Robert Nicol

Rob Nicol is director of the Technology Labs at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Under Rob’s guidance, the Technology Labs serve as an advanced R&D group within the institute integrating capabilities in molecular biology, bio-engineering, synthetic biology, microfluidics, bio-informatics, and industrial process design to meet the needs of the Broad community. Rob is also co-founder of the MIT-Broad Foundry for Synthetic Biology.

Rob joined the Whitehead Institute / MIT Center for Genome Research in 2001 to apply industrial process design to genome sequencing and directed the Sequencing Operations and Technology Development groups at the Broad for over 12 years, designing and implementing multiple generations of high-throughput DNA sequencing processes.

Earlier, as an MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Fellow, Rob worked on production line optimization for Raytheon’s AMRAAM missile and Boeing’s 777. Rob previously worked as a project manager for Fluor Corporation, where he managed multiple, large-scale petrochemical design and construction projects.

Rob received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston, and an M.S. in chemical engineering, M.B.A., and Ph.D. in engineering systems from MIT.