 2015
  • Masuda et al. 2017
  • Perez-Zabaleta et al. 2019
  • ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Lab #1TBD
    Report DueTBD
  • Lab #1 Record
  • Lab #2TBD
  • Lab #2 Record
  • Lab #2 Medium
  • Report DueTBD
    Lab #3TBD
  • Lab #3 Record
  • Report DueTBD
    Independent Project
  • Zupan et al 2004
  • Report DueMonday, May 4
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    Video on Mass Transfer Theory
    Video on Oxygen Transfer Rate
    Video on Measurement of kLa

    Solutions

    Some Useful Enzyme Links
    Brenda
    Enzyme Nomenclature
    GenomeNet

    MATLAB Examples
    Example 1
    Example 2
    Example 3 - while loop
    Example 4a - for loop
    Example 4b - for loop with excel output
    The Excel output from Example 4b