On 12-13 October 2023 took place, for the first time ever, the BioTech Summit Austria in Graz (Austria). The summit aimed to facilitate networking and exchange of ideas on trends in the biotech and pharmaceutical world, how to succeed as a startup and SME, funding and financing opportunities, how to navigate the regulations and the best road to clinical trials.
The event was jointly organised by BIOTECH AUSTRIA, the pioneering association of the biotechnology industry in Austria, and den life science cluster organisation Human.technology Styria (HTS) at the Medical University Graz, bringing together around 350 people, including key players of the Austrian and international biotech industry.

Our colleagues from BRAVE Analytics didn’t miss this fantastic opportunity of networking with similar companies and big players! Vitan Strasser gave a 3min pitch on OF2i technology’ benefits to biotech and pharma companies, highlighting how OF2i can improve work routines and results. Additionally, BRAVE had a booth, where Vitan Strasser and Sarah Knights where able to meet very interesting companies for further businesses.

From 26 to 28 September 2023, took place in Basel (Switzerland), The largest Swiss trade fair for international laboratory, measurement and automation technology in chemistry, the ILMAC 2023.
Around 12000 people attended the international conference.
Our colleague Vitan Strasser, from BRAVE Analytics, gave a talk on OF2i technology, highlighting several real uses cases, commenting on the benefits for the users and how OF2i technology can support global biotech and nanopollutant players as this PAT offers real-time nanoparticle characterisation, measurement of nanopollutants at ultra-low concentrations, and many more! Additionally, on their booth, Vitan was able to network with a number or interesting companies.

BNN Brings Nanomaterials to the Public at European Researchers’ Night 2023
On Friday, 29 September 2023 BNN joined researchers across Europe for simultaneous public science events in dozens of European cities. In Graz we joined European Researchers’ Night 2023 at Universalmuseum Joanneum – a great venue in the heart of the city.

Under the title “Life is Science – in a digital world”, the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) and St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences jointly organised this fantastic event to present engaging, hands-on activities suitable for people of all ages, from children to students to adults,offering them a glimpse into the daily activities of several research institutions on the topics of Health & Food, Climate & Environment, Digital Transformation and Culture & Community.

Around 70 people stopped by the BNN booth “Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Games – Match the Nanomaterial!” to match microscopic images of nanomaterials to their real-life applications. Young visitors showed off their lab skills by performing experiments on the Lotus Effect, creating magnetic fields with ferrofluid, or writing secret messages with our “magic ink” containing nanoparticles used in anti-fog coatings. Even the youngest visitors loved using a pipette to create large and small water droplets on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces!

It was exciting to be surrounded by so many companies, organizations and projects from our community – from lab meats to green tech skills to virtual reality, the offerings were a delight for experienced and budding scientists alike.

BNN provided materials from our projects such as DeDNAed, DIAGONAL, HARMLESS, NABIHEAL,NanoPAT, NextGenMicrofluidics, PHOENIX-OITB, PRIME, SABYDOMA, and others.

Find out more about the Graz event at https://www.lifeisscience.at

View some of our moving pictures here: visual recapA big thank to PO and Evaluator for their valuable suggestions and their support in encouraging our continued progress!

The 11th PhD-Student Workshop on Polymer Reaction Engineering (WP PRE2023) took place this year as follow up event to the PRE2023 (add hyperlink NanoPAT@PRE2023 News), from 8 to 10 September 2023 also in Potsdam, Germany. This workshop is specifically designed for European PhD students seeking contact with fellow students and the polymer industry. They are encouraged to present their PhD topic (short oral and poster presentation) to a professional audience, benefiting from helpful feedback and suggestions of the experienced audience; at the same time the students can meet industry representatives and potential employers in person. This benefit is of course bi-directional, as industry representatives can learn about the latest academic research in the field of PRE and get to know future graduates. Around 50 people attended the event.

As particle size monitoring techniques can be very useful in the emulsion polymerization field, due to the effect that the particle size and the particle size distribution has in the final applications of the latex, our colleague Usue Olatz Aspiazu Iturbe, from UPV/POLYMAT, gave a talk about the monitoring of the particle size of polyacrylate latexes during seeded semibatch emulsion polymerization processes by simultaneous analysis with inline Photon Density Wave Spectroscopy (PDW) and online Turbidity Spectroscopy (TUS).

The 14th International Workshop on Polymer Reaction Engineering (PRE2023) took place in Potsdam from 5 to 8 September 2023 at Fraunhofer-IAP in Potsdam, Germany. Usually held every three years, this international workshop is a prestigious platform for experts to share their latest findings, as well as a knowledge pool for young professionals who want to gain a broad foundation or present their own work.

Rising energy costs and the need to base polymer production in future more and more on sustainable raw material feeds impose significant challenges to the polymer industry. Polymer reaction engineering can contribute significantly to match these challenges. Around 150 people from academia and industry participated in this 14th edition which focused on the design and intensification of polymer production processes, conditioned by both customer requirements and new technological developments such as new catalysts, process analytical technologies and novel modelling and simulation tools; additionally, current topics in the synthesis of plastics based on monomers from sustainable sources, polymer recycling and possible recycling of polymeric materials to conserve resources where part of the program.

NanoPAT participated at the event to show some of the results of our work with polymers and PATs: particle size monitoring techniques can be very useful in the emulsion polymerization field, due to the effect that the particle size and the particle size distribution has in the final applications of the latex. Our colleagues from UPV/POLYMAT Usue Olatz Aspiazu Iturbe, Shaghayegh Hamzehlou and Joserra Leiza attended the event. Usue presented a poster and gave a flash talk about the potentiality of Turbidity Spectroscopy (TUS) to online monitor the particle size of the polyacrylate latexes. The poster is related to this recent publication (DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.197) from UPV, POLYMAT and IRIS on how wavelength exponent based calibration curves can be successfully used to retrieve the particle size during the polymerization process using Turbidity Spectroscopy (TUS).
Why did the project have an active role in this event?:

NanoPAT had the opportunity on 12 July 2023, to present the progress made to our funding agency, the EC, and our external evaluator John Parthenios. During the presentations, we discussed the developments achieved during the last 18 months (second reporting period) and outlined our upcoming plans.
A big thank to PO and Evaluator for their valuable suggestions and their support in encouraging our continued progress!

On 29 June 2023, the Spanish Technology Platforms for Innovation in Sustainable Chemistry, SusChem-Spain, and for Advanced Materials and Nanomaterials (MATERPLAT), organised this interesting event on Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design Challenges in Advanced Materials.

The International Polymer Colloids Group Conference (IPCG) is the most important meeting on Polymer Colloids organized worldwide.

The 6th Dialogue on NanoSafety with the title “The role of characterization and how it is addressed in INISS-Nano” took place on 21 June 2023 in Berlin, Germany.

Expoquimia, the International Chemistry Event, is the trade fair that gathers together all the sectors of the chemistry to promote the importance of the transformation of the industry towards more energy-efficient productions models under circular criteria, connecting industry, society and sustainability to transform the chemical sector.