Occupation

Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers

Human Advantage 71%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Low Risk
2.3 / 10

This occupation requires complex human judgment, social interaction, and creative problem-solving that are difficult to automate.

Define, plan, or execute biofuels/biodiesel research programs that evaluate alternative feedstock and process technologies with near-term commercial potential.

Also Known As: Analytical Research Program Manager, Biodiesel Division Manager, Biodiesel Engineering Manager, Biodiesel Product Development Manager, Biodiesel Product Manager, Biodiesel Technology Development Manager, Biodiesel Technology Manager, Biofuels Engineering Manager +10 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Design or conduct applied biodiesel or biofuels research projects on topics, such as transport, thermodynamics, mixing, filtration, distillation, fermentation, extraction, and separation.
  2. Analyze data from biofuels studies, such as fluid dynamics, water treatments, or solvent extraction and recovery processes.
  3. Prepare, or oversee the preparation of, experimental plans for biofuels research or development.
  4. Provide technical or scientific guidance to technical staff in the conduct of biofuels research or development.
  5. Propose new biofuels products, processes, technologies or applications based on findings from applied biofuels or biomass research projects.
  6. Conduct experiments on biomass or pretreatment technologies.
  7. Prepare biofuels research and development reports for senior management or technical professionals.
  8. Develop lab scale models of industrial scale processes, such as fermentation.
  9. Oversee biodiesel/biofuels prototyping or development projects.
  10. Conduct experiments to test new or alternate feedstock fermentation processes.

Supplemental Tasks (8)

  1. Develop methods to estimate the efficiency of biomass pretreatments.
  2. Perform protein functional analysis and engineering for processing of feedstock and creation of biofuels.
  3. Conduct research to breed or develop energy crops with improved biomass yield, environmental adaptability, pest resistance, production efficiency, bioprocessing characteristics, or reduced environmental impacts.
  4. Develop computational tools or approaches to improve biofuels research and development activities.
  5. Develop separation processes to recover biofuels.
  6. Design chemical conversion processes, such as etherification, esterification, interesterification, transesterification, distillation, hydrogenation, oxidation or reduction of fats and oils, and vegetable oil refining.
  7. Design or execute solvent or product recovery experiments in laboratory or field settings.
  8. Develop methods to recover ethanol or other fuels from complex bioreactor liquid and gas streams.

Education & Training

Job Zone 4 Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Education: Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Experience: A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Bachelor's Degree
55%
Master's Degree
29%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
5%
Post-Doctoral Training
1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
1%
Doctoral Degree
1%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.
1%
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Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

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Software (32)

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  • Microsoft Great Plains Personal Data Keeper
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • Structure query language SQL
  • Web browser software

Tools & Equipment (31)

  • Absorption equipment
  • Autosamplers
  • Bioreactors
  • Biosafety cabinets
  • Desktop computers
  • Dissolved oxygen monitors
  • Distillation equipment
  • Extraction equipment
  • Fermentation systems
  • Flocculators
  • Flow indicators
  • Forced convection incubators
  • Gas chromatograph mass spectrometers GC-MS
  • Gas chromatographs GC
  • Gel electrophoresis equipment
  • Glass flasks
  • High pressure liquid chromatographs HPLC
  • Inverted compound microscopes
  • Laptop computers
  • Level indicators
  • Mass spectrometers
  • Orbital incubating shakers
  • Personal computers
  • Polymerase chain reaction PCR equipment
  • Pressure indicators
  • Safety glasses
  • Safety gloves
  • Spectrophotometers
  • Temperature probes
  • Top-loading autoclaves
  • pH indicators

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Production & Automation Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 1
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers 75% match
Zone 2
Non-Destructive Testing Specialists 80% match
Zone 3
Geothermal Production Managers 91% match
Zone 4
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers You are here
Zone 5
Nanosystems Engineers 81% match

Engineering Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 2
Non-Destructive Testing Specialists 80% match
Zone 3
Electrical and Electronics Drafters 80% match
Zone 4
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers You are here
Zone 5
Nanosystems Engineers 81% match

Architecture & Civil Engineering Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 2
Non-Destructive Testing Specialists 80% match
Zone 3
Electrical and Electronics Drafters 80% match
Zone 4
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers You are here
Zone 5
Architectural and Engineering Managers 79% match

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