Karl Kiser

Curriculum Vitae

Summary

Co-inventor on aerial mycelium cultivation IP and first author on three peer-reviewed papers. I design and build custom sensors and closed-loop control, develop cultivation processes, and transfer them to partner facilities in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands. I take direct control of partner lines during start-up and bring material to commercial spec. Earlier, first-author quantitative MRI research. Most of my work sits between lab experimentation, model-based analysis, and production.

Experience

Senior Scientist, Research Engineer

Ecovative Design, Green Island, NY

2022–2026

  • Co-inventor on patent application covering growth media compositions and environmental conditions for improved aerial mycelium cultivation
  • Process development for aerial mycelium production including media optimization, environmental programming, and growth condition tuning
  • Designed and built novel sensors for closed-loop system control: programmed microcontrollers, wired custom hardware, and integrated real-time sensing into the cultivation environment
  • Contributed to a cultivation platform tracking 25+ real-time environmental conditions, with model-based setpoint recommendations that operators accepted or overrode
  • Deployed on-site to domestic and international partner facilities (Netherlands, Canada, Pennsylvania) to transfer cultivation process, control systems, and operations training. Often assumed direct control of partner lines during start-up and troubleshooting
  • Facilitated conversion of a partner site from Agaricus mushroom production to full mycelium production within a year; built data pipelines integrating partner operations into internal models and brought material to commercial spec

Research Associate

Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Health & Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY

2019–2022

  • First-author publications in Scientific Reports, Tomography, and NMR in Biomedicine on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI methods
  • Designed and executed quantitative experiments on tumor treatment response using active contrast-encoding MRI
  • Developed methods for cellular water exchange measurement, pharmacokinetic parameter estimation, and image texture analysis
  • Presented research at ISMRM (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) annual meetings

Skills

Biomaterials & Cultivation

Aerial mycelium cultivation Fungal growth optimization Media design Substrate optimization Environmental programming Controlled-environment experimentation Pilot-scale process development

Quantitative & Analytical

Experimental design (DOE) Statistical analysis Pharmacokinetic modeling Image texture analysis Data-driven process optimization Reproducibility analysis

Instrumentation & Controls

Sensor development Microcontroller programming Hardware integration Closed-loop control Embedded systems Real-time data acquisition

Research & Communication

Scientific writing Peer-reviewed publication Patent documentation Conference presentation Cross-functional collaboration Technical translation

Education

Pitzer College, Claremont, CA

B.A. in Biophysics

2016