Issue 02  /  May, 2004

	DID YOU KNOW? Belfast company Orthodocs Limited (medical device) grew its US sales 800% through the NITDC Denver? Watch for the June issue for details. NREL: Converting Biologicals to Fuels and Products The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is based outside Denver. NREL houses the National Bioenergy Center, a 100-person facility whose core competence is biological and thermochemical conversion of materials to fuels, chemicals, power, and products. There are a variety of ways to get involved with NREL's biomass research activities including working collaboratively with NREL through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), participating in subcontracted biomass research, licensing their technology and using their facilities. Dr. John Ashworth, the leader of the National Bionergy Center's partnership development team, notes "Interest in biomass conversion is growing very rapidly, as major industrial firms determine that biomass may well offer a lower cost alternative to petroleum for the production of fuels, chemicals, and products. more »
	Sterling Biotech: The Little Company That Could Sterling, Colorado, pop 14,000, is an unlikely place for a biotech startup. Situated in the farmland of northeastern Colorado near the Kansas and Nebraska border, Sterling is better known for its state prison than life science. But a remarkable company, Sterling Biotechnology, may change all that. Sterling Biotechnology makes Sterling Grade lubricants…out of canola seeds. In fact, the product is so remarkable that it was recently awarded the top honors at the World's Best Technologies Showcase in Arlington, Texas. more »