Tim Schnabel

Originally from Germany, Dr. Tim Schnabel came to the US to study chemical engineering and economics at Stanford University (’15). Under the guidance of Professor James Swartz, he researched the biological production of hydrogen fuel from sunlight and received Stanford's Kennedy Thesis Prize, the highest university recognition for undergraduate research. Tim’s research also won the Mason Award and Firestone Medal, and his academic recognition include the President’s Award, Terman Engineering Award, and Tau Beta Pi – the National Engineering Honor Society, of which Dr. Schnabel served as President (CA G chapter) and Advisory Board Chair.

Following his early training in biotechnology, Tim pursued a MS ’17 and PhD ’21 in bioengineering at Sanford, advised by Professor Elizabeth Sattely. He was awarded a BioX Bowes Fellowship for interdisciplinary research. Dr. Schnabel’s PhD thesis titled "Engineering Ammonia Production in Free-Living Diazotrophs for Plant Fertilization" is published in two single-author papers (patents pending), one of which was featured on the cover of ACS Synthetic Biology. Tim was also a scholar (’19) of the highly competitive Accel Leadership Fellows, a program that accelerates entrepreneurship training of PhD candidates in engineering.

Transitioning through an “Entrepreneur in Training” Postdoc ’22 in the Stanford Bioengineering Department Chair’s lab, Professor Jennifer Cochran, Tim founded Switch Bioworks – the living fertilizer company. Switch Bioworks engineers symbiotic microbes to produce sustainable nitrogen fertilizer under the control of precise genetic circuits. The company is located in San Carlos, CA and has raised 7M dollars pre-seed. Dr. Schnabel serves as CEO and is on the Board of Directors.