Genomatica’s Jeff Lievense Honored with Raphael Katzen Award
Recognizes three decades of success in commercializing landmark biobased processes
San Diego, CA, April 3, 2018 – Jeff Lievense has been selected to receive the prestigious Raphael Katzen Award by the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB). The award celebrates distinguished contributions in the commercialization of biotechnology to make fuels and chemicals from renewable resources. The award will be presented at the 40th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals (SBFC) on May 1, 2018.
Jeff’s career includes three decades of success in developing, commercializing, and improving processes to produce chemicals including butanediol, propanediol, farnesene, citric acid, and sucralose. Especially significant has been Jeff’s delivery of processes and plants that meet demanding economic and performance targets, most recently proven with Genomatica’s butanediol process and the Novamont plant. He has contributed to many leading firms, including Amyris, Tate & Lyle, Eastman Kodak, Genencor and the Michigan Biotechnology Institute. Jeff’s work earned the 2014 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award from the Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering, and was instrumental in Genomatica receiving the 2013 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award for “the most noteworthy chemical engineering technology commercialized in the world” in the preceding two years.
Jeff earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Purdue University, where he did research on yeast metabolism and fermentation process modeling. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan with a B.S in the bio option of chemical engineering.
“It’s been my privilege to work with great organizations and people with a shared passion for making biobased products a reality,” said Jeff Lievense, Genomatica’s Senior Advisor to the CEO, Bioengineering and Technology. “The technology platforms so many of us helped bring to life are now growing rapidly and, I expect, will unleash many more biobased products and improved processes. Stay tuned!”
“We’re so happy for Jeff, and honored that he has been a part of our team since 2012,” said Christophe Schilling, Genomatica’s CEO. “His experience has been invaluable in scaling our ideas from concept to commercialization. And his willingness to share and be a mentor to many of our talented scientists and engineers is creating the next generation of innovators to follow in his footsteps.”
About Genomatica
Genomatica is a widely-recognized leader in bioengineering. It develops biobased process technologies that enable a better way to produce widely-used chemicals, from alternative feedstocks, with better economics, sustainability and performance. Genomatica has earned widespread acclaim for its technology and has already commercialized processes for two important chemicals, butanediol (for biodegradable plastics and apparel) and butylene glycol (cosmetics and personal care). Awards include the Kirkpatrick Award, for “the most noteworthy chemical engineering technology commercialized in the world” and the ICIS Innovation Award for its Brontide™ butylene glycol. To learn more, visit www.genomatica.com.
