Alexander Costantini is a recipient of the 2023-2024 North Carolina STEM Policy Fellowship. This program which started in 2020 provides North Carolina graduate students opportunities to participate in high-level state government offices concerned with policy regarding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Alex is hosted by the Department of Commerce in the Office of Science, Technology, and Innovation. His goal in this position is to drive technological and economic growth through innovation, as well as advance programmatic and policy objectives aimed at fostering and adopting new technologies in the state.

Alex is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Food Science from the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. His primary research focuses on developing management systems for novel yeast strains to be used in commercial fermentations. He is a member of the American Society of Brewing Chemists and recently presented his findings at their national conference. Alex’s experience with science policy comes from his studies on public health concerns in the food manufacturing industry and teaching assistantship at Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC). BTEC is a collaborative effort between Industry partners and NC State to provide training and courses pertinent to pharmaceutical manufacturing. Here, Alex was a teaching assistant for two years. Alex aided in courses related to FDA guidelines on bioreactor construction and current Good Manufacturing Practices. After being on the education side of policy, Alex is excited for the opportunity to engage policy and program development for the benefit of North Carolina residents.

Alex finished his B.S. in bioprocessing science with a minor in biomanufacturing from NC State University in 2021.  He and his significant other, Peyton, live in Raleigh with their two cats, Romulus and Remus. Alex can be reached by email at alexander.costantini@commerce.nc.gov, or by phone at 919-841-4763.