Dr. Thavasi is a R&D Manager - Microbial Biotechnology at a Private Biotech Company in Wisconsin, USA. Thavasi received his M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph.D degrees in Marine Microbiology (Microbial Biosurfactants) from Center of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, India. To his credit, Thavasi is a co-inventor of 3 U.S-Patents, published >30 research articles, written 8 book chapters, edited a book on Biosurfactants (CRC press) and presented 8 papers in seminar/conferences. He is serving as a Reviewer for peer review journals such as Bioresource Technology, Journal of Microbiological Methods, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Preparative Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Journal of Applied Microbiology and Letters in Applied Microbiology. Thavasi served as a Principal Investigator for 5 NSF-SBIR grants for biosurfactant derived biopesticides and biosurfactant research and experienced in grant proposal, project report and patent writing. Research Interests: • Microbial Products: microbial biosurfactants, bioemulsifiers, biodispersants, biopesticides, beneficial microbes, inoculants, bioremediation consortium, microalgae fermentation, agrochemicals, antimicrobials, natural flavor chemicals and probiotics• Microbes: Bacteria, fungi, yeast, actinomycetes and microalgae • Fermentation Biotechnology - optimization, yield improvement, scaleup/upstream & downstream processing• Freeze, spray and vacuum drying and formulation• Agriculture beneficial & bioremedation microbes • Product & business development, microbial products market • Grant proposal, project report and patent writing