Spotlight on…. Antonio López
It is starting to feel like Winter, which is a good time to spotlight another integral member of the AlphaBio Team, exploring their position in the company, their motivation and a quick peep into their lives outside working hours. All in four questions!
This month we caught up with Dr Antonio López:
Q1 How would you introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Antonio López, and I am the Market and Technical Development Manager for AlphaBio Control.
I was born in Toledo to the south of Madrid in Spain but lived in various parts of Spain until my family settled in Lérida (also known as Lleida) to the west of Barcelona. I studied agronomy there before starting my career at a cooperative fruit producer where I introduced integrated pest management (IPM) to the organisation. Installing monitoring stations to monitor both pest and beneficial insects started my fascination with biocontrol in food production!
I moved to an established Swiss pesticide company, Ciba-Geigy to do research and development field trials which gave me the opportunity to spend some time at their headquarters in Basle where I was Product Manager for vegetables.
I spent a short while back in Spain as a Technical fungicide Manager in Barcelona, but, with the merger to form Novartis, I was back in Basle as a Technical Manager for Bion, a new technology that did not control plant pests or diseases but activated plant defences to control the problem themselves. This was a great opportunity to travel to understand how such a product fitted into IPM strategies around the world.
Upon another merger to form Syngenta, I moved to Madrid as Head of Research and Development where I also studied for my PhD in Entomology (and IPM of course!) at the university.
I decided it was time for a change and after a couple of technical support and product development roles outside of Syngenta, I joined AlphaBio in February 2023.
Q2 What does your role in AlphaBio entail?
My role in the Market and Technical Development Team at AlphaBio involves supporting our partners and customers with our current products, especially FLiPPER®. With direct contact to our partners’ technical and commercial teams, I am involved in positioning the products in the market place (what crops, what pests) and solving problems as they arise. This position covers much of the Mediterranean except for France and Italy.
I am also involved with development trials for new products such as our new fungicide, ABP590, and development trials for our current portfolio of FLiPPER® and MiSSiTO® to extend where and on what these products can be used.
Q3 What do you like about working for AlphaBio?
My role being close to the markets actors and customers takes me out of my comfort zone which is always a good thing. Although I have had some experience with biologicals, and of course how they can play a big part in integrated pest management, my work with AlphaBio has given me a different perspective on their role. I like the culture in which if a product needs time to fine-tune how best to use it, we can spend that time.
The company is small in terms of numbers of people, but there is a great atmosphere and I am enjoying working with like-minded colleagues, who are always willing to help each other, an option that is not always there in bigger companies.
Q4 Finally, what do you like to do outside of work?
I have two children, a daughter living in Berlin and a son in the Netherlands.
I enjoy riding my mountain bike but as a result of a number of accidents, I have had to tone down how extreme those rides are. Complementing this, I love swimming and try to swim at least 2.5km three or four times a week, and enjoying swimming in the sea when I can.
At home, I play the clarinet and when not playing, I enjoy listening to jazz and electronic music, especially that of Max Richter. Oh, and adding to my collection of cacti!
Antonio was talking with Julian Little. Want to know more about Antonio and other members of #TeamAlphaBio? Then take a look at The Team page on our new website.