Kevin Solomon is an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Delaware
Kevin spoke to us on May 10th 2022. Kevin’s research group at the University of Delaware is looking to engineer organisms that are “near neighbors” to ones that might address persistent global challenges like plastic waste and sustainable fuel production. A recent project in his lab applies synthetic and systems biology to mealworms, which already have a collection of gut microbes that can digest plastics. Prior to starting his own lab, Kevin, originally from Canada and an undergrad at McGill, was at MIT earning his PhD in the early days of synthetic biology, and did his post-doctoral fellowship in systems biology at UC Santa Barbara.
It was a college mentor who opened his lab and encouraged Kevin to apply to top tier graduate schools. As a result Kevin is a very strong advocate for student research and accepts any and all students as long as they are highly motivated. He estimates he’s mentored almost 80 students in the last 7 years.