Mika Shiramizu

Mika received BS in chemistry at University of Tokyo and PhD in chemistry at University of California Berkeley. During her PhD, her focus was on the conversion of cellulosic biomass to chemicals using homogeneous deoxygenation catalyst. This study was conducted entirely in Energy Biosciences Institute, a multi-disciplinary bioenergy research center between BP, University of California Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

During this time, she also had an opportunity to work at BASF Renewable Chemicals R&D group in Germany as an intern.

Upon graduation from Berkeley, Mika worked for ExxonMobil for 10 years as R&D chemist in Houston, TX. Her expertise includes biomass-to-chemicals, heterogeneous catalysts, chemical product development and carbon capture storage (CCS).

In July 2023, Mika joined Evonik as Director of RDI (Research, Development and Innovation). She focuses on innovation management / technology scouting for sustainability topics such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), clean hydrogen, plastic recycling, biomass-to-chemicals in North America.