Research and ideas from the people advancing bioprocessing.

Dr. Sebastián Espinel Ríos (University College Dublin) introduces the Systems Engineering for Biotechnology group and the problem it is built around. Bioprocess optimization is still largely recipe-driven and open loop, so a golden batch gets locked in and cannot correct itself mid-run. He walks through the methods the group develops in response, including constraint-based and surrogate metabolic models, hybrid models that pair mechanistic knowledge with machine learning, soft sensors that reconstruct intracellular states where no hardware sensor exists, and reinforcement learning for decision policies under uncertainty. For process development, MSAT, and data science teams working on digital twins and advanced process control.