We are proud to announce the NBC-22 keynote speakers:
- Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech
- Mark van Loosdrecht, Professor Environmental Biotechnology, TU Delft
- Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO of ZYMVOL Biomodeling SL
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of LanzaTech. Under Jennifer’s guidance, LanzaTech is developing a variety of platform chemicals and fuels, including the world’s first alternative jet fuel derived from industrial waste gases. She is also the Director and Chair of the LanzaJet Board of Directors. Prior to LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. While there, she was a key driver of their leadership in low carbon aviation biofuels.
Jennifer has authored or co-authored 50 U.S. patents and more than 30 scientific publications and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She is on the Governing Council for the Bio Energy Research Institute in India. The institute has been set up by the DBT (Department of Biotechnology, Indian Government) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation). She also sits on the Advisory Council for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, the Halliburton Labs Advisory Board, the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS International Advisory Council, and the Founder Advisory for The Engine, a venture capital fund built by MIT that invests in early-stage science and engineering companies.
Jennifer holds a B.Sc. degree from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Mark van Loosdrecht studied Environmental Sciences at Wageningen Univesity. After obtaining his PhD in 1988 he moved to the department of Biotechnology at TU Delft. Since 1998 he is professor in Environmental Biotechnology and mainly studies biofilm processes, microbial polymers and nutrient conversion and recovery processes. Several processes developed in his team have been introduced at commercial scale (including Anammox® and Nereda® processes). He currently focusses on conversion of organic waste into biopolymers (PHA and Kaumera).
Van Loosdrecht is member of the KNAW and the Dutch, US and Chinese Academies of Engineering and recipient of amongst others the Stockholm Water Prize in 2018 and the Novozymes Award in 2022.
Maria Fátima Lucas is co-founder and CEO of ZYMVOL, a Barcelona-based deeptech company specialized in enzyme design and development through computer simulations. With the aim of making industrial chemical processes more sustainable, ZYMVOL is able to discover and optimize enzymes for very specific purposes in less time than with traditional methods. Since its founding in 2017, the company has participated in several European research projects and has worked with industrial clients worldwide.
Thanks to this work, in 2020 María Fátima Lucas was one of the winners of the EU Prize for Women Innovators, awarded by the European Commission.
