Welcome to the website of Urna Vitae LLC, my one-person company specializing in consulting for the bioprocessing and biorefining industries. I provide a range of services and can assist clients with process development and evaluation using detailed process simulation models to compare capital and operating costs for alternative designs. I also have extensive experience with technology transfer, manufacturing plant design and process automation. I can assist clients in selecting and working with a consulting engineering company to design a new manufacturing plant. I may also be able to help troubleshoot and improve an existing process.
Below I’ve highlighted some of my capabilities and the menu provides a more complete list of capabilities with links to more information and project lists. Feel free to contact me if you think I might be able to help you with a project or would like to learn more about my experience and expertise.
— Michael Rouse
Downloadable qualifications document
Manufacturing Plant Design
My manufacturing experience includes industrial fermentation and biopharmaceutical manufacturing and I have been a lead process engineer or a consultant for half a dozen $100 million plus new or expanded manufacturing plant design projects. My plant design experience includes corn biorefineries and fermentation plants to produce fine chemicals, biopesticides, plant growth regulators and biofuels. Engineering companies don’t always have process engineers with my depth of experience in life sciences, bioprocessing and biorefining. As a consultant with both process development and plant design experience, I help clients bridge the gap between their technical people and the consulting engineers.
Process Simulation Modeling
Process simulation modeling is a powerful tool, especially if used early in the development of a process. In my work, I use the SuperPro Designer® modeling software specifically designed for modeling batch bioprocesses. Models developed with this software can simulate the chemical and biochemical reactions of the process. They can also size and cost all required equipment for a new process, including providing a total installed cost estimate. These models will also estimate all operating costs for raw materials, utilities, labor, consumables, maintenance, testing and waste treatment and disposal. This allows for alternative process designs to be quickly evaluated in silico to aid in reducing overall manufacturing costs.
Horticulture & Plant Biotechnology
My bioprocessing experience, combined with my lifelong interest in horticulture, has lead to a number of projects related to both areas. These include work with photosynthetic bioprocesses, plant tissue culture and the design of research and development facilities for plant protection products.
More about my horticulture and plant biotechnology experience….