|
 |
|
|
|||
|
 |
|
Jun. 6, 2024
Source: North Carolina State University news release North Carolina State University was awarded $30 million over five years from the Bezos Earth Fund to lead a center of excellence to create a biomanufacturing hub for dietary proteins that are environmentally friendly, healthy, accessible and affordable. The center will include numerous partners from academia and industry to research, create and commercialize new technologies for manufacturing various protein products. Efforts will focus on three areas: The Research and Development team will strive to improve the palette of materials used to extract proteins or to use as raw materials for fermentation and cell cultivation; make manufacturing processes for sustainable protein products more efficient and less costly, using advanced biotechnology and manufacturing methods; and train the center's faculty and students on innovation and intellectual property as well as commercialization models, tools and strategies to facilitate new technology transfer to industry. The Workforce Development team aims to set standards for educating and training students and personnel in advanced food technologies; ensure that curricula span all age and grade levels as well as professional training; and implement programs that extend NC State's Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center's groundwork in pharmaceuticals to advanced food technologies. The Capacity Building team will reach out to community stakeholders - consumers, farmers and chefs, for example - to understand their perceptions, preferences and expectations of sustainable protein foods and use the results to inform outreach strategies. It will also conduct workshops with industry members and regulators to understand policy and regulatory trends, drivers, barriers and enablers. And it will create a biennial sustainable protein boot camp for stakeholders from countries that will benefit the most from environmental benefits of alternative protein technology. "NC State's College of Engineering has made critical investments in biofabrication and other advanced manufacturing processes and this grant will enable even more investment in this important area," says Jim Pfaendtner, Louis Martin-Vega Dean of NC State's College of Engineering. "The college also has a wealth of experience in standing up centers of this type in areas including health monitoring, renewable energy and artificial intelligence in education to help tackle global problems that cut across disciplines." "Our interdisciplinary research supports animal and plant protein production to sustain human health. We also have a proven record of research and extension work to support sustainable animal and plant agriculture, the state's No. 1 industry, which generates more than $100 billion in annual economic impact," said Garey Fox, dean of NC State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Innovative use of technology in animal sciences, plant sciences, human health, engineering and food technologies is vital to successful food production with a growing demand for protein, a cornerstone of our Food-Animal Initiative." Academic Partners NC A&T State University UNC-Pembroke Forsyth Tech Community College Duke University Industry Partners Advanced Solutions Life Sciences GEA Group Alfa Laval Inc. Givaudan Ardent Mills Improved Nature Atlantic Fish Co. Jellatech Believer Meats NETZSCH Premier Technologies Big Idea Ventures Novonesis BioBrew Technologies Inc. Sable Fermentation, Inc. Bühler Group SPX Flow Cargill, Inc. Ummino CRB Group Wild Earth Elohi Strategic Advisors To read the entire report click here.
Tweet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
