Jennica is the Plant Manager for Lixea’s pilot plant in Bäckhammar, Sweden. She has a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, over a decade of experience in the pulp and paper industry and 5 years in a leadership role. She has an extensive background in different positions and in various industries, which has helped her to develop skills in process management, business development and sales.

Robert has 25 years of professional experience in strategic and financial management, both as a senior corporate manager and as private equity/investment banking manager. Robert has worked in various industries, including chemicals, in several countries - UK, Austria and Hungary among them. He has led multinational operations as group CFO, worked for AIG, HSBC and Templeton while retaining an extensive background in smaller, privately-owned companies and funds as a partner. Previously, Robert has helped to transition small enterprises into modern SMEs, which included implementing efficient IT systems, organising new financing and M&A transactions.

Janis is a Chemical Engineer supporting the scale-up and design of the Dendronic process and working on cellulose and lignin properties and applications. He has 5 years of
consultancy experience within the field of Environment and Water, with a particular
focus on process optimisation and support, technology evaluation, as well as
scientific/quality strategy development. Janis completed his master’s degree at
Heriot Watt University where he worked on valorisation of lignocellulose derived

intermediate compounds.

Heather is a chemist working on cellulose properties and applications, material selection and process optimisation. She completed her master’s degree at the University of York’s Green Chemistry Center of Excellence where she worked on lignocellulose fractionation using sustainable solvents. She brings together excellent lab skills, an interest in sustainability and a strong drive and self-motivation.

Adnan is the Operations Engineer planning and coordinating the construction and start-up of the Dendronic pilot plant in Bäckhammar, Sweden. Previously, he worked as a researcher at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Lund University, focusing on the development and scale-up of biomass to biofuels processes. He has experience from work in industry-academia collaborations at biorefinery pilot plants around the world.

Conor is supporting Lixea’s business development and process scale-up. He holds an MBA from the Imperial College Business School with a focus on sustainability and clean-tech. His background is as a chemical engineer and he previously worked as a New Product Engineer at a growth-stage water desalination company. He brings experience in establishing pilot-scale operations and technical business development.

Brendon has 20 years of experience as a consulting chemical engineer with a strong background in process modelling and scale-up of new technologies. He is particularly focused on identifying the most efficient methods of delivering and monetising technical innovations.

Paul has experience of value generation in public market and private equity environments. His sector exposure includes chemicals/fine chemicals, FMCG manufacturing, electrical equipment and life sciences/biotechnology with recent focus on sustainable technologies. His current positions include being CEO of Biome Technologies plc, Chair of the Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum and Chair of the UKRI/BBRSC’s Bioscience for Renewable Resources and Clean Growth Strategy Advisory Panel.

Jason is Professor in Sustainable Chemical Technology at Imperial College’s Chemical Engineering Department. He leads a team of 30 researchers working in the field of biorefining, with a focus on industrial application. He has obtained more than £10 million in research support, including several projects under commercial development. His overall research vision is to develop sustainable, solvent-based chemical processes based on biorenewables that have real-world impact improving everyday life.

Agi obtained her PhD from Imperial College in 2011. She originally developed the Dendronic process and has since continued working on it at Imperial College in Jason’s team and is now heading her own research group at Imperial College’s Chemistry Department where she investigates novel lignin materials. In 2015 she was awarded the President's award of excellence for outstanding early career researcher and in 2016 the Sir William Wakeham Award for having made a significant contribution to her research field.

Artun has worked in sourcing and evaluating early-stage technology and engineering investments since 2016. He focuses on novel chemicals and materials, clean tech and engineering sectors. He represents IP Group on the board of Lixea. Previously, Artun has worked in Technology Transfer and IP management at Imperial Innovations, where he identified, protected and managed intellectual property from Imperial College London and has assisted various commercial deals. Artun holds a PhD in Applied Biotechnology from the University of Westminster, UK.