Chemistry and industrial biotechnology: Enabling growth in key UK supply chains

Posted on: 11/07/2017

The conference programme for KTN’s Chemistry and Industrial Biotechnology Showcase 2017 has been announced.

Taking place on 20-21 September in York, this two day conference and exhibition is a major event to bring together industry, researchers, investors and government agencies to showcase how the UK chemistry and industrial biotechnology sectors are helping to enable growth in key UK supply chains through innovation.

Conference sessions will highlight the many applications of chemistry and industrial biotechnology, ranging from healthcare to functional materials, from low carbon fuels to batteries, and much more. Hear from some of the UK’s leading innovators in a conference programme that is designed to showcase cutting-edge innovation across key supply chains and through different sectors.

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Opportunities in medicines

The UK has a solid track record of innovation in all aspects of medicines development, from discovery through to manufacturing.¬†The UK‚Äôs ability to innovate early in a collaborative way sets it apart in what is an increasingly competitive market. The UK has the opportunity to build on its research foundations by continuing its innovation in areas such as process analytical technologies, continuous manufacturing, automation and robotics, and industry 4.0 as well as digital health, green chemistry, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and viral vector technology amongst other topics.¬†Join our live panel discussion and hear from industry leaders Andy Evans (AstraZeneca & Chair of the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership – MMIP), Chris Molloy (Medicines Discovery Catapult), Steve Rees (Vice President of Screening Sciences, AstraZeneca), Fergal O’Brien (Director Biologics, CPI), and Steve Bagshaw (Chair of the Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum – IBLF)¬†on innovation opportunities through the medicines supply chain.

 

Functional materials for targeted properties

Novel materials could play a key role in solving global challenges – from an ageing and growing population, antibiotic & drug resistance to increasing demands for energy. Through design and delivery of functional materials which offer targeted properties we can design, control and engineer artificial and biological materials. Join us on a journey of discovery from molecule to material to device where we will showcase innovations across the full spectrum of materials research from in-silico design, soft and nano materials to the next generation of sensors.

 

Opportunities for low carbon fuels

The aviation and Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) sector will continue to rely on the combustion of fuels as a means of propulsion for the foreseeable future. In this session we will hear from industry leaders about the challenges and opportunities in moving to low carbon fuels in these sectors. We will also hear from some of the UK’s leading innovators about their current activities in this area.

 

Charging ahead: the future of batteries innovation

Research and innovation into the next generation of batteries has never been more important. Earlier this year Business Secretary Greg Clark announced funding under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund for investment of £246 million over 4 years to help UK businesses lead the world in the design, development and manufacture of batteries for the electrification of vehicles. This session will explore key innovation opportunities in developing the next generation batteries for electric vehicles and other key emerging applications. We will also showcase some of the leading innovative UK projects in this area.

 

Emerging & enabling technologies – Engineering biology

The UK Synthetic Biology Leadership Council envisages a UK synthetic biology market worth £10bn by 2030. This session will showcase some of the thriving start-ups at the leading edge of chemical applications of engineering biology, and how larger corporations are adopting such technologies.

 

Emerging & enabling technologies – Towards advanced manufacturing capabilities

The UK needs to be established as a world-leading producer of cost competitive, high quality chemicals and the industry needs to adopt smart and efficient manufacturing approaches to deliver increased productivity and global competitiveness for UK manufacturing. This session looks at some examples of the opportunities that exist across the sector to advance the capabilities of manufacturing processes.

 

EPSRC & BBSRC session: Towards biologically-based manufacturing

The BBSRC/EPSRC session will bring together eminent researchers from a variety of backgrounds to discuss exciting research and progress in areas relevant to biologically based manufacturing. Presentations will cover research in biotransformation systems in vitro, cell-based biotransformations, plant based expression systems and Integration of systems in biorefining. This will be followed by an interactive panel session with the speakers, discussing the current IB research landscape and upcoming challenges and opportunities in biologically based manufacturing.

 

Innovation for the growing personal care market

Chemical companies are working hard to satisfy the growing demand for ingredients that go into personal care products for the skin, hair, oral care, and other applications. As a large, rapidly expanding and increasingly diverse market, product ingredients represent special challenges for chemical companies.¬†There is a wealth of opportunity for both companies and the academic community to offer new and exciting products to this growing market. In this session we will explore some of the key challenges and opportunities for innovation to support a growing personal care market and also showcase some of the UK’s top talent who are developing innovative solutions to solve these challenges.

 

Healthy ageing: Adding life to years

The idea of healthy ageing encompasses a number of concepts. These include technology to deal with ageing individuals, societal approaches to an ageing population, clinical and pharmacological approaches to ageing, and prevention of chronic diseases caused by ageing. In this session we will look at how chemistry and industrial biotechnology can contribute to the development of technological solutions. For example, how wearable and wireless technologies can be (and are being) used to monitor chronic conditions such as diabetes, or how targeted nutrition could help to reduce chronic, diet related disease and improve health outcomes.

 

Pitch event: Chemistry and industrial biotechnology for a circular bioeconomy

An opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to gain valuable insights and form new business relationships in sustainable technologies that can help move us towards a circular bio-economy.

 

The event will also provide an opportunity to attend a BioVale sponsored Networking Breakfast on Value from Unavoidable Food Waste and to take a tour of the Biorenewables Development Centre.

The exhibition is at the heart of the showcase, providing the perfect opportunity to network with all of the conference attendees. Book your exhibition space now to ensure that you don’t miss this great opportunity raise your profile.

The social programme includes a Drinks Reception (sponsored by Biocatalysts) and Conference Dinner (sponsored by the University of York) with Entertainment at the award winning National Railway Museum.

 

You can find out more about the Chemistry and Industrial Biotechnology Showcase 2017 here.

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