Black & Veatch ‘Experts on Demand’ Service to Offer Food & Beverage, Biotechnology and Bioenergy Expertise

Micro-consulting platform taps NextGen Ag experts to help clients drive sustainability across operations

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A growing global population and impacts from climate change are challenging the world’s food supply chain, making the future of food, beverage and agriculture sectors more exciting – or unknown. As organizations, engineers, investors and entrepreneurs work to drive sustainability and leverage new advances in biotechnology to ensure a more secure, sustainable food future, Black & Veatch, a global leader in sustainable infrastructure solutions, is expanding its Experts on Demand micro-consulting platform to include three notable experts from the company’s rapidly growing NextGen Ag business.

Dr. Kris Chatrathi, David Ziskind and Joerg Blischke bring decades of experience working with Food & Beverage (F&B) industry leaders to Black & Veatch’s Experts on Demand micro-consulting service. Their expertise strengthens the range of expertise available to participants across the F&B value chain as they grapple with rapid global transformation across consumer products, food production and agriculture.

“The influx of individuals and companies wanting to leverage biotechnology to address global food security provided a perfect opportunity to connect with dynamic industry experts such as Dr. Chatrathi, Ziskind and Blischke,” said Roy Johnson, business strategist with Black & Veatch’s NextGen Ag business.

Designed specifically to address client needs in a nimble, agile manner, Experts on Demand offers businesses targeted access to a global network of thousands of professionals, all with deep experience and expertise across the full spectrum of engineering and consulting services. Experts on Demand does not require a long-term contract or consulting engagement; rather, the platform is focused on immediate return on investment – when and where it’s needed.

• Dr. Kris Chatrathi, Lead Process Engineer, heads up the NextGen Ag bioprocess team. With more than 35 years’ experience across the pharmaceutical, food, chemical and fuel industries, Chatrathi bridges the gap between science, engineering, and commercialization. He has helped clients, including cell-based agriculture companies, scale their operations from laboratory to pilot and pilot to commercial. His experience encompasses all aspects of bioprocessing including bioreactor scale up, downstream unit operations and process utilities.
• David Ziskind, Director of Engineering, leads the NextGen Ag project management and engineering teams. Ziskind has more than 15 years’ experience in manufacturing design, engineering, and construction, and specializes in risk mitigation of high risk and fast-track projects. His expertise is focused in the food and beverage verticals, particularly alternative proteins, with clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
• Joerg Blischke, Organics Management Specialist, has two decades of experience in process engineering services in organics management, with specialties in pretreatment, anaerobic digestion and co-digestion, composting and biogas utilization. He was involved with the design and construction of the two of the largest municipal organic waste digestion facilities in North America and his expertise is in circular economy and sustainable agriculture solutions.

“Clients are increasingly looking for help solving problems at a faster pace, with lower budgets and shorter delivery times,” Johnson said. “Our established Experts on Demand platform provides the opportunity to easily connect these experts with those stakeholders looking to make a difference.”

Editor’s Notes:

1. Join NextGen Ag’s David Ziskind at this year’s virtual 2020 SynBioBeta Conference, The Global Synthetic Biology Summit, where he will be speaking on Considerations for Commercializing your Emerging SynBio Innovation on October 1, 2020 EST.
2. Learn more about Black & Veatch Experts on Demand.
3. Learn more about Black & Veatch NextGen Ag.

About Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries by addressing the resilience and reliability of our world's most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2019 were US$3.7 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.