Professor Block is Marvin Sands Department Chair in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and holds the Ernest Gallo Endowed Chair. Since joining UC Davis, he has conducted research on various topics, from fermentation optimization methods to metabolic engineering of yeast for improved wine production, as well as on single-plant resolution irrigation sensing and control. More recently, his research has focused on computational fluid dynamics models for red wine fermentations and process optimization for cultivated meat production. He played a key role in designing the UC Davis LEED Platinum-certified Teaching and Research Winery. Prof. Block has received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate, the highest teaching award given for teaching alone on the UC Davis campus. Prior to joining UC Davis, he worked for Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. working on biopharmaceuticals, both in process development and in manufacturing. Dr. Block, an AIChE Fellow, has been active in AIChE, serving as Director, Secretary, Vice Chair, Chair, and Past Chair of Division 15, Food, Pharmaceutical, and Bioengineering, as well as being a co-chair of the first two annual AIChE Food Innovation and Engineering (FOODIE) Conferences and a Topical Conference on Food Innovation and Engineering at the 2019 Annual Fall Meeting. David holds a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, both in Chemical Engineering.