The Bioprocessing and Bioproduct Engineering Laboratory (BBEL) in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University provides great opportunities for innovation and training. BBEL’s mission and goals are: (1) Educate and train a new generation of leaders in Industrial Biosystems Engineering research, development, and education; (2) Advance Industrial Biosystems Engineering sciences and technologies for producing biofuels and biochemcals; (3) Contribute to the establishment of an industrial biotechnology industry in Washington State and the nation; (4) Support the creation and growth of various companies along the value chains of feedstock production, conversion, and product distribution; and (5)contribute to the development of a new world bio-economy. BBEL takes a systems approach in both its research and development activities and in solving the technical challenges. BBEL positions itself as an application-driven research group but is supported by exploring fundamental sciences. To solve an application problem, BBEL first establishes a numerical target, the team then identifies the bottleneck issues (such as limiting factors and rate-limiting steps)..., BBEL further gathers existing theory and knowledge for developing an optimal strategy to overcome the barrier. If the existing theory and knowledge are not adequate, we then develop hypotheses and conduct in-depth investigations into the key mechanisms to advance their understanding. Core competence BBEL’s overall competence is Industrial Biosystem Engineering. BBEL’s specific competencies are in the following areas: (1) anaerobic digestion biotechnology, (2) algal biotechnology, (3) yarrowia lipolytica-based cell factories, and (4) bioprocessing, bioconversion and bioseparation.