4 minutes guide… Alex Patist, Senior Director of Bioprocess Technology, Genomatica

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

Genomatica is a leading innovator in biotechnology for the chemical industry. We harness biotechnology to develop new processes to make major chemicals with better economics and greater sustainability, plus custom solutions. Producers gain strategic business flexibility; and users of chemicals can offer differentiated, more sustainable products.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

My team’s job is to make commercial scale-up, transfer and implementation as boring as possible.

Traditionally, bioprocess scale-up has been time-consuming and expensive. With GENO BDO, our first commercial process, we reduced the time to go from concept to commercial (2012) to only five years through a disciplined, inter-disciplinary approach to strain design and overall bioprocess development. That led to major licensees and awards.

Now, we’™re developing analytical and lab tools to make scale-up and scale-down even more predictable, faster and more cost-effective – from milliliter scale to hundreds of thousands of liters.

Our team (and all of Genomatica) is working with companies across the value chain – including feedstock providers, EPC firms to build plants for GENO process licensees, chemical producers, users, and major brands. We’™re hosting Visiting Scientists from our partners and sending engineers on-site with our licenses for tech transfer and start-up.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

1. More commercial and technical successes.

2. Faster and less expensive development and commercialization.

Both will help bioprocesses be seen as lower risk and more reliable – and so will attract new investment, new customers, and new confidence in the sector.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change? 

1. Help people understand that large-scale fermentation can deliver, with advantages in capex and sustainability compared to conventional unit operations.

2. Get the industry to focus more on customer needs, rather than just ‘talking technology’™. That means speaking to solutions across a value chain, from feedstock provider to end user.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

I saw this as a great chance to contribute and make a difference. I felt that my combination of experience in agriculture, commercial-scale chemical engineering and biotech would help me add distinctive ‘whole-value-chain’ perspective and solutions, which I think is critical for the Bioeconomy to flourish.

Where are you from? 

Born in Utrecht (Jutphaas), the Netherlands. I grew up near our medieval canal and locks dating back to 1275 ensuring a constant water level between hand-dug canals and the Rhine. We used to canoe next to these massive cargo ships (a bit risky, in hindsight), but it gave me an early exposure to the world of supply chain!

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

BS, Chemical Eng, Hogeschool Utrecht (Netherlands)

MS, Chemical Eng, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)

PhD, Chemical Eng, University of Florida

I really enjoyed chemistry in high school, but wanted to follow in my dad’™s footsteps of being an engineer (he is a civil engineer). Hence, Chemical Engineering.

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

Besides my immediate family, I was fortunate to have mentors during my 13 years with Cargill. Here’s a summary of some wise words:

– Don’™t let perfect be the enemy of good enough

– A bad decision is better than no decision

– Pilot what you intend to build and build what you piloted

– Technology (by itself) doesn’™t sell. Focus on the customer’s need and let technology be the enabler. Apple is great at this.

– In messaging, make sure the glass is half full, never half empty

– Measure what is measurable and make measurable that which is not (Galileo Galilei)

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?  

Focus on the upside and seek help in areas you least expect it. For example, years ago we reached out to a professor in cataract research who found us a solution to sweetness loss in beverages!

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry?

Running, biking (especially back in Holland), down-hill skiing and playing the pipe organ. I started playing at age 8 and became the church organist at age 13. Have you ever thought about the science and engineering of a pipe organ?!

What are 3 books you’d want to have with you, if you were stranded on a desert island

In this case, I’d bring an iPod as I prefer music. In the spring I enjoy the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach, a marvelous piece of work. During the holidays I enjoy the Messiah by G.F. Handel.

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?  

1. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, so I can catch up to my daughter!

2. Benjamin Franklin, Genius of Kites, Flights and Voting Rights, by S. Block.

3. The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

While I love much about other places I’™ve lived (the Netherlands, Florida and Minnesota), I have to conclude that San Diego now tops my list!