Tae Seok Moon
Tae Seok Moon of The Engineering Biology Research Consortium Receives AIChE's 2022 Langer Prize Fellowship
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) will present its 2022 Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence to Tae Seok Moon, Council Member of The Engineering Biology Research Consortium — a non-profit, public-private community dedicated to advancing engineering biology to address global needs. The fellowship — which is endowed by the AIChE Foundation and administered by AIChE’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneuring Excellence — is named for biomedical pioneer Robert Langer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Langer Prize awards an unrestricted grant of up to $100,000 to enable creative researchers and engineering entrepreneurs in their early careers to pursue potentially game-changing innovations with transformative societal impact.
Dr. Moon — who is being recognized for his use of microbial engineering techniques to up-cycle waste plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for new products — will receive the Langer Prize and present an associated lecture on November 14 during the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting, to be held November 13–18 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Tae Seok Moon is applying his expertise in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology to better understand gene regulation, evolution, and metabolism — with a vision of transforming biology research from an “observation” approach to a “synthesis-based engineering” activity, in order to address energy, environmental, and health care needs. He has documented his work in more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and 10 patents, and he has given hundreds of invited lectures and presentations. In addition to being founder and Head of the Scientific Advisory Board of Moonshot Bio, Moon is the founding chair and organizer of the Synthetic Biology Young Speaker Series — a weekly, multi-year seminar series in which a global thought leader, a synthetic biology pioneer, and a rising star discuss synthetic biology, systems biology, and metabolic engineering with a global audience of more than 1,000 people.
Moon earned his BS and MS degrees in engineering at Seoul National University in South Korea, and his PhD in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Information about the 2022 Langer Fellow, previous Langer Fellows, and the application process is available at www.aiche.org/langerprizes. The deadline for 2023 fellowship applications is February 15, 2023.
To learn about the endowment campaign for the Langer Prize, contact Lisa Lanzkowsky at lisal@aiche.org.
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About AIChE: AIChE is a professional society of more than 60,000 members in more than 110 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at www.aiche.org.