Dr. David Block holds a joint appointment in the Department of Viticulture and Enology, and Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at UC Davis. His research has spanned myriad topics including development of fermentation datamining, modeling, and optimization methods; metabolic engineering of yeast and lactic acid bacteria for improved biofuel and recombinant protein production; and catalytic conversion of agricultural waste streams into fuels and value-added chemicals. He has received multiple awards for his teaching, including an award from the Northern California American Institute of Chemical Engineers for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Teaching, as well as a Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate. Prior to joining UC Davis, he worked for Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. in Nutley, N.J., where he was in charge of fermentation process development groups, as well as designing and operating process control systems for new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. Block holds a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, both in chemical engineering.