Konstantinos has a PhD in Mechanistic Biology from the University of York and a Masters in Biological Sciences from the University of Sheffield. During his PhD, Kon has worked on the bacterial transport of plant sugars to optimize the uptake and utilization of thereof to increase biofuel production in bacterial chassis. Before joining NNFCC, he untertook a PostDoc position which involved studying and characterizing the novel interaction between thin and thick filaments in the flight muscle of Lethocerus bug.
Kon is currently working on the BeonNAT project which assesses the of use marginal lands in Europe to source forest biomass and products based on new bio-based value chains. The work involves data analysis with regards to assessing the sustainability of the chosen forest land. Further, he is involved in performing market analysis which involves reviewing the relevant literature and conducting interviews with the stakeholders to assess the commercial viability of the relevant products. The collected data and information will be used to compile a business plan.
He is also partly involved onthe WASTE2FUNC project which is an EU funded project through BBI-JTU. The project is focused on producing biosurfactants and biobased lactic acid from 2nd generation biomass and waste. Kon will undertake market research for the lactic acid and biosurfactants to assist in the development of business models. The latter assessment will also include costing of the technology and feedstocks to define selling prices for both products. Further, he is involved in performing market analysis which includes