Wim Soetaert
Encyclopedia
Wim Soetaert is a chemical and biochemical engineer who heads the Centre of Expertise for Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis at the University of Ghent, Faculty of BioScience Engineering. His research group is active in the development of fermentative and biocatalytic
production processes.
in bioengineering from Ghent University. He worked as a research director in Germany and France, for the sugar group Pfeifer & Langen and the wheat processing company Chamtor.
He is the founder and chairman of Ghent Bio-Energy Valley
, a public-private partnership to promote the development of biobased activities in the Ghent area. Soetaert is also the director of the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, an open innovation
pilot plant for biobased products and processes based in Ghent.
Biocatalysis
Biocatalysis is the use of natural catalysts, such as protein enzymes, to perform chemical transformations on organic compounds. Both enzymes that have been more or less isolated and enzymes still residing inside living cells are employed for this task....
production processes.
Early education and life
Soetaert received a PhDPHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in bioengineering from Ghent University. He worked as a research director in Germany and France, for the sugar group Pfeifer & Langen and the wheat processing company Chamtor.
He is the founder and chairman of Ghent Bio-Energy Valley
Ghent Bio-Energy Valley
The Ghent Bio-Energy Valley is a joint initiative, started in 2005, of Ghent University, the city of Ghent, the Port of Ghent, the Development Agency East-Flanders and a number of industrial companies. The initiative aims at the development of biofuels and bio-enzymes...
, a public-private partnership to promote the development of biobased activities in the Ghent area. Soetaert is also the director of the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, an open innovation
Open Innovation
Although the idea and discussion about some consequences date back at least to the 60s, open innovation is a term promoted by Henry Chesbrough, a professor and executive director at the Center for Open Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, in his book Open Innovation: The new...
pilot plant for biobased products and processes based in Ghent.