Dr Sean Simpson

Dr Sean Simpson is Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of LanzaTech, a company on the threshold of solving some of the biggest problems confronting the sustainable fuels industry today.

From start-up to a multinational company, Lanzatech has received numerous awards for its patented technology and recently attracted investments from Vinod Khosla, one of the world’s leading clean technology investors. In 2016, it made a breakthrough in aviation biofuel with its partner airline Virgin Atlantic. Dr Sean has encouraged the collaboration between biologists, fermentation specialists and engineers to develop the technology and consequently, the company has become a global leader in gas fermentation.

In 2011, Dr Sean won Young Biotechnologist of the Year Award was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year category winner. In addition, he received the US Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 2015 and the Sanitarium NZ Innovator of the Year Award 2014. Dr Sean is on the board of The ICEHOUSE business incubator.