Ben Mai Email & Phone Number

Santa Monica, California, United States

• Led the development and commercialization of an insect pheromone biosynthesis process that was awarded the EPA Green Chemistry Challenge 2022 Small Business Award. • Designed a novel process with process intensification of upstream and downstream unit operations that improved product titer and Cost of Manufacturing (COM) by 2-fold. Proof-of-concept was successfully implemented at 1,500L. • Exhibited effective teamwork and communication through multi-functional collaborations with internal metabolic engineering, analytical chemistry teams and Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) to scale-up bioprocess platform from lab-scale to commercial scale with no loss in process yields. • Demonstrated leadership in bioprocess development by effectively training and mentoring junior scientists, fostering a collaborative and knowledge-sharing environment to enhance team capabilities and drive project success.

Santa Monica, California, United States

• Acted as the Person-In-Plant to oversee scale-up runs at pilot and commercial CMOs. Provided real-time support for process deviations at CMO. This resulted in securing a three-year manufacturing contract and production of >10 mT of bioderived insect pheromone product. • Successfully developed upstream and downstream platforms for strain and process optimization at lab (1L), pilot (150L-15,000L), and commercial scale (85,000L). • Served as Biosafety Officer for the Provivi Safety Team to tackle HSSE problems and assisted with the development of company COVID-19 protocols.

Santa Monica, California, United States

•Cross-functional collaboration with metabolic engineering department to screen and test Yarrowia lipolytica strains in 1L scale DasGip and 10L scale Infor bioreactors in process relevant conditions.•Developed processes to characterize strains for 5 different bioderived insect pheromone active ingredients.

Project Manager for a Team Master's Project sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific related to the implementation of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) within the biopharmaceutical industry.Responsibilities Included:- Leading a team of 5 graduate student consultants to assess the implementation of PAT within the biopharmaceutical industry- Conducting primary research (interviews) and secondary research (literature reviews) to assess gaps in adoption of PAT within the biopharmaceutical industry- Led weekly conference calls with corporate liaisons and provide project updates- Assess emerging, and disruptive PATs and their potential uses within the biopharmaceutical industry- Team provided Thermo Fisher Scientific with a final report, and final presentation at corporate site

Greater Los Angeles Area

Master of Bioscience (MBS) graduate for the Class of 2017, with an emphasis in bioprocessing.Curriculum provided a foundation to solve technical, business, and regulatory challenges within the life science industry. Developed professional skillset of team leadership, teamwork, public speaking, project management, and exposure to bioscience industry. Gained bioscience industry experience through corporate sponsored Team Master's Projects (TMP).

San Francisco, California

Purification intern responsible for the downstream process development for a biopharmaceutical drug candidate.Responsibilities Included:- Benchmark Protein A resins in order to increase the yield and purity of the mAb Protein A capture step- Optimize the elution conditions of Protein A chromatography and low viral pH inactivation- Drug Substance (DS) stability studies under various conditions after Protein A chromatography elution, and low viral pH inactivation- Optimizing binding and elution conditions of the cation exchange chromatography (CEX) process through benchmarking various CEX resins and buffer conditions- Performing initial shakedown experiments of new bench-scale bioreactors and develop an aseptic process for mammalian cell culture

Graduate student consultant for a KGI Team Master's Project sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim to design and characterize a novel continuous low pH viral inactivation chamber. Responsibilities Included:- Designing and constructing different models of the continuous low pH viral inactivation chamber and running tracer experiments to assess its performance.- Worked as a team to achieved the milestones set and presented results/recommendations to Boehringer Ingelheim team.- Results of the Team Master's Project were later published in the journal Biotechnology Progress

Greater San Diego Area

Senior Research Associate responsible for the process development of small scale Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) fermentation using a fed-batch and perfusion system.Primary Responsibilities:- Developing an anaerobic fermentation platform for the production of ABE- Anaerobic fermentation media optimization to optimize product yield- Working with a team of fermentation scientists, process engineers, automation engineers, and analytical scientists to develop a 3L scale perfusion system- Training new operators and research associates to safely operate the 3L ABE perfusion system- Scale-up of ABE fermentation from 100mL to 3L to 30L- Developing SOPs for the safe operation of equipment- Data analysis of process trends and results using LIMS and Excel- Provide effective communication between technical operators, HSSE, and analytical teams

Greater San Diego Area

R&D for lignocellulosic ethanol. Responsible for process development of yeast propagation and fermentation.

Greater San Diego Area

Master Of Bioscience (Mbs), Applied Life Sciences

Professional Science Master's Program -- Bioprocessing Focus

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Biochemistry And Cell Biology