Research Interests

Lignin and waste valorization

Plastics upcycling and recycling

Performance-advantaged bioproducts

Metabolic engineering

Bioprocess development

Chemical catalysis

Polymer science

Biochemistry

Molecular simulation

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.S., Chemical Engineering Practice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

B.S., Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University

Professional Experience

Group Leader and Senior Research Fellow, NREL (2018–present)

Affiliate Faculty, Colorado State University (2019–present)

Fellow, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder and NREL (2016–present)

Group Leader and Senior Engineer, NREL (2011–2018)

Engineer, NREL (2008–2011)

Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering (2007)

Station Director, Singapore-MIT Alliance, National University of Singapore (2005)

Featured Work

Innovative Chemicals and Materials from Bacterial Aromatic Catabolic Pathways, Joule (2019)

Combining Reclaimed PET with Bio-Based Monomers Enables Plastics Upcycling, Joule (2019)

Passive Membrane Transport of Lignin-Related Compounds, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019)

Structural Evolution and Characterization of a Plastic-Degrading Aromatic Polyesterase, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019)

Engineering Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for Efficient Ethylene Glycol Utilization, Metabolic Engineering (2018)

A Promiscuous Cytochrome P450 Aromatic O-Demethylase for Lignin Bioconversion, Nature Communications (2018)

Thermochemical Wastewater Valorization via Enhanced Microbial Toxicity Tolerance, Energy & Environmental Science (2018)

Engineering Enhanced Cellobiohydrolase Activity, Nature Communications (2018)

Renewable Acrylonitrile Production, Science (2017)

Biomass-Derived Monomers for Performance-Differentiated Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites, Green Chemistry (2017)