BERKELEY, CA--(Marketwire - May 11, 2010) - Bio Architecture Lab (BAL), a pioneer in the application of synthetic biology and enzyme design to the development of biofuels and renewable chemicals from macroalgae, today announced Daniel Trunfio as the company's Chief Executive Officer. Trunfio has more than 25 years executive experience in both the traditional oil as well as the renewable fuels industries.
Bio Architecture Lab was founded to address the huge market need and opportunity to produce the world's lowest cost, most scalable, and sustainable source of sugars for biofuel and renewable chemical production from aqua-farmed, native macroalgae. Trunfio's deep experience in the energy industry will be a key advantage for the company as it moves to commercialize its technologies to enable the production of renewable fuels and chemicals.
"There are many innovative new companies in the renewable fuel and chemicals space, and without a doubt Bio Architecture Lab is clearly one of the emerging leaders," said Trunfio. "As the need for biofuels and renewable chemicals increases, so will the demand for sustainable sources of sugars. With impressive intellectual property, brilliant scientists, solid funding and great strategic partners, the company is already well positioned to succeed. It's an exciting time to join the team."
Trunfio spent 23 years with Shell, where most recently he led the development and implementation of Shell's first and second generation biofuel strategies and operations worldwide. In this role, he was also responsible for working as a liaison with external stakeholders and governments as well as managing Shell's portfolio of biofuel Joint Venture partnerships in the Americas.
Immediately prior to joining BAL, he was Chief Operating Officer at Aventine Renewable Energy, Inc., where he was responsible for full profit and loss (P&L) management and operational leadership of more than 300 employees, manufacturing, supply chain management, sales, trading, risk management, regulatory compliance, technology, and capital expansion. He led the company through a successful strategic and organizational restructuring, positioning Aventine for long term growth.
In addition to Trunfio, BAL also announced the hiring of two senior research and technology executives. Dr. Vineet Rajgarhia, a Senior Vice President of Research will be leading the BAL research team on the continued development of its proprietary technology. He joins BAL from his role as Vice President of Research and Development at Mascoma. Dr. Rajgarhia has previously led the development of scalable industrial biocatalysts and valuable intellectual property for biofuels and commodity chemicals production both for Cargill and Mascoma.
Dr. Jaouad Fichtali joins BAL as Senior Vice President of Development and Engineering, where he will lead the transition of BAL technology from the lab toward commercialization. He was most recently Vice President of Technology and Innovation, and Vice President of Development at Martek Biosciences, where he built and managed teams from strain development to commercialization including applications development. In addition to Martek, Dr. Fichtali has an established track record in research, development, manufacturing, cost reduction, and commercialization of novel processes and products.
About Bio Architecture Lab
Founded in 2007, Bio Architecture Lab is a privately-held company headquartered in Berkeley, California with offices in Santiago, Chile. Bio Architecture Lab is focused on producing the world's lowest cost, most scalable, and sustainable source of sugars for biofuel and renewable chemical production from aquafarmed, native macroalgae (seaweed). Company investors include Austral Capital, X/Seed Capital and Energy Capital Management. The company has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E program through a partnership with DuPont and has been awarded funding from the Chilean Government in partnership with ENAP, the Chilean national oil company.
Contact Information:
Media Contact
John Williams
Scoville PR for BAL
206-625-0075
jwilliams@scovillepr.com