Ramon Gonzalez named AIMBE Fellow

BY PATRICK KURP

Ramon Gonzalez, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of bioengineering and founding director of Rice’s iBIO initiative, has been inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.

Ramon Gonzalez

He is one of 157 new fellows elected this year by peers and members of the college for his “outstanding contributions to the fields of metabolic engineering and industrial biomanufacturing.”

AIMBE is an organization of leaders in medical and biological engineering that consists of academic, industrial, professional society councils and elected fellows who communicate with and respond to U.S. and state government agencies and lawmakers to advocate science and contribute to policymaking that benefits the public.

Gonzalez earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Chile in 2001 and joined the Rice faculty in 2005. Research in his Laboratory for Metabolic Engineering and Biomanufacturing focuses on development of biological platforms for the sustainable production of chemicals and fuels.

Gonzalez is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, and from 2012 to 2015 served as program director with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a member of the editorial boards of Science, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Biotechnology Journal, Metabolic Engineering Communications, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, and Food Biotechnology.

Gonzalez was formally inducted into AIMBE during its annual meeting at the National Academy of Sciences April 9 in Washington, D.C.

–Patrick Kurp is a science writer in the George R. Brown School of Engineering.