Solano Biotech Educators

Meet the Solano Community College Biotech Faculty:

Jim DeKloe

Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology

Jim DeKloe, Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, serves as the director and founder of the Industrial Biotechnology program at Solano College. In the past, he served as the regional director of the Southwest Region of Bio-Link, the nationwide consortium of community and technical colleges that teach biotech. On sabbatical he worked in the manufacturing department of biotech pioneer Genentech Inc. He also served as a consultant to help biotech giant Amgen redesign the training programs for their biomanufacturing technicians and for their quality assurance associates. He currently serves on the advisory committee for the Explorer Education Division of BioRad, and on the advisory committees of multiple college and high school biotechnology programs. In 2000, the Association of Community College Trustees chose Jim as the Distinguished Faculty Member of the Pacific Region which includes the Western United States and Canada, Hawaii Alaska and Guam. In 2011 Solano College faculty chose Jim as the Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year. In 2015, he became a finalist for the Award of Excellence for Faculty Innovation by the American Association of Community Colleges.

Ed Re

Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology

Ed Re, Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, has taught biotechnology at Solano College since 2004. Dr. Re earned his PhD and B.S from the University of California, Davis. Before joining the faculty of Solano College, he worked as a scientist at Novozyme and developed industrial enzymes that are important in the production of biofuels. In 2015, he became a finalist for the Award of Excellence for Faculty Innovation by the American Association of Community Colleges.

Mike Silva

Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology

Mike Silva, Professor of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, is one of Solano’s own. After completing an AS from Solano College in 2008, Mike completed his undergraduate education at UC Santa Barbara and completed a Masters degree in Biotechnology from CSU Channel Islands. He conducted research at the City of Hope in Duarte, CA, and currently works in biomanufacturing at the Genentech Vacaville facility.

Victor Asemota

Professor of Chemistry and Biotechnology

Victor Asemota, Professor of Chemistry and Biotechnology, taught in the Industrial Biotechnology Intensive Summer program. Dr. Asemota earned an MD from the St. Matthews School of Medicine (Cayman Islands), an MBA specializing in Health Care Medicine from Davenport University (Michigan), and a Masters of Science in Chemistry from CSU East Bay. He earned his B.S. in Biology (Zoology) from the University of Benin in Nigeria. He has extensive industrial experience, having worked in manufacturing (protein purification) at Genentech South San Francisco and also having worked at XOMA in Berkeley as a coordinator of technical training and a cGMP trainer.

Jennifer Low

Laboratory Technician

Jennifer Low, the laboratory technician in charge of the biotechnology laboratory on the Solano College main campus, has served as the lab director for a decade. Jennifer earned a Bachelors degree in food science from UC Davis. In 2015 she received the Classified Employee of the Year award at Solano College.

Christine Kucala

Laboratory Technician

Christine Kucala, laboratory technician in charge of the laboratories on Solano College’s Vacaville Center has worked at Solano College for over six years. She earned a Chemistry degree from St. Louis University and a Masters of Business Administration. She has extensive industry experience. She worked for Anheuser-Busch for 15 years full time and 6 years part time, working in the analytical labs, in the research pilot brewery, as a group manager of the Brewing Department, and as the Quality Assurance group manager. She also has experience in the wine industry as a quality manager overseeing Robert Montavi, Franciscan, Simi, and Ravenswood wineries. She works part time in the laboratory of the Solano County Public Health department performing tests to assure the quality of drinking water. In 2007 her peers chose her as Classified Employee of the Year award for Solano College.

Irene Camins

Laboratory Technician

Irene Camins, laboratory technician in charge of the laboratories on the campus of Solano College’s Vallejo Center. He completed a Masters degree, and has worked in a variety of positions for a variety of companies in the biotechnology industry, including Cetus, the pioneering Bay Area biotech company.

It has become part of the accepted wisdom to say that the twentieth century was the century of physics and the twenty-first century will be the century of biology. -Freeman Dyson