Name and Surname: Elodie Vlaeminck
Organization: Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant
Major Fields of Research/Activity: Downstream Processing, Bioprocess scale-up, Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)
- What is your role in the YAF team at your organization? What are you currently working on within the scope of YAF?
As Team Leader Research at BBEPP, I supervise Marta’s doctoral research on downstream processing for yeast-based sustainable aviation fuels, bringing lab research to with scalable bioprocess innovations.
- Why do you think the YAF research is important for your career development and how it will impact the society?
YAF allows me to contribute to one of today’s key challenges: turning biotechnology into real climate solutions. It strengthens my role as a research group leader while advancing sustainable aviation and the bioeconomy.
- What or who inspired you to go into academia/research?
My fascination for biotechnology started early, inspired by my mother, who worked as a lab assistant and introduced me to the invisible power of microbes. Later, my microbiology professor at Ghent University, now also my CEO at BBEPP, showed me how science can become impact.
- For you, what is most challenging and/or exciting about your work in YAF?
For me, the excitement lies in connecting disciplines with an open mind: from yeast biology to process design, from doctoral research to industrial relevance, and from small experiments to big societal impact.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” – Winston Churchill
- Where can we find you after work? Doing what?
You may find me cycling, doing yoga, going out for dinner, travelling with friends and family, or simply at home, enjoying my newest adventure: motherhood.