School of Purification

Ankur Solanki is a Bioprocess Applications Specialist at Solventum, focusing on separation and purification applications used in the biopharmaceutical industry. Using Solventum purification technologies, his current focus is replicating existing applications, developing and deploying new applications at local and global biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Prior to joining Solventum, he has worked in several bio/pharmaceutical companies such as Alkermes, Janssen Sciences and Merck Sharpe & Dohme. In his 7 years of work experience, Ankur has worked on numerous projects ranging from process design to process development to commercial manufacturing for various types of therapeutic proteins. Moreover, he has been involved in several technology transfer projects in start-up biopharmaceutical companies in Ireland. Ankur holds a MSc in Biotechnology from Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. His work focused on research to optimize the biologics manufacturing process for therapeutic proteins using mammalian cells.

Dr. Sophie Muczenski is an Application Engineering Specialist focusing on filtration in biopharmaceutical applications. She is located in Germany supporting customers in the Central Europe Region. The focus of her work is on replicating existing applications as well as developing new applications and deploying new technologies at biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Before joining Solventum, Sophie graduated at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart following her study of Biochemistry at the Martin-Luther-University Halle/Saale.

Jack is a Bioprocess Application Specialist in Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. With five years of biopharmaceutical and biotechnology experience predominantly as a process development engineer, through endeavours in consumer goods and start-up businesses, he is responsible for building new collaborative partnerships and advancing bioprocess applications from discovery to clinical and commercial manufacturing with key global industry leaders in EMEA, with a focus in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Lynne is an Application Engineering Specialist focused on Life Sciences in Solventum EMEA with 25 years of experience in purification and separation technologies. Lynne has collaborated with manufacturers of therapeutic proteins from discovery to commercial manufacture and supported numerous global transfer programmes. She has also lead a number of research collaborations and co-authored publications in biotherapeutics. Lynne holds a BSc in Biochemistry from Sunderland University and participated in the Modular Training for BioProcess Industries program at University College London (UCL).

Jennifer Heitkamp is an Advanced Application Development Specialist in the Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. With 40 years of experience, Jennifer is an expert in chromatographic methods for quantification, size exclusion, ion exchange (including for viral clearance), and hydrophobic interaction. Beginning her career at a contract research organization, she focused on developing test methods using solid phase extraction, liquid, gas, and thin layer chromatography. She then brought this knowledge to Solventum, joining the pharmaceutical division to aid in drug and metabolite pre-clinical and clinical sample preparation and analysis using solid phase extraction and LC-MS/MS. Most recently, she has focused on protein analysis with respect to monoclonal antibody production. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in Physical-Organic Chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Joris Van de Velde is a Senior Application Engineer in the Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. His responsibilities are focused on introducing and evaluating innovative purification technologies at biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies. He has supported customers in different global locations, including Belgium and Netherlands, San Francisco Bay Area and is currently located in the Boston area. Joris holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from KU Leuven University and a postgraduate degree in Marketing Management from EHSAL Management School in Belgium.

Jonathan Hester is a Division Scientist in the Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. He has a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in Polymer Science from M.I.T. Since 2000, he has had multiple technical roles at Solventum, ranging from basic technology development in Solventum's Corporate Research Laboratory to, most recently, product development in the Solventum Separation and Purification Sciences Division, where he works on the development of liquid separation solutions for biopharmaceutical processing. Jon is a co-inventor on 22 patent publications related to liquid separations materials, devices, and processes.

Matt Peters is a Biopharmaceutical Applications Specialist in the Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. Matt brings 19+ years of experience in filtration and separation along with an extensive background in analytical testing to his application support work. He gained a deep knowledge of Solventum's depth filtration and membrane filtration products as he developed and performed test methods. Matt then worked as a Senior Product Development Chemist for Solventum with emphasis on development of biopharmaceutical purification products. Most recently Matt was an Application Development Specialist responsible for developing the application launch data package for 3M™ Polisher ST. Matt received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Connecticut in 2003.

David Chau is a Global Bioprocess Application Specialist in the Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. He has over 15 years of research experience in the biotechnology industry where he earned his Ph.D at the University of Minnesota in Twin Cities. He is responsible for developing data packages and new product application for novel downstream technology. He also helps to support and drive collaborations with key industry leaders around the globe.

Sean is a Bioprocess Application Specialist in Solventum's Bioprocessing Portfolio. With over ten years of experience in the biotechnology industry, he has worked in many aspects of the biopharma business including R&D, product development, process development, analytical development and manufacturing, quality, and business development. Currently, he is responsible for product application and driving collaborations with key industry leaders around the globe, with a focus in the Southern California region.