Michael Kent

Michael Kent earned his doctorate in chemical engineering and materials science from the University of Minnesota in 1990 and conducted post-doctoral research in neutron and X-ray scattering and polymer physics at the University of Paris VI and the Curie Institute from 1990-1992. From 1992 until his retirement in 2024 Michael was a research scientist at Sandia National laboratories. He also had an appointment as a staff scientist for 15 years at the Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI).

At Sandia National Labs Michael’s research topics included the interaction of proteins with lipid membrane with a specific focus on HIV Nef and the envelop protein of Dengue virus, adapting neutralizing antibodies to closely related virus types and subtypes through a combination of computational modeling and library screening, enzymology, and combining chemical and biological processes to convert biomass and waste plastics to fuels and chemicals. He has published > 80 scientific papers on these and other topics. He was an active member of the American Physical Society, the Biophysical Society, the American Chemical Society, and the Society for Industrial Microbiology.

Motivated by his interest in evidence for intelligent design, Michael developed and co-led a course in the Honors Program at the University of New Mexico titled "Origins: Science, Faith, and Philosophy" with Professor Harold Delaney of the Psychology Dept from 2002 - 2003. The course was offered for two semesters and received favorable reviews from the students that attended. However, the course was controversial in the minds of a small number of faculty members who protested to the University provost, and as a result the course was no longer allowed in the curriculum after 2003. Since 2003, Michael has led a quarterly discussion group on evidence for design in the universe near the campus of the University of New Mexico. The website for this group is www.ABQ-ID.org.

Archives

Life’s Informational Discontinuities: Where Unintelligent Processes Fail

_{Michael Kent
November 12, 2025}

Here's an experienced scientist who thinks YOU should have the power to settle the question of design in nature, not the scientific experts. Why? Because the majority of scientific authorities are committed scientific materialists, a view that hinders unbiased scientific inquiry by forbidding explanations outside the material realm. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with recently retired bio-scientist Dr. Michael Kent. In Part 2, Dr. Kent continues to unpack the scientific discoveries of the last century that have changed the debate over design in nature and made materialism an increasingly irrational view of the history of life and the universe. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

Don’t Let Scientific Elites Settle the Question of Design in Nature For You.

_{Michael Kent
November 10, 2025}

What you believe about the origin of life and the universe affects everything you do. So it's crucial that you decide for yourself whether the design that's evident in nature is the product of a designer or the outcome of a blind, unguided process. Today on ID The Future, retired bioscientist Dr. Michael Kent explains how we can take back important scientific decisions that belong to us and not to a scientific elite largely guided by materialist assumptions. Kent also reviews some of the top evidence for intelligent design, including the revolutionary discoveries that the universe had a beginning and is finely tuned for human life. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Look for Part 2 in a separate episode.