Junior Chemical Engineer with Techno-Economic Assessment Skills

Do you want to support sustainable therapeutics production worldwide?

If you are motivated towards guiding innovation by quantifying economic & environmental impacts and you are looking for an opportunity, where you can unfold your skills to support a viable bio-based alternative, you have it right here.

As an internationally reputed elite university, DTU is at the forefront of innovation related to 'the sustainable transition'. At the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain), we are specifically looking for new ways to support the sustainable production of bio-chemicals, and that is why we need you and all of your good skills across techno-economic assessment and process modeling.

The project is aimed towards guiding fundamental research to commercially viable technologies that will contribute towards sustainable production of plant-derived active pharmaceutical ingredients. Please note that the position is a time-limited projects assignment (MIAMi, This project has received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Grant agreement No 814645).

Guide innovation by assessing technical and economic viability of projects
Your job is to support the vision of sustainable production of anti-cancer drugs via fermentation in yeast. You will do so by designing and developing strategies for innovation, to guide the R&D activities for the MIAMi consortia. Specifically, you will be responsible to evaluate economic viability of technologies at various stages of development to screen and subsequently, optimize these to address the needs of market and requirements from stakeholders.

Your primary tasks will be to:

• Work with project partners to get costing information.
• Provide recommendations with respect to improving process viability (upstream and downstream).
• Being one of the key persons, in assessing the economics of the process, it is expected of you to calculate economic impacts, based on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
• You will be responsible to develop process models in AspenPlus® and SuperPro® and maintain simulations during the development phases.
• Support risk management by running sensitivity analysis (Monte Carlo) to advise the prioritization of risk-mitigation activities.
• Manage projects and discussions with the strain engineers, pre-pilot plant and industrial stakeholders to understand bottlenecks and provide suggestions to circumvent potential hurdles.
• Integrate economic data with environmental impacts to guide projects by illustrating trade-offs and optimization potential.

Your ideas and inputs e.g. new methods, tools and analysis are highly welcomed.

Education in chemical engineering with sound understanding of thermodynamics
We are looking for a profile with the motivation and drive needed for making a difference that matters. As you will join a multidisciplinary team, you must bring a flexible and adaptable mindset. Additionally, you must like to create results via collaboration with people with different professional and cultural backgrounds. To succeed, it is also important that you thrive on making decisions based on limited information. Additionally, your CV comprises of:

• Education (masters or higher) as a chemical engineer.
• 2 or more years of hands-on experience (in Industrial, Pilot Plant or Bench-scale academic research) in performing Techno-Economic Assessment.
• Skilled in performing mass and energy balances, generating conceptual process configurations and performing simulations in AspenPlus® and SuperPro®.
• Track-record of generating thermodynamic parameters, collecting operational/experimental data and coupling it with process simulators to evaluate impacts of a scaled-up operation.
• Previous experience in integrating economic and environmental impacts will be highly advantageous.

Your New Team - Sustainable Innovation Office & Synthetic Biology Tools for Yeast
At DTU Biosustain, you will work in the Sustainable Innovation Office and collaborate with our colleagues in Synthetic Biology Tools for Yeast team. During the later stages you are expected to integrate the findings with the LCA experts in the MIAMi consortia. Our focus is to guide innovation at an early stage by assessing benefits (economic and environmental) of developed bio-based technologies. Our goal is to develop sustainable production of therapeutics that leads to commercial technology. Our work environment is informal and characterised by knowledge sharing, respect, trust and room for having a good time together - naturally balanced with creating tangible results. Now we are just looking forward to welcoming you to the team.

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union.

Application and contact
Please submit your online application no later than 10 July 2021 (Danish time). Applications must be submitted in English as one PDF file including CV, cover letter and diploma.

If you have any questions, you are very welcome to contact Sumesh Sukumara (Team Leader, Sustainable Innovation Office) via email at [email protected]

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain)
Recent progress in our ability to read and write genomic code, combined with advances in automation, analytics and data science, has fundamentally changed the scope and ambition of harnessing the potential of biological systems. Big data approaches and analysis of biological systems are key research instruments at the Center. DTU Biosustain utilizes these advances for microbial cell factory design to foster sustainable lifestyles in relation to three application areas: Sustainable Chemicals, Natural Products, and Microbial Foods.

Learn more at biosustain.dtu.dk

Technology for people DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That vision lives on today. DTU has 12,900 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk