Organization

Scientific Committee

Amar Mohanty
University of Guelph
Canada

Andreja Kutnar
University of Primorska
Slovenia

Bodo Saake
University of Hamburg
Germany

Chunping Dai
FPInnovations
Canada

Gary Chinga-Carrasco
Paper and Fibre Research Institute – PFI
Norway

Gloria Oporto
West Virginia University
United States

Orlando Rojas
Aalto University
Finland

Peter Axegard
RISE Innventia AB
Sweden

Song Won Park
Universidade de Sao Paulo
Brazil

Stephen Kelley
North Carolina State University
United States

Tarja Tamminen
VTT
Finland

Thomas Rosenau
BOKU University
Austria

Organizing Institutions

BIOREN

The mission of the Scientific and Technological Bioresources Nucleus BIOREN (University de la Frontera, Chile) is to strengthen multidisciplinary research and development in biological resources and bioprocesses associated with food production, environmental sustainability and human health; and further, to strengthen education, dissemination and outreach in the field of bioresources. BIOREN has a multidisciplinary research team including chemists and biochemists, molecular biologists, cellular biologists, microbiologists, agronomists, chemical and biochemical engineers, and medical and biomedical scientists to develop innovative products from biological resources and bioprocesses which can be introduced by industrial partners for the production of useful bio-compounds.

Biotechnology Center UdeC

The Biotechnology Center is a regional center for R+D+i focused on five main research areas: Forest Genomics; Second generation biofuels; Aquaculture Biotechnology; Environmental microbiology; Phytochemistry. Much of this research, particularly in forestry and biofuels, fits on the Bioeconomy concept, a sustainable approach seeking a better use of renewable resources.

UDT

UDT was inaugurated in 1996 as a specialized organization within the University of Concepción dedicated to science, technology and innovation. Since 2008 the UDT has been recognized by CONICYT, within the framework of its Basal Funding Program, as one of the thirteen centers of excellence in Chile.

The UDT approaches the development of knowledge in the field of forest biorefineries understood as a set of technological processes that generate valuable products from lignocellulosic raw materials. It has good analytical and laboratory facilities, as well as a wide range of pilot plants, whose combination can produce proof-of-concept results at demonstration scale. The main activities of UDT are:

  • Chemical and thermochemical conversion of biomass (e.g., delignification, extraction of components, slow and fast pyrolysis, combustion processes);
  • biomaterials (e.g., biodegradable plastics, functional plastics, modified wood, reconstituted wood);
  • fine chemicals (e.g., antioxidants, nutraceuticals); and
  • biofuels (e.g., pellets, torrefaction, alternative fuels for industrial boilers).