Kevin Solomon

Dr. Kevin Solomon is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering at Purdue University. He leads the Solomon Lab, focusing on systems and synthetic biology to develop sustainable microbial processes for biofuels, value-added chemicals, and therapeutics. His research integrates metabolic engineering, protein engineering, and '-omics' approaches to advance biotechnology.

Dr. Solomon earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and conducted postdoctoral research at UC Santa Barbara. His work has been recognized with awards including the Lemelson Presidential Fellowship and the NSERC Julie Payette Award. His lab explores applications such as plastics degradation, nanomaterial synthesis, and vaccine development using engineered viruses and anaerobic fungi.

Research areas include microbial community engineering for polyolefin degradation, prokaryotic Argonautes for gene editing, and viral-based nanoparticle platforms. He collaborates on projects like biological upcycling of plastics and developing tools for anaerobic fungi as bioprocessing platforms.

Dr. Solomon's lab is part of the College of Engineering, leveraging facilities like the Discovery Park and LORRE Center. He mentors students and postdocs at the interface of engineering and biology, emphasizing sustainability and translational research.