As Chief Operating Officer, Chuck leads Solugen’s operational strategy and execution. A former Marine and Naval Officer, Chuck brings over 15 years of leadership experience across global giants like Apple, Tesla, Nike, and Zoom. At Tesla, he was instrumental in building the global purchasing organization and scaling the company’s Fremont manufacturing operations, as well as expanding into Europe and APAC. At Zoom, he led global procurement during the company’s hyper-growth phase amid the pandemic. Chuck’s expertise in operations, manufacturing, and supply chain management ensures that Solugen is well-positioned for rapid growth and operational excellence.

Avery oversees Solugen’s strategic planning, business operations, financing, and community engagement. Prior to joining Solugen, Avery spent several years at Bain & Co., focusing on consulting and commercial due diligence for private equity within the energy and industrial sector. Avery holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.

Will leads Solugen’s strategic partnership initiatives globally. Since joining Solugen in 2019, he has been a driving force in expanding the company’s customer base and market presence. Before joining Solugen, Will spent more than a decade delighting customers, leading sales teams, and scaling revenue at specialty companies across the energy, water treatment, and food industries.

Sean is a partner at Founder Fund, one of Solugen’s earliest investors. He previously led Solugen’s finance organization, spearheading our efforts in investor relations, strategy, and M&A. He continues to stay engaged in Solugen as a strategic advisor. Sean holds a B.S. in Foreign Service and over a decade of leadership experience at top global investment firms.

Caitlin leads the operations and supply chain teams at the company’s manufacturing and distribution sites to make and deliver high quality products to satisfy our customer’s needs. During her tenure at Solugen, Caitlin has been responsible for capital projects ranging from interior design to constructing and commissioning of Bioforge Houston. She also led the building up the team to operate a first of its kind chemical facility. Prior to joining Solugen, Caitlin worked as an Operations Support Engineer at ExxonMobil on Gulf of Mexico production platforms and Project Manager at North America’s largest refinery with Motiva Enterprises (Shell/Saudi Aramco JV).

Konrad leads Solugen’s Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT) team, translating scientific breakthroughs into scalable new technologies and products. His expertise is in rapid technology development & scaleup. He is an Assistant Professor at UC Davis, focusing on food & bioprocess engineering. Konrad is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), trained at UC Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and UC Davis. He holds the UC Davis record for fastest chemical engineering PhD (10 papers over 23 months), and has a textbook on bioprocess facility design.

Ken oversees process engineering, front-end project engineering, and first project implementation for the company's novel chemienzymatic processes. With nearly 45 years of experience in the refining and chemical industries, Ken is a high-impact player known for designing and implementing production facilities and processes globally. His expertise spans from conceptualizing novel technologies to pilot plant development, first demonstration, and commercialization. Ken's leadership was instrumental in developing and optimizing Solugen’s Bioforge facility in Houston and advancing new technologies from R&D to commercial applications. Currently, he leads the front-end process design for Solugen's new Bioforge Marshall facility and drives additional developments at Bioforge Houston.

Yuri serves as Solugen’s Professor in Residence, supporting efforts to bring innovative molecules to market by providing strategic guidance to our heterogeneous metal catalysis team. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008 under the mentorship of Prof. James Dumesic. Following his doctoral studies, Yuri conducted a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech, focusing on zeolite synthesis with Prof. Mark E. Davis. In 2010, he joined MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor, progressing to Associate Professor in 2014 and Full Professor in 2020. Yuri's research, at the intersection of heterogeneous catalysis and materials science, encompasses catalyst design, kinetic studies, and reaction engineering to explore chemical transformations in reactive environments.