SPEAKER:  Charles C. Steward, PhD, is Vice President of Research & Development for Takasago International Corporation (USA) leading the R&D, FR Applications, and Innovations team. He has been with Takasago since 2007. His focus is to enhance fragrances and flavors in consumer applications. He has held similar positions at International Flavors and Fragrances and Givaudan Fragrances. He began his industry career in 1996 working at Reckitt Benckiser on product development for global brands. Steward has worked on scientific research, consumer product development, fragrance and flavor applications, and technology. He was an academic Research Associate of the University of Tennessee Center for Environmental Biotechnology. He holds a BS from Furman University and a PhD in biological sciences specialized in microbiology and biochemistry from the University of South Carolina.