Speakers :: Renewable Plastics 2011

	Dr John Williams - Conference Chairman - Head of Materials for Energy and Industry, NNFCC, York John is a Polymer Chemist, with 20 years technical experience in working with SMEs and multinationals in polymer applications. He is experience in identifying market opportunities and technical gaps in polymers and materials from non-fossil carbon. John is the NNFCC’s sector manager responsible for bio-derived polymers, composites and fibres including renewable construction materials. He is responsible for identifying, developing and helping to commercialise market opportunities in the materials markets. Another important part of John’s remit is the interaction of renewable materials at the end of life, and how these materials can be exploited in recycling and recovery operations, which includes the measurement of bio-based carbon and translation of its importance to the whole of supply chain, as well as advising policy makers and standardisation bodies.
	Dr Maria Soliman, Development & Innovation, SABIC, STC Galeen Maria studied physics including PhD in Germany and achieved a Post Doc (USA) in polymer rheology. She has been working in the industry for over 15 years and works at SABIC T&I STC Geleen 2010 as a Cluster Project leader Innovation and Sustainability.
	Dr. Rolf Scherrenberg, SABIC, STC Geleen Rolf has a Masters in Chemistry, PhD in Polymer Physics and a Masters in Business Administration. He has a wealth of experience across the board concerning renewable plastic sources: X Ray diffraction specialism, Group Leader Thermal Analysis, Business and liaison office ‘Analytical Services’, Program Manager ‘Biomaterials', Senior Material Development Specialist Bimodal HDPE, Competence Center Manager and CoE lead Polymers Material Rolf is sustainability focused and is involved in a steering group for the Resource Efficiency of Plastics. He is also part of a Resource efficiency task force and part of the advisory Board Dutch parliament on feedstock recyling.
	Ann-Sophie Kitzler, Graduate Assistant, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover, Biopolymer Institute – Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites Ann-Sophie Kitzler, Dipl.-Ing. (FH), born in Hamburg, studied “Technology of renewable raw materials” at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts and got her graduation at 2005. After her graduation she has been working for the past 5 years in the QA-section of a company in the flexible packaging business. Year-to-date Ann-Sophie Kitzler is a research associate at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She is studying for her PhD at the University of Rostock in close cooperation with the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Focuses of her work are the usage and disposal options for Bioplastics.
	Prof. Hans Joseph Endres, Professor,University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover, Biopolymer Institute – Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres, born 1966, studied mechanical engineering with consolidation in material research. After his study he joined the industry for nearly 10 years. During this time in industry he also managed his PhD study. Since 1999 he has been the Professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Hanover. Key aspects of his research activities are Biopolymers, biobased Fibres and Composites. In Biopolymers he is engaged since more than 20 years. Recently he also published a new book about Technical Biopolymers by the Carl Hanser Verlag.
	Dr Anna Salerno, Senior Researcher,Graz University of Technology Anna Salerno is currently senior researcher at Graz University of Technology, Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering in the area of “White Biotechnology”. In 2001 she obtained a degree cum laude in Biological Sciences at University of Naples “Federico II” (Italy), by defending a thesis work focused on environmental microbiology. In 2007 she obtained a PhD degree with Doctor Europaeus label at the University of Basilicata (Italy). Her PhD thesis dealt with the isolation, toxin-typing, biochemical and molecular characterization of Plesiomonas shigelloides isolated from different sources.
	Jeroen van Soest, Manager Innovations & Non Food Applications, Optimum Bioplastics Jeroen has achieved academic qualifications with a Doctoral (PhD) study University of Utrecht and a Master Study Chemistry University of Utrecht. He has worked on award winning research projects, one of which in 1999 was for the development of cereal-based microparticles or latexes: Industrial production, application, structure-property relationships. He is currently working as a Manager of Innovations in Non Food Applications at Optimum Bioplastics. He advises on product development and process innovations.
	Dr Horst Müller, Manager IP, Technical Standards & Documentation, Automatik Plastics Machinery GmbH Horst Müller studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Aachen focusing on plastics technology. His professional career was in supply of equipment for extrusion, thermoforming, wire and cable manufacturing, handling, dosing and drying of pellets and bulk materials. In 1997, he joined Automatik, the leading manufacturer of pelletizing equipment for the plastics industry, being involved in engineering, development, and marketing. Additionally he is now heading the department of standardization, intellectual property and product documentation.
	Frank Gloeckner, Head of Process Engineering, Automatik Plastics Machinery GmbH Frank Gloeckner completed his studies of process engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg. Afterwards he worked in the technical field of plastics processing equipment suppliers. He is presently head of the process engineering department of Automatik Plastics Machinery GmbH, being involved also in R&D, technical services, trouble-shooting, training and customer consultation.
	Robbert Kleerebezam, Delft University of Technology Robbert Kleerebezem is associate professor at the Biotechnology department of the Delft University of Technology. He did his PhD on anaerobic digestion of petrochemical wastewaters and worked as post-doc researcher in Spain and Russia. His research interests include the microbial carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycle, biothermodynamics, bioprocess engineering, and mathematical modeling of metabolic networks. Currently Robbert is working at the Environmental Biotechnology section that aims for application of the microbial potential available in nature for the development of biotechnological processes for the treatment of waste and waste water and the production of chemicals and bioenergy. Robbert is daily supervisor of approximately 10 PhD-students and teacher in bioprocess engineering and microbial ecology oriented courses. He is program leader of the applied sciences funded research program entitled waste to resource (W2R). Within the W2R program Robbert is project leader of the multidisciplinary PHA-production project presented here.
	Daniel Ganz, Business Development Manager, Sukano AG Daniel Ganz has a degree in chemical engineering and business administration. He possesses more than 25 years of experience in marketing, processing and development of thermoplastic polyester. Today he is business development manager of Sukano, a producer of functional and optical masterbatches and compounds focused on thermoplastic polyesters and biopolymers. With production locations in Switzerland, USA and Malaysia, Sukano offers products and technical service on a world wide basis.
	Caroline Abler, Technical Engineer - Polymers, Imerys Talc Caroline graduated from Ecole Européenne d Ingénieur de Chimie et Polymères de Strasbourg. She has been working for 3 years at Toulouse European office of Rio Tinto Minerals. She is charge of developing new talc for polymer applications and of investigating the function of talc in new polymers markets, including the biopolymer field.
	Bruno de Wilde, Lab Manager, Organic Waste Systems Bruno De Wilde is the Laboratory Manager of Organic Waste Systems (OWS) in Ghent, Belgium for whom he has worked for more than 20 years. In this capacity, he manages biodegradation, composting and digestion tests, supervising a team of almost 40 people. Bruno De Wilde has authored or co-authored about 30 scientific articles. He took his MSc in Agricultural Engineering at the State University of Ghent in 1983, spent another year in the Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and then worked in an R&D project on making energy from biomass though biogasification in Indonesia for 4 years prior to joining Organic Waste Systems.

	Dirk den Ouden, Director New Business Development, Avantium Chemicals BV Dirk den Ouden is Director New Business Development at Avantium and responsible for the commercialization of Avantium’s YXY (~icksy) platform – green building blocks for materials and fuels. Dirk holds a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Eindhoven Technical University, the Netherlands. Before joining Avantium, Dirk worked at Fortis Corporate Finance and Capital Markets, where he advised biotech and cleantech companies on IPOs, private placements and M&A transactions.
	Dr Stuart Coles, Assistant Professor,WMG / University of Warwick Stuart Coles is an Assistant Professor in the Materials and Manufacturing theme group of WMG. His main research interests are the bioprocessing of waste streams into useful materials, manufacturing of biocomposites & fuels and the electrospinning of polymers, both synthetic and natural. His research profile is within Green Chemistry, Sustainable Materials, Polymers & Composites, Electrospinning. Stuart has also been a part of the internationally-successful Eco One and WorldFirst racing car projects, working on areas such as the bodywork and the fuel (from a chemical perspective). Most recently, he has been researching on the new area of electrospinning nanofibres of polymeric materials and has been part of the 'Wealth Out Of Waste' project, looking at extracting base materials from degraded plant waste.
	Dr Gareth Davies, Materials Specialist, Nokia Gareth is a Materials Specialist and Senior Engineer at Nokia. He has 12 years technical experience of working in the polymer industry. He is currently responsible for identifying and developing sustainable materials so that they are suitable for the telecommunications industry. EngD Environmental Engineering, Brunel University & Imperial College London, 2006 and BEng (Hons) Materials Science, Brunel University,2001
	Urs J Hanggi, Biomer Urs is the founder and owner of Biomer, a company dedicated to PHB (polyhydroxybutyrate). He obtained strains, patents, and know how on PHB from PCD, now Borealis. Since the beginning his focus was on "transforming" the biopolymer PHB into a thermoplast. Dr. Hänggi is a chemist/biochemist. He used to teach applied microbiology in Munich, Darmstadt, and Cologne. He worked with Battelle, with Henkel, and with btF before starting Biomer.
	Dr. Simon Boxall, Lecturer in Oceanography - University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre (UK) Simon is a lecturer in Oceanography at the University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre (UK). He has worked on secondment for projects for UNESCO, The European Union Research Centre, The World Bank, The British Council, and European Space Agency over the years. Current research covers a spectrum of topics from climate change in the ocean to coastal dynamics and pollution, and he has carried out various studies on plastics in the oceans. One of his more worrying finds was the high level of plastic rubbish on a remote Arctic island over 1000km from the nearest town or village, taken there from all countries bordering the Atlantic by the ocean currents. Simon has a responsibility for public understanding and has been involved in documentaries for C4, Sky, BBC, National Geographic and Discovery. He regularly appears on radio and TV news and current affairs broadcasts across the World relating to a broad range of ocean, coastal and climate issues.
	Ady Jager, Business Development Manager, NatureWorks Ady Jager joined NatureWorks in 2000 and works as Business Development Manager for this company in the Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Ady will be talking about Ingeo. Ingeo is made of 100 percent annually renewable resources with performance and economics that compete with oil-based plastics and fibers. The production of these biopolymers uses less fossil fuel and emits fewer green-house gases than conventional polymers. The polymer is used to make a large variety of products, from packaging and consumer goods to fibers. The presentation gives more back-ground information about the value of using renewable feedstock and will contain key innovations and future trends.