Star Tribune’s Richard Chin refers to Brian Krohn ‘08�� as a “Minnesota Genius” in his article. Among Krohn’s creations are surgery tools,��wizard staffs, a cycling workout app, and more recently, Soundly, a cell phone application designed to help people who snore by getting them to play a voice-activated game to strengthen their upper airway muscles.

While at Augsburg, Krohn switched majors from film to chemistry, that’s when his interest in becoming a scientist began. His undergraduate research led him to “Good Morning America” where he talked about a process to produce environmentally-friendly fuel, which was later commercialized in the development of a $9 million pilot plant.

“A lot of times I get a little bug about something, I kind of just do things and see where they go,” says Krohn about his ventures.

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In this case, it was Augsburg student Brian Krohn, who was working on a research project in 2006 and asked his chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, “Is there a better way to make biodiesel?”

Gyberg connected him with McNeff, his former student, who read the academic literature suggested by Krohn and saw potential. McNeff, Gyberg, and McNeff’s colleague, Ben Yan, developed a process—which now carries their names, Mc-Gy-Yan—to make a biofuel that can be used in all diesel engines. The process is cleaner and faster than others, produces no waste, and can use all known feedstocks. Since it does not displace food crops for fuel, it has advantage over ethanol. A patent for the Mcgyan Process was issued in March 2011.

McNeff’s team has now turned its attention from technology to applications. They’ve experimented with various types of feedstocks for the process including waste oils, weeds, algae, and waste treatment residues, and all have been successful. How then could farmers benefit?

A portable unit on a truck is all that’s needed to enable farmers to produce biodiesel. They can plant a winter weed crop for fuel production, such as stinkweed; harvest it before they plant their main cash crop; and become energy self-sufficient.

By “harnessing the capacity of plants,” McNeff said, the Mcgyan Process unlocks huge potential. Algae is very promising—63 million gallons of biodiesel can be produced on 10 million acres of algae that don’t replace cropland. Cellulosic materials such as corn stalks, switchgrass, and wood chips are also favorable for large-scale production.

Their recent research was sparked by McNeff’s 12-year-old son, Charlie, who asked another right question, which led to a demonstration grant to produce Mcgyan biodiesel from yeast oil.

McNeff said they’ve learned a tremendous amount at every point from “many long hours and thousands of discussions.” He has documented the Mcgyan Process in a book, The Green Miracle, from the initial discovery to the current 3 million gallons per year produced at Ever Cat’s plant in Isanti, Minn.

“I look back, now, and have no idea how it all came together,” McNeff said. He added, “There are times in a scientist’s life where there is so much joy in the discovery process.”

Clayton McNeff is one of three campaign co-chairs for Augsburg’s Center for Science, Business, and Religion. He grew up working at SarTec, the family business started by his parents, Larry and Marie, who is an Augsburg regent and professor emerita. The family donates to Augsburg a portion of the profit from every gallon of biodiesel sold. With the new science center, Clayton wants to ensure that Augsburg students continue to have a place to keep asking the right questions.

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Celebrate and hear more about Brian’s accomplishments at a community-wide gathering on Thursday, Dec. 4 in the Oren Gateway Center Atrium. Refreshments will be served and a brief program will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Augsburg’s first Rhodes Scholar

Brian Krohn arrived at Augsburg with plans of being a film major. He eventually became a chemistry student. And when he graduates next month, Krohn will have a new title.

Augsburg’s first-ever Rhodes Scholar.

Krohn, a native of Cloquet, was one of 769 initial U.S. applicants from 207 colleges and universities for this year’s collection of Rhodes Scholars. After making it through an interview process Saturday and being selected, Krohn becomes one of just 32 Americans who will begin studying at Oxford University in England next fall. There, Krohn will study environmental change and management in order to combine public policy expertise with the scientific knowledge he has gained at Augsburg.

“I’m surprised,” Krohn said. “The other applicants were some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”

That, however, can also be said of Krohn.

In the summer of 2006, Krohn began research into new ways to produce biodiesel. Krohn acknowledges that he didn’t really expect to break any new ground, but he wanted to give it a shot.

There would be no failure here. The combination of Krohn’s research, the teaching of chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg and Augsburg alum Clayton McNeff led to the discovery of the Mcgyan Process to produce biodiesel in a cleaner and more environmentally friendly way.

“For me, Brian’s work on the biodiesel project is a great liberal arts story,” Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow said. “There’s a connection between a student with a question, a faculty member and an alum. They work on a problem and come out with a response that, in this case, is pretty ground breaking.

“Brian stands for the well-rounded education that we provide for all of our students. We’re proud of him and proud that his Augsburg education prepared him.”

In addition to his work with biodiesel, Krohn is a Goldwater Scholar who was a founder of the Honors Review, a new journal for student scholarship at Augsburg. He organized the inaugural Agre Challenge, an event in which teams were challenged to build a catapult that would fling a 20-pound sandbag various distances.

In his letter of recommendation for Krohn, Pribbenow wrote that he is “proud of Brian and what he represents for our college. He is resilient, perceptive, spirted, smart and engaged.”

Krohn — who said he ended up writing more than 15 different drafts of his 1,000-word personal statement for the Rhodes application — didn’t really know what to expect when he entered the weekend that would end up changing his life.

After a cocktail hour Friday night in which Krohn and the other finalists got to know each other, he had the critical interview shortly after noon Saturday at Macalester College.

Krohn had spent several weeks preparing for the interview with Dixie Shafer in the URGO office and communication studies professor Bob Groven. When the interview was over, Krohn had no regrets.

“I felt good about it,” he said. “I felt I did as well as I could do.”

By about 3 p.m. Saturday, the five Rhodes judges pulled the candidates together, told them that any of them would make fine Rhodes Scholars and named Krohn and University of Michigan student Abdulrahman El-Sayed would be the Rhodes Scholars from the region that includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

On Saturday evening Krohn celebrated with his family and the family of his girlfriend. Because El-Sayed wasn’t going to fly back to Michigan until Sunday morning, Krohn invited him along as well.

Two other students at Minnesota schools were also named Rhodes Scholars. Ashley Nord of Rapid City, S.D., will graduate from the University of Minnesota next month with a triple major of physics, astrophysics and global studies. Last week, Jamaican student Michael Wuhl of Macalester was named a Rhodes Scholar in the international part of selection process.

Krohn now has a fat stack of papers to read and fill out for the Rhodes Scholarship. But being selected did save him a little bit of work. If he hadn’t been selected, Krohn was going to apply to graduate school, a task that he no longer has to complete.

He should, however, spend a few days this week working on self-defense moves.

“My older brother has promised to rough me up a little when I come home for Thanksgiving so I don’t get a big head,” Krohn said with a laugh.

For More Information:

Media Coverage:

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Brian’s answer to that question has led him from the laboratory to Capitol Hill. With the help of Augsburg faculty and alumni, Brian uncovered a way to produce biodiesel from a wide variety of organic sources, not just crops. The new process also creates biodiesel much faster than existing methods while producing virtually no waste.

“Our process can use any feedstock,” said Brian. “What this does is it makes biodiesel cheaper, and you’re not using a food source — like corn or soybeans — to make a fuel.”

With the concern that biofuels are driving up food prices, it is no surprise that Congress is showing interest in Brian’s research. Last week in Washington D.C., he and chemistry Professor Arlin Gyberg met with US. Sen. Amy Kolbuchar and the staffs of U.S. Reps. James Oberstar, Collin Peterson, and Keith Ellison. Brian and Gyberg also briefed both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.

started with his URGO summer research project into biodiesel. After Brian’s initial research, his project adviser, Professor Gyberg, helped him verify his findings. Then, the two reached out to alumnus Dr. Clayton McNeff, vice president of Sartec corporation. Sartec was able to take Brian and Gyberg’s research discovery and turn it into a full-fledged production system that they named the “Mcgyan Process” after the various scientists involved in the project. Sartec has already made over 50,000 gallons of fuel using the Mycgyan process, and they are building a facility that will be producing 3 million gallons per year by the end of 2008.

Not only is Brian a part of a discovery that might change the biofuels industry, he has gotten a lot of attention from local, national, and even international press. What does he think of it all?

“I just thought it would be a fun summer research project,” he said just before his interview with ABC News.

Below is a sample of some of the media coverage Brian’s discovery has garnered:

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As has been reported on Inside Augsburg and outside media, Brian’s summer research under the eye of Professor Arlin Gyberg led to a revolutionary discovery of a highly efficient method of producing biodiesel from a wide variety of sources. Brian and Dr. Gyberg contacted Dr. Clayton McNeff, an Augsburg alumnus who also happens to be a vice president with Sartec Corporation. Sartec was able to provide the resources and expertise to turn Brian’s discovery into a full-fledged production system that will be producing millions of gallons of biodiesel by the end of the year.

Here is a list of some media sources that have covered Brian’s biodiesel discovery so far:

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discovery of a chemical process that could free the United States from its dependence on petroleum diesel fuel. This revolutionary method to make biodiesel started with the curiosity of Augsburg chemistry senior Brian Krohn and ended with three Twin Cities scientists creating the “Mcgyan Process.”

Brian initiated his summer research project by deciding to study new ways to produce biodiesel. After Brian’s preliminary

research, his professor advised him to contact chemist Dr. Clayton McNeff, an Augsburg alumnus and vice president of SarTec. McNeff, his chief scientist Dr. Ben Yan, and Augsburg’s Professor Arlin Gyberg took Brian’s idea and created a chemical reaction that has never before been described in scientific literature. As a result of the Mcgyan Process discovery, McNeff co-founded Ever Cat Fuels based in Anoka. It is the only plant in the world using this new method to manufacture biodiesel.

Industry analysts have been surprised by how well the Mcgyan Process works and its implications for fuel production worldwide. This process has many advantages over previous biodiesel production methods. It can convert a much wider range of feedstock oils and animal fats into biodiesel, including the byproducts from ethanol production. The Mcgyan Process recycles the catalyst and alcohol necessary to make biodiesel, it reduces the reaction time from hours to seconds, and it doesn’t use water or dangerous chemicals. In short, it can make more biodiesel quickly and with a minimal impact on the environment.

(QuickTime video, ~4 min., 6 MB)

Because the Mcgyan Process can use a wider range of renewable oils, it has opened the door to a truly Earth-changing possibility. Algae that capture carbon dioxide can be a source of Mcgyan feedstock oil. The use of algae oil simultaneously reduces the demand on arable land for fuel purposes and scrubs the atmosphere of a greenhouse gas. SarTec has conducted research into using algae oils to supply the Mcgyan Process. The corporation is working on the use of algae to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants while creating a biodiesel feedstock.

A patent is now pending on the Mcgyan Process which is named for the three scientists officially credited with the discovery (McNeff, Gyberg, and Yan). Ever Cat Fuels Corporation is currently producing 50,000 gallons of biodiesel per year and is using it as a power source. Its production capacity will increase to 3 million gallons per year when its new plant begins operation in Isanti later this year. Then, Ever Cat Fuels hopes to sell the technology and equipment to nations around the world.

All of these remarkable discoveries started with Brian’s experiential learning at Augsburg, which is a fundamental part of the college’s learning environment. His research will lead Brian to a promising future in science and create opportunities for Augsburg students for years to come. “This one-on-one relationship between professor and student may result in one of modern day’s greatest discoveries,” says Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow. “Augsburg is proud to be in the forefront and grateful that it may lead to a source of on-going funding that will enable us to take our science program

to great heights.”

Media Coverage

The biodiesel press conference garnered attention in local and even international media. Here is a list of links to a sample of that coverage:

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Krohn’s poster is titled “Fuel of the Future: Biodiesel. A Novel Method and Catalyst for the Production of Biodiesel.” He became interested in biodiesel fuels and received a grant from Augsburg’s Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity Office (URGO) in summer 2006 to work with Gyberg. His goal was to experiment with alternate catalysts that could create a more efficient and environmentally friendly biodiesel. This research, done in collaboration with Augsburg alumnus Clayton McNeff ’91, vice president of SarTec Corporation, was successful and spurred the discovery of a new process to produce biodiesel.

On April 30, Krohn and Gyberg will meet individually with members of the Minnesota delegation to explain the research and its implications for the economy and environment. Later in the day all legislators are invited to a general poster session where students can present and talk about their work.

The Council on Undergraduate Research hosts the annual “Posters on the Hill” program to give students the opportunities to share their stories about the value of undergraduate research and how it has shaped their career plans with members of Congress.

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