The 6th Commercializing Industrial Biotechnology conference (CIB) was held September 17–19, 2023 in Berkeley, California. This conference delivered on its promise to explore best practices, lessons learned, and innovations for commercializing industrial bio-based processes and products. CIB continues to be a leading forum for the bioprocess community to connect and grow, as it brings these technologies and innovations to the forefront of policy and industry.
CIB included seven engaging sessions with leaders in the field who discussed current innovations and technologies. More than 130 attendees were present for three keynote talks, 24 invited-speaker presentations, sponsored workshops and roundtables, panel discussions, and networking receptions. In addition, some attendees toured the UC Berkeley Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH) and Bakar Labs during an afternoon break.
Standout speakers and highlights
During the second keynote, titled “The US Bioeconomy as a National Priority: From 2012 to 2023 and Beyond,” Mary Maxon of Schmidt Futures shared her experience and the latest updates on the federal government’s policy and how far the field has come since her time in presidential meetings in 2012.
CIB also included a fireside chat with Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, who shared his expertise on funding for biotech start-ups and gave astounding advise for entrepreneurs. It was eye-opening for many attendees to hear his perspective, as he has been a part of so many companies' journeys in the biotechnology space. This fireside chat gave a preview of a topic covered later that day in the Funding Development of the Bioeconomy Panel, which included invited venture capitalists and financial advisors.
A majority of the program included presentations from companies at various stages of production, from bench-scale ideas with a few large investors to fully-realized commercial products. In one such presentation, conference co-chair Jason Ryder’s company, Oobli, shared the steps they took to create their sweet protein-based products.
The remaining talks covered best practices for training the current and future workforce through programs and workshops, including a panel held with students and alumni of one such program, the Master of Bioprocess Engineering (MBPE) at UC Berkeley.
Next year’s conference
CIB will be held in Boston for its next occurrence, and chaired by Christine Santos of Manus Bio. We hope to see you there!
Check out the full technical program for 2023, as well as speaker bios and abstracts.
About SBE
Established in 2004, the Society for Biological Engineering is a technological community for engineers and applied scientists integrating biology with engineering. Members of SBE come from a broad spectrum of industries and disciplines and share in SBE’s mission of realizing the benefits of bioprocessing, biomedical, and biomolecular applications. Learn more about SBE.