Lorenzo Garcia Tejada is a PhD Student at RWTH University, Germany, and Corbion (Purac Biochem), The Netherlands, within the Talent4BBI COFUND MSCA PhD program organized by BiOrbic. Originally from the southern mountains of Spain (Cazorla), he obtained a B.Sc. in Biotechnology, specialized in Industrial Biotech, by the University of Granada (Spain), and a M.Sc. in Biotechnology, focused on Bioprocess Engineering, by Lund University (Sweden).

Originally drawn into the field by genetics, he gained interest in the industrial application of Biotechnology during his bachelors, working on downstream processing in his dissertation and doing an internship in a local alcohol factory as process analyst. During his Masters, he switched focused slightly and became interested in the greener approaches within industrial biotechnology, gaining awareness on the trends for sustainable production of bio-based chemicals. He explored the design of a theoretical rhamnolipid production plant, the fermentative analysis of a brand-new probiotic product, and culminated his studies by optimizing the growth and lactate production profiles of a strain of lactic acid bacterium capable of fermenting softwood. Fully immersed in the bio-economy mindset, his current doctoral project explores a promising industry-relevant yeast-like fungus as a host for lactic acid fermentation at low pH from second generation feedstock.

He’s quickly to adapt to new environments and projects, and loves to get involved in any and all opportunities to explore new fields of knowledge, research and work.