Ching T. Hou is the lead scientist at the USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois, since 1989. He is President of the International Society of Biocatalysis and Biotechnology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Society of Industrial Microbiology, and the American Oil Chemists' Society, holds seventeen patents, and has published over 220 peer-reviewed journal papers and five books.

Jei-Fu Shaw, PhD, is President and Chair Professor at National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Dr. Shaw received the Biotechnology Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Oil Chemists' Society in 2005 and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2006. He has published over 150 international SCI papers and holds seven patents.