Feds invest $5M to help launch green manufacturing network
by Cleantech Canada Staff
Industrial Biocatalysis Network will explore new ways to use enzymes to produce more environmentally friendly products
TORONTO—The University of Toronto (U of T) is receiving $5 million in funding from the federal government to help launch a network aimed at supporting and advancing green manufacturing technologies.
Administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and its Strategic Network Grants program, the funding will help launch the Industrial Biocatalysis Network, which will explore new ways to use enzymes to produce more environmentally friendly chemicals, plastics and other products.
Led by the U of T, the Industrial Biocatalysis Network is a collaboration with Concordia University and the University of British Columbia, as well as CanSyn Chem Corp., DuPont Canada Inc., Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Co., Lallemand Inc., Monaghan Biosciences Ltd and Suncor Energy Inc.
The discoveries made through this new network will support the growth of the emerging bio-based chemical and materials sector.
NSERC Strategic Network Grants support large-scale, multidisciplinary research projects that require collaboration between academic researchers, organizations and companies across Canada to address challenges facing a particular industry over the next 10 years.
“Strategic Network Grants foster the kind of collaboration that allows students, established researchers, businesses and others to work hand-in-hand on the discoveries and innovations that will have impact in a reduced time frame,” NSERC president Dr. B Mario Pinto said in a statement.
“The transformative breakthroughs that result from this kind of collaboration help to tackle complex research questions and accelerate solutions to some of society’s toughest challenges.”
