Directing Synthetic Biology To Create Carbon Recycling Technology

Michael Köpke has spent more than a decade working for LanzaTech to create carbon recycling technology that could reduce emissions and make new products for a circular carbon economy. As the company has grown, so too have Köpke's responsibilities. 

When he joined LanzaTech in 2009, the company was four years old and based in New Zealand, where he worked as a research scientist. Today, LanzaTech is headquartered in Skokie, Illinois, a 10-minute drive from Northwestern University, and was recently named a Chicago Innovation Award recipient for its cutting-edge technology. Köpke is the Director of Synthetic Biology, and he also serves on the Industrial Advisory Board for Northwestern's Master of Biotechnology program (MBP).

"LanzaTech has developed a gas fermentation technology that converts waste gases into fuels and chemicals using a proprietary microbial strain," Köpke said. "As Director of Synthetic Biology, I am responsible for a team of around 20 researchers responsible for advancing LanzaTech’s strain engineering platform and carry out the development of optimized microbial strains for improved performance and expand the product portfolio that can be produced."

The technology Köpke mentioned allows LanzaTech to convert carbon gases into ethanol (which can be further upgraded to aviation fuels) or directly into a range of other products, like key chemical building blocks or synthetic materials. As the LanzaTech website states, "Imagine a day when your plane is powered by recycled GHG emissions or when your yoga pants started life as pollution from a steel mill." LanzaTech's technology could make that possible.

LanzaTech's technology was implemented at a commercial plant in China in May 2018, and since then, the plant has produced more than 10 million gallons of ethanol from recycled steel mill emissions.

According to Köpke, one of the keys to the company's growth is the diverse skill set of its employees, who require expertise in biology, chemistry, computer science, and engineering. Those are all subjects taught within MBP at Northwestern.

"MBP students are really well trained," he said. "What sets this program apart is students have really good theoretical training. Students develop a broad skill set from this program that enables them to hit the ground running with the possibility to quickly make an impact on a company."