Ian Shott, chief executive of pharmaceutical services company, Excelsyn, has become the 68th president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.
Shott succeeds Richard Darton, head of engineering science at Oxford University.
He said the IChemE would play a key role in the shift towards bio-based production of energy, transport fuels and chemicals.
"Accelerated evolution demands a bioscience revolution...Chemical engineers are now well placed to drive, deliver and indeed to enable the emergence of a sustainable industrial biotechnology (IB) agenda," he added.
"Successful IB needs a coming together of chemical science, bioscience and chemical engineering. Some of us already have a foot in all of these camps, but our Institution must embrace the challenge and seize the opportunities that the bioscience revolution presents."
Shott has held senior positions in the international pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries for more than 20 years and has worked in the UK, France, Switzerland and the US.
He was latterly president of RhodiaChirex's manufacturing division having previously held senior posts at Lonza and Zeneca.
Desmond King, ceo of Australian oil refining and marketing company, Caltex, is IChemE's new deputy president, David Shallcross, head of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at Australia's Melbourne University, has become qualifications vice president, and Martyn Poliakoff, research professor at Nottingham University, has been elected to the governing council.