Shiwen Zhuang

Shiwen's research centres on applying yeast and fermentation technology to real-world applications, with a focus on sustainability and product innovation in the food and beverage sectors.

• High-gravity fermentation for energy and water savings
• Yeast physiology associated with stress response and flavour biosynthesis
• Deployment of artificial intelligence for process optimisation
• Agri-food waste valorisation for circular economy
• Bioconversion of carbon dioxide to value-added products

Current projects:

• Impact of (Very) High Gravity Distilling Fermentation on the Characteristics of Distilled Products and Carbon Footprints (2023-2027; Funders: Diageo and Heriot-Watt Univerisity; Collaborator: University of Edinburgh (School of Informatics))
• From CO₂ to Food: Development of Microbial Biomass as a Novel Food Source (2024-2028; Funders: Albida Agriculture and Heriot-Watt University)

Completed projects:

• Guidance Manual: Responsible & Safe Handling of C1 Gases in Microbiology Laboratories (2022-2024; Funder: BBSRC | Carbon Recycling Network; Partner: Ingenza)

Dr Shiwen Zhuang has over 15 years of experience in fermentation development across both laboratory and industrial scales, including general and gas fermentation. He joined Heriot-Watt in 2022, as an Assistant Professor at The International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD). Prior to joining Heriot-Watt, he was a Senior Fermentation Scientist at Scotland's Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), where he worked with a diverse range of biotech companies and led a team of scientists to deliver fermentation scale-up projects and industrial training courses. Further, Shiwen worked as a Fermentation Engineer at Calysta Ltd. UK, a world leader in manufacturing sustainable single-cell protein by fermenting natural gas. Here he was a technical lead in optimising a demo-scale plant and oversaw the development of a gas fermentation laboratory including safety risk assessment, process commissioning and technology transfer.

Shiwen holds a Master's degree in Engineering and a PhD in Food Science (University of Nottingham, UK), followed by postdoctoral research at the Technical University of Denmark and Carlsberg Research Laboratory in Copenhagen.