The first Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals was held in 1978 and hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN). It was the first technical meeting focusing exclusively on the biotechnologically-­‐mediated conversion of renewable feedstocks, especially lignocellulosic plant biomass, to fuels and chemicals. The Symposium is held in alternate years in the eastern or western United States. While many aspects of this meeting have changed since its inception, several features remain the same.

1. The meeting remains focused on the latest technology in biotechnology for fuels and chemicals.
2. The feedstock coverage has expanded beyond dedicated energy crops and agricultural and
   forestry residues to include non-­‐lignocellulosics, e.g., algae and carbon oxides.
3. The broad topic areas remain largely the same, i.e., feedstocks, pretreatment/fractionation, biological conversion, bioprocessing integration, process techno-­‐economics/commercialization/ sustainability, while varying special topics sessions cover new and cutting edge directions.
4. There is a healthy split between oral (~100/year) and poster presentations (~350/year)
5. The meeting runs Monday through Thursday, with daytime oral sessions and evening poster (Monday and Tuesday) and special topics (Wednesday) sessions. Wednesday afternoon is free of formal sessions to allow time for networking.
6. The meeting concludes with a banquet on Thursday evening where awards are presented to the
   best student posters as well as leading individual and organizational contributors who have
   advanced the field.