Our Founders
DirectSens Founders
DirectSens was founded by five graduates of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU). During their previous scientific career with intensive research in the fields of enzymology and biosensors, the founders became aware of promising innovations that were never commercially exploited. The patented research results on the enzyme cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) and its possible commercial use in biosensors for the analysis of carbohydrates showed so much potential that the DirectSens team took the initiative themselves.
Christoph Sygmund, PhD
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO
During his academic career at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Christoph Sygmund gained experience in the field of biotechnology and microbiology. He graduated with a Master’s degree in 2003 and a Ph.D. in 2008. During his postdoctoral research, he applied his expertise in protein engineering to the optimization of biocatalysts for industrial biotechnological processes. In 2013, Christoph Sygmund was a founding member of DirectSens and leads the company as managing director.
Roman Kittl, PhD
CO-FOUNDER AND COO
Roman Kittl is a graduate of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, and holds a master’s degree in food science and biotechnology and a PhD in biotechnology and biochemistry. After several postdoctoral research projects, including an Erwin Schroedinger Fellowship project at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, he led two basic research projects funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). His enthusiasm for entrepreneurship led him to move from academia to DirectSens. He is now part of the DirectSens management team as COO.
Dr. Alfons Felice
CO-FOUNDER AND CTO
Already during his bachelor studies in biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Alfons Felice was drawn into the field of bioelectrochemistry and became part of DirectSens’ development team 2009. Finalizing his studies, he has been involved in basic research and eventually earned a PhD in biochemistry and bioelectrochemistry as a Fellow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and Canada. In 2015, he joined the DirectSens management team as CTO and since then has been driving the commercialization of the technology platform.
Wolfgang Harreither, PhD
CO-FOUNDER
Wolfgang studied food and biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. During his diploma thesis he started basic research of DirectSens technology under the supervision of Roland Ludwig and Lo Gorton (Lund University, Sveden). Inspired by these exciting results, he continued working on this topic in the groups of Roland Ludwig and Lo Gorton during his PhD thesis. During two postdoctoral positions he deepened his knowledge in molecular modeling (Austrian Center of Industrial Biotechnology, ACIB GmbH) and electrochemistry (Prof. Ewing, University of Gothenburg). He then worked for a private company as a project manager in the R&D department dealing with the development and approval of medical devices. In 2018, he moved to Nourivit Technologies GmbH and leads it as Managing Director.
Roland Ludwig, PhD
CO-FOUNDER
Roland Ludwig, a native of Vienna, received his PhD in biochemistry and biotechnology from BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, in 2004. He worked for five years as a researcher and project leader on the development of industrial biocatalytic processes at the Applied Biocatalysis Research Center (now: ACIB – Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology). In 2009, he received an APART grant from the Austrian Academy of Sciences to research electron transfer reactions of redox enzymes at Lund University, Sweden. He came back to BOKU in 2011 and habilitated in 2015, currently leading a research group working on biosensors and biocatalysis.