Kristala L. Jones Prather, Arthur D. Little Professor & Department Head
Department of Chemical Engineering
MIT

Towards sustainabile, bio-source polymers

Polymeric materials are a key innovation that has greatly impacted our society, yet their production presents challenges from beginning to end:  materials synthesis overwhelmingly originates from fossil-derived feedstocks and incurs high energy use, while the end products accumulate in the environment and are harmful to ecosystems. We have taken a collaborative approach to addressing this challenging by seeking to design biodegradable materials that can be produced from bio-derived monomers.  This talk will describe opportunities and obstacles for both synthesis and biodegradation.

BIO: Kristala L.J. Prather is the Arthur D. Little Professor and Department Head in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. She received an S.B. degree from MIT in 1994 and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1999), and worked 4 years in BioProcess Research and Development at the Merck Research Labs prior to joining the faculty of MIT.  Her research interests are centered on the design and assembly of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules, with additional efforts in novel bioprocess design approaches.  Prather’s honors include the Charles Thom Award of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (2017), the Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE, 2021), and the Marvin J. Johnson Award (BIOT Division, American Chemical Society, 2024).  Additional honors include selection as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2014-2015), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2018), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE; 2020), and AIChE (2020), and election to the National Academy of Engineering (2025).