Dr. Ramon Gonzalez is a Professor and Florida World Class Scholar in the Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF) where he leads the laboratory for Metabolic Engineering and Biomanufacturing. He is also the President-Elect of the Society for Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (SIMB) and from 2015 to 2023 served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (JIMB), SIMBs flagship journal. Dr. Gonzalez is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Before joining USF, Dr. Gonzalez was a Professor in the Departments of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering at Rice University and the Founding Director of Rices Advanced Biomanufacturing Initiative. He has served as Program Director with both the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Dr. Gonzalez has published over 100 papers in prestigious scientific journals, including various Nature portfolio Journals (Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Catalysis, Nature Metabolism, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Communications), PNAS, and Science and has given more than 100 invited talks at institutions around the world. He is the lead inventor in 25 patents/patent applications and founded/co-founded Glycos Biotechnologies, Creo Ingredients, RBN Bio, and C1Plus Bio. He has advised major industrial bio and Fortune 500 companies and is currently a member of the scientific advisory boards of several companies and research institutions. Dr. Gonzalez has received numerous recognitions, including, Discovery Series Lecture (BioDesign Institute, Arizona State University), Tiangong Forum Lecture (TIB-CAS, China), Inspiring Wisdom Distinguished Lecture (SKMML, SJTU, China), AlChE Division 15c Plenary Lecture, ASM Distinguished Lecturer, SDA/NBB Glycerine Innovation Research Award, and NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Gonzalez obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Chile, an M.S. in Biochemical Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaso (Chile), and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Central University "Marta Abreu" of Las Villas (Cuba).