He received his PhD in 2005 at Stanford University. After completing postdoctoral studies as an NSF International Research Fellow at the Center for Microbial Biotechnology in Denmark and as an NIH Pathway to Independence Fellow at the Harvard Medical School, he joined Northwestern in 2009. Mike is developing cell-free biology as an enabling technology for biomanufacturing lifesaving therapeutics, sustainable chemicals, and novel materials, both quickly and on-demand. He focuses on designing, constructing, and modifying biological systems involved in protein synthesis and metabolism, with promise to advance new paradigms for synthetic biology. In 2011, he was honored with a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, the DARPA Young Faculty Award, and the Agilent Early Career Professor Award.