About Us
Our Mission
Synata Bio has a carbon transformation platform that leverages industrial biotechnology to produce sustainable commodities from low value carbon and renewable energy.
Our People
Synata Bio is made up of a world-class team of proven engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs who bring years of knowledge, expertise, passion and pragmatism to the world of sustainable chemistry.
Coupled with our proven technology and state-of-the-art facilities, we plan to lead the way in decarbonizing chemical and fuel production in the near future.
- Leadership Team
- Board of Directors
Tim Cesarek
LinkedIn- 30+ years of business development and private equity experience with over 20 of those years in various leadership roles in renewable fuels, chemicals and energy
- Prior to Synata Bio, Tim was the Chief Commercial Officer of Gevo, a technology provider and producer of renewable olefins for both low carbon fuels and chemicals, where he led commercial and business development, as well as project origination
- Prior to Gevo, Tim was the Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, of Enerkem, a waste to chemicals and fuels company, where he is responsible for leading the commercial and project development efforts
- Former Managing Director in the Organic Growth Group and Organic Recycling business for Waste Management, Inc. where he was responsible for directly investing in opportunities for Waste Management to optimize the value of the waste it managed, particularly through waste conversion into biofuels, renewable chemicals, energy and lawn and garden products
- Prior to Waste Management, Mr. Cesarek was the President of Koch Genesis Company LLC, an investment arm of Koch Industries, Inc. specializing in commercial ventures, licensing and early stage investments in the petrochemicals, forest products, polymers, resins and consumer products industries
- Sat on over 20 different boards as a director and observer
- B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University
Steve Sloma
LinkedIn- BS Chemical Engineering, University of Cincinnati
- 10 years with BP; 10+ years with 3 different biofuel, biochemical & alternative fuels start-ups
- 20+ years total in petroleum, chemical and renewable fuels operations, finance, supply chain/trading and business development
Jason Du
LinkedIn- PhD Biochemical Engineering, Tsinghua University
- Over a decade with Synata Bio in syngas fermentation development and business development in China
- 25 years total in biotechnology research and bioprocess development in commercial scale
Dev Gavaskar
LinkedIn- Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology
- 15+ Years experience in new technology R&D, scale-up and commercialization
- 8+ Years in energy and cleantech VC and business development
Mary Bjorklund
LinkedIn- BS Chemical Engineering, Purdue University
- 17 years with BP, 13 years with 3 different biochemical and alternative fuels start-ups
- 30+ years total experience in process, project and R&D engineering, and leading large teams of scientists & engineers
Robert Brendel
LinkedIn- PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware
- 10+ years of with multiple global engineering firms as an ex-pat in China
- 35+ years total of design and process development engineering and leadership experience with multiple global engineering and process technology firms
Mike Ahearn
LinkedInManaging Partner of True North Venture Partners. He also serves as Chairman of First Solar, Inc., which he co-founded and for which he served as CEO from 2000-2009 and 2011-2012.
Jay Kouba
LinkedIn- Ph.D. Chemistry
- Executive roles at Amoco and BP
- Founder & CEO of multiple start ups
Matt Ahearn
LinkedInMatt is a co-founder and partner of True North Venture Partners. Matt previously worked at BDT Capital Partners, a Chicago-based merchant bank, and Goldman, Sachs & Co in the Special Situations Group.
Alan Henderson
Alan previously served in multiple senior management roles at First Solar, where he was instrumental in developing First Solar’s manufacturing and replication strategies.
Preetha Nair
LinkedInPreetha has over 25 years of leadership experience across high technology to government. She led the Energy and Infrastructure group for the U.S. Dept of Commerce in India for 18 years and serves as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Committee and Chairman of the US-India Energy Cooperation Program.
- Leadership Team
- Board of Directors
Careers at Synata Bio
Want to join our team to develop and implement large-scale, sustainable solutions for the chemical and fuel industries through novel biochemistry? Synata Bio is always looking to hire the smartest go-getters in the industry. Explore our open positions.