prof. dr. G.J.W. (Gert-Jan) Euverink
Research interests
I am interested in developing biotechnological processes
focusing on clean production, low energy consumption, and limited
waste streams. Mainly, agricultural (side) streams and wastewater
treatment plant materials serve as input materials. After mild
refinery processes, the individual fractions are subjected to
enzymatic or fermentative conversion to produce biobased materials,
e.g., high-pressure anaerobic digestion (AHPD) for bio-/ green gas
with additional use of hydrogen, bioplastics, fatty acids
production with mixed microbial cultures, bifunctional molecules
for polymerization using genetically engineered production
strains.
In those mentioned above and other processes, we study the
metabolism of the microorganisms via, among others, transcriptomics
and proteomics techniques. We use the data for predictive modeling
with the help of artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis
techniques. We aim to identify rate-limiting steps for further
improvement, including redirecting the microbial metabolism to use
alternative, soluble electron acceptors in aerobic
fermentations.
Fermentations are carried out on a small scale in in-house designed 3D-printed microreactors in the laboratory, on a pilot scale in the Zernike Advanced Processing(ZAP) facility and REMO-lab, and full scale at production sites.