The University of Waikato in New Zealand recently held a poster contest for biotech student researchers. The theme of the contest was sustainable bioeconomy, indicating the importance attached both to sustainability as well as economic significance of the research programs.
The first prize winner was Ho Ying Yuen who was researching combining polymer with beeswax to use as a controlled release for drug delivery in animals. Pratik Trivedi was another winner who focused on researching the ageing of white bryony plant seeds. The plant is a hardy environmental weed whose seeds can lie dormant in the ground for a long time.
Both the above prize winners are students of Waikato University while another winner, Jamaine Fraser, works at Scion in Rotorua. She researched the design of marae seating using engineered biocomposite plastic.
There were 24 competitors whose research areas ranged from developing bioplastics to ageing wine. One of them had recently won an award at NZBio for his research into micro-organisms that could open the way to a sustainable way of turning woody waste into biofuel. His poster was about a “Wood Digesting Machine.”
Professor Doug Sutton, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University, opened the event by saying a key challenge in moving to a bioeconomy was to ensure that biotechnology developments were sustainable, taking into account economic, environmental, ethical/social and cultural perspectives.
Read the full report at Waikato University website.
