On Nov. 11, 2022 the Faculty of Arts & Science presented the inaugural Open Plastics Lectureship featuring Dr. Uwe T. Bornscheuer. Dr. Bornscheuer presented recent progress in engineering technology to speed up the process of breaking down plastic to support Canada's efforts to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030. This lecture was made possible with the generous support of The Shirley and Bruce Edwards Better World Fund.
Professor Uwe T. Bornscheuer is the Head of the Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis at Greifswald University, Germany. He was formerly the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Greifswald University and is currently Head of the University Senate. His research program is at the forefront of enzyme biocatalysis, with interests in screening microbes for new enzyme activities and engineering new enzyme activities through in silico, rational, or directed evolution techniques. Prof. Bornscheuer is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Enzyme Engineering Award (2022), the European Lipid Technology Award (2021), a Chemistry Europe Fellowship (2020), and the Stephen S. Chang Award from the American Oil Chemists’ Society (2015). His group has published more than 550 journal articles, 50 patent applications, and 40 book chapters. He is the cofounder of Enzymicals AG and the member of several journal editorial boards, including Scientific Reports, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Enzyme and Microbial Technology, and the European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology.
The Shirley and Bruce Edwards Better World Fund was established in 2022 to support the research, design, and development of the Open Plastic Research program led by members from the Departments of Chemistry, Biology, and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University.
