The Renewable Fuels Foundation announces six 2023 recipients of the Robert Sather Memorial Scholarship to attend the National Ethanol Conference. Two students and four young professionals received the honor this year.

Student scholarship recipients are Xueli Chen, who is working toward a doctorate from the Dept. of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Purdue University and serves as a research assistant at Purdue University’s Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering; and Tianbo Tang, who is in the doctoral program in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside and is the lead graduate researcher for recent work on the “Comparison of Exhaust Emissions Between E10 California RFG and Splash Blended E15” report, emissions testing for E15 approval in California.

Members of the RFA Young Professionals Network who are receiving scholarships include Ben Parsley, Innovation Manager, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy; Ben Rhodes, Ethanol Program Manager, Nebraska Ethanol Board; Bailey Arnold, Director of Clean Air Initiative, American Lung Association; and Alex Stanley, Lab Manager, Ringneck Energy & Feed.

Now in its 14th year, the NEC scholarship program is named in honor of Robert “Bob” Sather, an educator and longtime Chair of the Renewable Fuels Foundation who helped found RFA member company Ace Ethanol in Wisconsin. The 28th annual National Ethanol Conference takes place February 28 to March 2 in Orlando.