Meet The Ecovia Renewables Team

Jeremy Minty, PhD, Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Jeremy Minty is a biotechnology entrepreneur dedicated to addressing the global problems of fossil fuel dependency and climate change. Jeremy co-founded Ecovia Renewables with the mission to develop and commercialize cost-effective routes for producing high-performing biobased ingredients and materials. He earned his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan under the direction of Dr. Xiaoxia “Nina” Lin.

Kousay Said, MBA, Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Kousay Said previously served as the Senior Vice President- Commercial and Strategy, at Leggett & Platt Automotive.  Prior to that, he was the President and CEO of GreenMantra Technologies, the Chief Commercial Officer of Sirrus, LLC, and Managing Director of Dow Solar Solutions.

Kousay studied mechanical engineering, holds an MBA from Oakland University, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Wharton.

Ryan Chittaro, MBA, Chief FinancialOfficer

Ryan Chittaro joined Ecovia’s team in May 2023.  He specializes in working with entrepreneurial, growth-oriented companies and has 20+ years of Finance and Corporate Strategy experience across a variety of industries. Ryan is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State as well as an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Chao Peng, PhD, Research Scientist — polymer Chemistry

Dr. Chao Peng is currently a Senior Research Scientist at Ecovia Renewables, focusing on the development of scalable chemistries and processing methods for the Ecovia Biopolymers products. Chao has a strong research background in polymer chemistry. Before joining Ecovia Renewables, Chao was a research assistant at the University of Akron and his research focused on the development of functionalized polyurethanes for antimicrobial applications. Chao graduated from the University of Akron with a Ph.D. degree in Polymer Science.

Eric Traub, Research Associate - Fermentation R&D

Mr. Eric Traub is a Research Associate in Fermentation R&D at Ecovia Renewables. Agrosciences performing research with filamentous actinobacteria in both High Throughput Strain Improvement and Systems Biology. While there, Eric gained valuable experience in conducting experiments around small scale fermentations and performing omics-related analysis of various strains. He has also worked with MSU Biotechnology Institute gaining experience in fermentation in both pilot-plant up and production scale. Eric received his Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from Saginaw Valley State University.

Elise Gregory, - Process and Operations Engineer

Ms. Elise Gregory is the newest member of Ecovia Renewables, joining us in August, 2024. Previously Elise had a critical role in taking a biotech startup from benchtop through pilot scale, on to production and acquisition. She provided engineering, data management, organization, and execution in all facets of production. She has experience with operations, purchasing, inventory, QA/QC, regulatory, and documentation. Elise holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan.