Understand bio-based resources. Enable your ability to advance the role of renewable resources in a sustainable society. Learn how plant-based materials like wood, bamboo, hemp and flax are used and reused for construction and production of consumer goods. The sustainable bioproducts program at Michigan Tech gives you hands-on experience in applying renewable resource technology to create a thriving and global sustainability movement. You’ll study sustainability and put it to use where you are most passionate.
What is sustainable bioproducts?
Wood and other lignocellulosic fibers offer a solution to ending our dependence on fossil fuels and other nonrenewable materials. Bioproducts and the Circular Bioeconomy are critical to resolving our current unsustainable lifestyle. This sector is optimistic for future growth nationally and globally in response to the public’s demand for green and sustainable building materials, packaging, and a host of other product areas.
What Will I Learn?
This degree is a combination of science, business, and engineering. There are three concentrations available to guide you in the direction of your career.
Bioproducts Business
business knowledge and proficiency to work as an entrepreneur, or in corporate management
Sustainable Structures
sustainable building techniques, and the use of engineered wood in buildings such as mass timber
Circular Economy
sustainable manufacturing, creativity and design, 3D printing, economics, and life cycle analysis
Other Opportunities
Course Information
Play Michigan's Emerging Bioeconomy: The Promise and Potential of Our Forests video
Michigan's Emerging Bioeconomy: The Promise and Potential of Our Forests
Learn what the bioeconomy is all about. Mark Rudnicki and others explain what a future in sustainable bioproducts can lead to. Prosperity and sustainability CAN happen together. The time is now.
Play Creating Materials to Build Sustainable Cities of the Future video
Creating Materials to Build Sustainable Cities of the Future
Stronger, cleaner, and less expensive than concrete or steel. In Michigan Tech’s College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, researchers like Munkaila create and test sustainable alternative construction materials from the abundant biomaterials forests—including the world’s first cross-laminated timber, made from sugar maple. Imagine an environmentally friendly skyline that stores carbon instead of emitting it.
Play Senator Stabenow Visits CFRES to See Progress in Developing New Building Materials video
Senator Stabenow Visits CFRES to See Progress in Developing New Building Materials
Senator Stabenow began the Timber Innovation Act based on many of the projects and ideas coming out of Michigan Tech. Part of the act involves using mass timber (created in our very own College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science) to help combat carbon pollution. She believes in sustainably managing Michigan's forests and utilizing the wood produced in our state to create jobs, better the environment, and create countless opportunities when it comes to natural resources.
Where do I find jobs?
Graduates find opportunities in the bioproducts industry and government organizations such as the United States Department of Agriculture.
Create the sustainable future.
