Statement of purposes. 2

I clearly remember the day as if it was yesterday, when my grandfather and I were making our home-made grape wine at a dark basement, even though this activity is illegal in Iran and there are severe punishments for producing, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic drinks. I was only 10 years old and I did not understand the fermentation and distillation processes, but my grandfather explained the basis of these phenomena and I attracted to the usage of tiny creatures for producing food products. Several years later, when I visited a diary manufacturer in a high school science trip, I realized that fermentation processes have a vast variety of products that we use every day without being aware of their complex mechanisms. This experience sparked my desire to the Biotechnology and the beginning of my dream to become a biotechnologist.

Since I was determined to achieve my dream career, I attended to the Department of Chemical Engineering at Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), a well-known university in Iran that has outstanding faculty members in the field of Biotechnology, to pursue my studies in this field. With basic understanding of the performance of microorganisms from Microbiology, I also found out that for a successful operation of a bioreactor, several other factors must be included in addition to the suitable strain, and I spent more time on relevant courses such as Transport Phenomena, Kinetic and Reactor Design, Biochemistry, and Plant Design and Economics. Doing so, I achieved a comprehensive understanding of both chemical and biochemical processes. I also accomplished different course projects on Biogas plants, Bioethanol plants with the first and second generation raw materials, wastewater treatment plants, and an overview of biopolymers applications. I took my B.Sc. project under supervision of Dr. ****** about different morphologies and applications of filamentous fungi. I presented the outcome of this research in a national conference in Industrial Biotechnology Conference, Iran.

I was among top 5% of undergraduate students, and this excellence provided me the opportunity to enroll to M.Sc. program at IUT without entrance exam. I continued my graduate research under tutelage of Dr. ****, and a newly added faculty member, Dr. ******. At first, I chose to study on the effects of culture composition on the yield of ethanol as well as chitin and chitosan content of the cell wall of different Zygomycetes fungi due to my deep interest to Biotechnology. In several preliminary experiments, I investigated different factors including carbon to nitrogen ratio, different sources of nitrogen, trace metals, and plant growth hormones. After preliminary experiments, I delineated a statistical design for the investigation of the effects of IAA and Kinetin concentration and morphologies of M. indicus on chitin, chitosan, and ethanol yields in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

I spent a lot of time reading relevant articles in ‘Nature’, ‘Advanced Biotechnology’, and ‘Biotechnology Advances’ and started thinking for more innovative projects. I found out through these studies that Glucosamine Hydrochloride -that is used extensively for alleviation of osteoarthritis- causes different allergies who are sensitive to marine products. Hence, I proposed using fungal biomass containing chitin and chitosan in their cell wall skeleton and my supervisors concurred with it.

I tried different methods for analyzing glucosamine hydrochloride using colorimetric and HPLC methods, and faced to numerous obstacles including lacking special reagents, limited number of HPLC samples for each person, and lacking Rotary Evaporators for different parts of my experiments in colorimetric method of analyzing glucosamine and purification of glucosamine. But, thanks to my supportive supervisors, I overcame these difficulties and developed a HPLC method for measurement of glucosamine. I also used a novel method for acid evaporation without any rotary evaporator. In this way I took the responsibility of analyzing of all the students’ samples via HPLC and served as a Research Assistant for two semesters. I also took the responsibility of Freeze dryer, GC, and Shaker incubators. In addition to these responsibilities, I served as Teaching Assistant for Biotechnology and Microbiology Laboratories, and this was a special chance for developing my teaching abilities, and I could train three newcomers to the Biotechnology Laboratory.

I have submitted a research paper entitled ‘Production, Purification, and Characterization of Glucosamine from Rhizopus oryzae’ to the high quality international journal -Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering- and I am currently preparing another paper which is about the effects of different morphologies and plant growth hormones on M. indicus cell wall composition and ethanol production. I also have a patent in progress regarding fungal glucosamine preparation using Zygomycetes fungi in Iranian Patent Office.

My primary research interests are novel methods for Biofuel and Biopolymer preparation using renewable sources, Metabolic manipulation of microorganisms for higher productivity, and Wastewater treatments methods. These topics are in accordance to my research background and also are done by my colleagues while I was working in biotechnology laboratory, because we sometimes helped each other and I understood their fascinating natures. I plan to explore different factors affecting the yield of biofuel (particularly bioethanol) preparation using lignocellulosic materials by different pretreatment conditions and different substrates. In my view, another interesting research area is the metabolic manipulation of microorganisms in order to increase their biofuel and other biochemical production that is extensively done in your department.

I wish to earn a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering, and later, hope to become a faculty member at a prestigious university or a professional researcher in an international corporation. I know that this path will lead me to many obstacles, but I believe using my determination, hard work, and talents, I will be able to overcome them. Your department web site revealed a very strong faculty involved in extensive research in Biotechnology and Wastewater treatment, strong research facilities, and an active and competitive atmosphere for research and study. These have strengthened my resolve to research at Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at University of California, Riverside. I hope that my background and qualifications are suitable for a Ph.D. program in Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UCR. This will give me the opportunity to prove my worth and be a credit to your university.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Kind Regards,