Technology UTPB professor, students, seek transportation fuel of future
by Mella McEwen
Midland Reporter-Telegram

Today's headlines are filled with discussion of the search for cleaner, renewable fuels to power the nation's transportation system.

It's a topic that captured the attention of Dr. Mike Robinson, the Ellen and Bill Noel Distinguished Professor for Energy Research and the Chemistry Chair at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, back in the 1980s. He challenged his students to address those issues; when none stepped forward, he decided to follow up with his own ideas. The move led him to change his research from synthesizing anti-cancer drugs to synthesizing transportation fuels. Over a decade later, he has received several patents and has several patents pending for his research into biofuels and last year received a two-year grant from Chevron Technology Ventures. For his efforts, he has earned the Hearst Energy Award for Technology.