Welcome

Hi all,
On behalf of the entire organizing committee, I welcome you to the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. This year’s meeting will take place August 2nd – 5th at the Austin Marriott Downtown. In honor of the unofficial motto of our host city of Austin “Keep Austin Weird”, we will delve into many aspects of the wonderful and sometimes weird world of Microbiology. Building on the first 75 years of SIMB, we now look to the future.

Sunday afternoon we will kick things off with a networking gathering for students, postdocs, and early career scientists. We will then get a glimpse into the world of AI with a keynote address by Matthew Thompson, VP of Industrial Biotech for Biomatter entitled “Reimagine enzymes for biomanufacturing with Intelligent Architecture TM”. Immediately following the keynote address, we will have our SIMB student session, which gives a select number of students a platform to present their work. We will round out Sunday with rapid fire poster presentations in our Science Slam and our poster session and welcome reception.

Monday through Wednesday promises an exceptional lineup of speakers, engaging sessions, and valuable networking opportunities. The technical program highlights our five core (and updated for 2026!) topic areas of Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering, Fermentation and Biomanufacturing, Microbiomes and Environmental Microbiology, Metabolic Engineering, and Natural Products. We will also have special sessions on the use of AI in the biological sciences, a session highlighting our partner organizations, and a session on taking bench top research to commercialization. Our invited speakers, who are leaders from all areas of our field, will share their latest results, breakthroughs, and visions for the future of microbiology.

On Tuesday morning you will have a chance to participate in our Annual 5k Fun Run/Walk sponsored by the Frances Templeton Fund bright and early before our sessions begin. After an exciting set of sessions in the morning, Tuesday afternoon we will offer a free afternoon to provide you with a chance to meet with friends and collaborators alike, catch up on work, or to explore the city of Austin. Make sure you also do not miss our annual banquet where we will celebrate past and current accomplishments and look to the future of SIMB and the field of microbiology.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to actively participate in the meeting, engage with your peers, and take advantage of the diverse variety of sessions offered. The respectful contribution to discussions of all our participants, and enriching interactions with fellow participants will greatly enhance the experience for everyone attending the meeting. Again, on behalf of myself and the entire organizing committee, thank you for joining us. We look forward to a productive and memorable 76th annual meeting and look forward to what the future of SIMB and microbiology will be.

Jennifer R. Headman
POET