Pete Heinzelman

Two formative elements of my grade school years were viewing the dystopian film Soylent Green and seeing a family friend’s life slowly taken away by Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Pursuing a Chemical Engineering degree here at UW-Madison opened doors for me to go hard after what I chose as my top priority as a professional and person; developing biotechnological solutions to challenges in planetary well-being and aging medicine. This opportunity was furthered by protein engineering PhD studies at MIT and postdoctoral scholarship in the birthplace of protein directed evolution, the lab of Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold at Caltech.

These and subsequent experiences as a University professor, industrial biopharma scientist, and senior academic researcher have and continue to provide opportunities to pursue avenues for solving problems in climate welfare and AD while looking back at the associated outputs, i.e., six US patents and fifteen first author publications, provides perpetual motivation. Reflecting upon the postdoctoral experience that led to four cellulase enzyme-related papers, four US patents, and commercial licensing of cellulases that I’d developed is particularly inspiring. Although cellulosic biomass-to-fuel conversion did not ultimately realize its great potential, seeing proteins I’d created advance to industry energizes me by showing that well-framed big picture thinking and persistence in the lab can put a researcher on the cusp of having an impact in the real world. This silicase project similarly motivates by presenting another opportunity to hit a technology home run for our planet’s welfare.

Every night I ask what are the biggest things I can do to keep projects with which I’m involved moving forward tomorrow. Then the alarm goes off and I do them. I'll put this fire to work to provide Homeworld Collective with fulfilling returns on their support of our silicase engineering effort and appreciate your consideration of our funding request.

October 2023