International Conference at TUM Campus Straubing
TUMCS/GBA | Press Release | 2022-10-12
Around 200 participants from all over the world learned about current developments in the bioeconomy at the three-day symposium “Key Technologies in the Bioeconomy – A Global Bioeconomy Alliance Conference” at the TUM Campus Straubing (TUMCS) for Biotechnology and Sustainability at the end of September. The organisation of the conference under the slogan “KTB2022” was taken over by the TUMCS under the leadership of Rector Prof Volker Sieber and Prof Bastian Blombach. The TUM Campus Straubing belongs to the worldwide network of the Global Bioeconomy Alliance (GBA) along with two other universities.
Prof. Volker Sieber welcomes the attendees to the KTB2022. Photo: Hristov/TUM.
TUMCS Rector Prof. Sieber was very satisfied with the all-round successful conference, which was attended by interested parties not only from Europe and the USA, but also from South America, Australia and Africa. “With a strong focus on the technologies that are required to drive the bioeconomy and a good mix of industrial and academic involvement the KTB2022 conference offered the chance to learn of the latest developments and provided a platform for new partnerships to form”, Volker Sieber said. “We are pleased that all and the latter in particular was so well received and are looking forward to the next KTB conference.”
Conference Dinner aboard the Kristallkönigin on river Danube. Photo: TUM.
KTB2022 took place for the first time at the TUM Campus Straubing from 27 to 29 September 2022. In the newly constructed “Nachhaltige Chemie” (Sustainable Chemistry) building, the participants not only listened to highly interesting lectures by high-ranking speakers from industry and science, but also intensified their mutual exchange at social events – such as a boat trip with conference dinner on the Danube.
Cameron Dick, Minister and Treasurer in Queensland (Australia) and Roland Weigert, State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy gave digital greetings. Michael Köpke (Lanza Tech, USA), Thomas Haas (Evonik) and Karsten Peddinghaus (BMW Group) were among the keynote speakers from the business world; Peta Ashworth (University of Queensland, Australia) and Volker Wendisch (University of Bielefeld), for example, spoke from the academic community.
The feedback from the participants was consistently positive. Karsten Peddinghaus (BMW Group) said: “The Conference provided a unique opportunity to meet and discuss state-of-the-art solutions between research, science and corporations. Volker Sieber and his team created an inspiring setup and atmosphere, based on a thrilling variety of speeches.”
Ana Carolina Saad Freitas (Braskem): “The event facilitated knowledge sharing and promoted great networking to advanced discussions on challenges and opportunities related to the bioeconomy. Participants from industry and academia were encouraged to think together, about new partnerships and strategies to promote relevant sustainable changes.”
Group photo of the KTB2022 attendees. Photo: TUM
Andreas Kohl (Verbio) mentioned: „Key Technologies in the Bioeconomy 2022 was a conference with a good mix of current scientific, technology and industrial developments. At a hotspot of the future bioeconomy with an international audience there was ample time to learn, discuss and get new inspiration for the daily struggle to implement biobased solutions.”
And Martin Langer (Brain AG) said: “KTB2022 organized by TUM in Straubing was worth visiting! A perfect mix of high-grade academic research, political discussions and industrial insights turned out to be a fantastic basis for very good scientific and business exchange around bioeconomy. Looking forward to the next KTB conference!”
A glimpse inside the poster sessions. Photo: Hristov/TUM.
The idea of the Global Bioeconomy Alliance is the installation of a strong network of universities all over the world, which are leading in the field of bioeconomy. The intention is to strengthen the cooperation in research and teaching by workshops, common projects as well as staff exchange to transfer knowledge and expertise. The strong nucleus will be composed off the Technical University of Munich (Germany), the University of Queensland (Australia) and the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Brazil), which are top-level universities of these countries, and have a strong expertise in research connected to bioeconomy aspects.
The universities participating in the GBA used the meeting in Straubing to intensify contacts and partnerships and jointly sounded out future project opportunities. For the GBA participants, TUM had extended the program by two days – among other things, the program included visits to Clariant’s Sunliquid plant in the harbor Straubing-Sand and the Waldwipfelweg in St. Englmar in the Bavarian Forest.
Additional photo galleries of the conference can be fount at https://www.bioeconomy.world/ktb2022/galleries.php.