News
October 24, 2008: Queensland Life Sciences Globally Engaging Event
Hosted by QCTN (Queenland Clinical Trials Network) in GoMA (the Gallery of Modern Arts). This event brought together a number of key North American, Asian and African life sciences leaders with scientists in Queensland. The guest speaker was The Honourable Peter Beattie - former Premier of Queensland and now Queensland's Trade Commissioner for The Americas.
AIBN representatives with Peter Beattie. From left: Claudia Vickers, Vanessa Sandford, Craig Belcher, Peter Beattie, Nick Timmins, Jens Krömer.
August 25, 2008: HA researcher wins Trailblazer competition
Esteban Marcellin was one of four winners in this year's UniQuest Trailblazer competition in recognition of his work on developing high molecular weight hyaluronic acid.
July 2008: Science to refine a cleaner chemical future
The University of Queensland, the Australian sugar industry and a Korean research force have teamed up with the goal of "greening" the global chemical industry.
The new Korea-Australia Bio-Product Alliance will aim to assist the $1.5 trillion chemical industry to switch its dependence from fossil fuels to renewable biomass.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh clinched the $5.4 million partnership last month by committing $1.4 million from the National and International Research Alliances Program.
May 2, 2008: Sweet taste of plastic success
BOSTON: Queensland’s sugar industry will get a boost today when an American industrial biotechnology company will sign a landmark agreement with a Queensland research centre to research and develop bioplastic directly in sugarcane.
Queensland Minister for State Development John Mickel will attend the signing of the agreement between Boston-based Metabolix Inc and the Cooperative Research Centre for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology, based at the University of Queensland.
(Article featured in the Courier Mail 1/5/08)
November 30, 2007: AIBN and Dow launch Research Alliance
The University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and The Dow Chemical Company today announced a research alliance combining AIBN’s research expertise with Dow’s market knowledge.
May 9, 2007: Queensland and US collaborate on research into turning sugar into bioplastic
BOSTON: Queensland’s sugar industry will get a boost today when an American industrial biotechnology company will sign a landmark agreement with a Queensland research centre to research and develop bioplastic directly in sugarcane.
Queensland Minister for State Development John Mickel will attend the signing of the agreement between Boston-based Metabolix Inc and the Cooperative Research Centre for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology, based at the University of Queensland.
April 2007: Sugar hit for “green” chemical industry
Seoul, South Korea: Australia may take a place in the front line of the global biochemical industry thanks to a new partnership between UQ's AIBN and a major South Korean academy.
UQ and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have teamed up to develop and patent the technology to convert sugar cane into “green” plastics and chemicals.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie witnessed the signing of a UQ-KAIST agreement in Seoul today.
UQ Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield, who signed the agreement, said that the $2000 billion global chemical industry was expected to shift from reliance on oil to reliance on biomass in coming decades.
“Researchers from AIBN and KAIST will aim to perfect the technology to use sugar cane instead of fossil fuel to manufacture plastics and chemicals,” Professor Greenfield said.
“As well as assisting economic growth and job creation in Australia, this will help Australians contribute to a better global environment.
“Replacing oil with sugarcane would reduce the use of non-renewable resources for chemicals by up to 90 percent. Chemical production currently accounts for seven percent of the world’s energy use,” Professor Greenfield said.
Mr Beattie said: “Now we have one of the world’s top research partnerships on the case, and that means we’re driving a whole new industry.”