The PEA Department consists of research groups led by 11 Principle Investigators and is focused on bridging the gap between lab-scale research and the commercial deployment of efficient and cost-effective biomanufacturing processes. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/bse/process-engineering-analytics/

Business Development/ Client-Relationship and Stakeholder Management- Leading a program with $10M annual budget to facilitate rapid de-risking and scale-up of synthetic biology based technologies, product prototyping and testing of go-to-market strategies for startups on a fee-for-service basis- Sourced, developed, and owned collaborations with (i) 25+ companies, and academic labs and Venture Firms- Worked closely with 3 internal offices to deliver non-disclosure agreements, budgets, and contracts within 12 weeks- Conducted industry listening day with 30+ companies; Gathered insights and acted on recommendations from industry; e.g. Moved 80% training on state-of-the-art equipment off-site by generating YouTube protocols- Hired and managed a communications expert and (i) generated 12+ case studies and many stories featuring user experiences, (ii) Initiated quarterly newsletter, (iii) conducted virtual expos, and (iv) and showcased end-to-end capabilities at conferencesStrategy, Leadership, and Team and Conflict Management - Led a strategy working group and co-authored Schmidt Futures’ Bioeconomy Report for high-value stakeholders- Routinely interact with C–suite executives in the synthetic biology industry to define strategic, industry-wide issues- Managing 4 Scientists and an extended team of 30 including 12 PhDs. Aligned job duties with career goals to keep the team motivated. Work closely with Financial Analysts in budgeting and projecting activities.- Delivered many prototypes and supported in bringing 17 products to market by fostering a customer-centric culture at a national lab

Program and Product Development- Developed vision and roadmap for a hardware-software moonshot product, “Self-Driving Bioreactor” for $10B+ market- Conducted 100+ enterprise user and senior stakeholder interviews and generated insights in a lean launchpad program- Leading 6 highly interdisciplinary projects in cross matrixed teams to develop the self-driving bioreactor: microbial genome evolution in bioreactors, quantum sensing with nanodiamonds, and sensor data acquisition for machine learning- Working with 3 industrial partners to establish data standards for cloud analytics- Aligned Self-Driving Bioreactor product vision with LBNL’s strategy and pitched an initiative to executive management- Co-chaired the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) AI/ ML workshop with representation from over 40 organizationsAwards and Community Engagement- LBNL’s nominee for Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)- LBNL’s Division Award of Excellence for “leadership, initiative, and relentless hard work that drove projects to fruition”- Women@Lab, a bi-annual award for “supporting and inspiring women in STEM”; 14 in 1000+ employees recognized- Member of the National Academies’ Standing Committee on Biotechnology Capabilities and National Security Needs- Panel Expert for United Kingdom’s Government Office for Science Foresight Project