Coffee Break Nanotechnology Student Committee

During this live and interactive session, you’ll hear from two professionals, Dr. Blaise L. Tardy, an Assistant Professor at Khalifa University, and Dr. Caio G. Otoni, an Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering/Polymer Science at the Federal University of São Carlos.

This break will be moderated by the Nano Student Committee and will open the session to questions and further discussion with the audience.

Webinar attendance is free and open to everyone, but registration is required. Reserve your space today.

Dr. Blaise L. Tardy's Presentation Info: Polysaccharides, mainly lignocellulosics, are key contributors to the bioeconomy, especially in regions that have well stablished biomass generation streams. In contrast, biomass generation is typically not connected to semi-arid or arid areas, which hinders the development of a truly global bioeconomy. There is however a large potential for arid areas to become major bioeconomical actors via more localized biomass generation and valorization strategies. In this talk, a range of findings on advanced materials obtained from lignocellulosics, and cellulosics in particular, will be discussed and put in perspective with the localized and global role of scientists focusing on bioproducts in connecting actors towards a greener world. For example, emerging food production in arid areas and its potential to synergistically connect into a range of sustainable circular processes is introduced. Overall, advances in bioprocesses and biosystems in conventionally greener countries are expected to  benefit to arid areas if the established bioeconomies and emerging bioeconomical actors can connect efficiently.  

Dr. Caio G. Otoni's Presentation Info: In this seminar, the circular bioeconomy will be put in perspective from an upcycling angle as I summarize the most recent efforts of our research group maTREErials in assembling materials from monomeric, polymeric, or colloidal building blocks that are isolated from low value-added agri-food side-streams. I hope to put the right accent in such a hype topic so the young generation can engage in the fight against the propagation of greenwashing and other misleading concepts within this framework. Importantly, I will shed light on the relevance of having multiple disciplines connected in the same group and on my personal experience of switching backgrounds and institutions when building my career path.

Dr. Blaise L. Tardy is an Assistant Professor who joined Khalifa University in January 2022. After graduating from EPFL (2009, Switzerland), Dr. Blaise Tardy obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from The University of Melbourne (2015, Australia) and was thereafter a research fellow at Aalto University (2016-2022, Finland). His main aim is to connect fundamental and applied sciences in order to facilitate the wide-spread implementation of sustainable materials and processes. This includes the processing of natural building blocks as obtained from biotechnological means as well as by-products from aquacultural, agricultural, and food-associated streams – with the efforts targeting optimized biomass production and management.

Dr. Caio G. Otoni is Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering/Polymer Science at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) since 2020, from where he received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering (2017) in a dual affiliation with Embrapa Instrumentation. Food Engineer by training, Dr. Otoni was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Chemistry of the University of Campinas (Unicamp) from 2017 to 2020 and a visiting scholar at the Department Bioproducts and Bioprocesses of Aalto University (2019), both dealing with the Physical Chemistry of Biocolloids. Dr. Otoni has been with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA; 2010–2011), and currently serves as Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna (2023). His research is centered at biobased multifunctional materials, nanocomposites and nanohybrids, and other biopolymeric colloids that are assembled into materials for food, biomedical, and agricultural applications.