A Career in Bioengineering

Dr. Devin Trudeau completed his HBSc in Molecular Genetics in 3 years at the University of Toronto (2009). He got into every grad school he applied for (including MIT and Caltech). He obtained his PhD in Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology before becoming a post-doctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science, working in one of the top labs in molecular evolution and protein engineering. He is now a world traveler, engineering proteins and metabolic pathways for bio-fuels and agriculture.

  1. What career path did you take to get to where you are now?

I graduated from University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelors degree in Molecular Genetics. I then completed my PhD in Bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology, working with Professor Frances Arnold, who pioneered directed evolution. My PhD work focused on engineering systems of enzymes for bio-fuels and biochemicals. I am currently working as a research fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, using synthetic biology to engineer plants that grow faster and more efficiently.

  1. What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?

The opportunity to travel the world while doing interesting and important science and engineering.

  1. What expertise do you offer?

I am an expert in protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology. My work is cross-disciplinary and international: in my PhD and post-doctoral research I have worked with scientists from US, Taiwan, Israel, Germany, and the UK, on projects with relevance on the scientific side to evolution and molecular genetics, and on the applied side to biofuels, biochemicals, agriculture, and chemical warfare.