3:17 p.m., July 16, 2008--Richard Wool, University of Delaware professor of chemical engineering and director of the Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (ACRES) research group, has been invited to be a plenary speaker at the green polymers symposium during the eighth World Congress of Chemical Engineering to be held Aug. 23-27, 2009, in Montreal.

The World Congress, which will be held at Montreal's convention center, will bring together the global chemical engineering community to discuss the most pressing issues of the times.

Wool received the invitation as one of the pre-eminent researchers in the growing field of bio-based materials. His research centers on the use of soybean oil and chicken feathers in new bio-based composite materials, including computer circuit boards and hurricane-resistant roofs. Wool is using the bio-based materials in support of several renewable energy projects, such as wind, solar, hydrogen storage and energy efficient housing, as practical solutions to global warming.

The research was featured on a recent program on the Sundance Channel titled Big Ideas for a Small Planet and the circuit boards were included in a 2006 technology exhibition at the Science Museum in London.

Wool is co-author, with X.S. Sun, of the book Bio-Based Polymers and Composites.