Harrison Steel is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, fellow of Harris Manchester College, and Co-director of the Synthetic Biology Centre for Doctoral Training. His work is at the interface of control engineering, synthetic biology, and robotics, building technologies that combine electronic and biological components applies to address scientific questions as well as industrial and environmental applications. He is also founder of a Bioreactor platform venture Chi.Bio used widely in academia and biotechnology start-ups, and is science advisor to several start-ups in areas including biomanufacturing, environmental remediation, and development of new biomedical therapeutics.