UGA researchers get feedback on current projects for CB2 and a glimpse of what’s ahead
The Industry Advisory Board for the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, or CB2, recently met to evaluate progress on 2022 research projects and to begin considering projects for 2023.
Six current research projects, all led or co-led by faculty from the UGA New Materials Institute, received good feedback from the IAB. Some of these projects will be completed in 2022 and a few are expected to be continued through all or part of 2023. Decisions on what projects to continue for 2023, as well as which new ones to fund, will be made at the IAB’s fall meeting in November, in Atlanta.
Just over two dozen new projects were pitched by IAB member companies to be considered for 2023 funding. Over the summer these ideas will be shaped by industry mentors who expressed interest in the project seeds. The project seeds are then put forth to the University members as a request for proposals.
The spring 2022 IAB meeting was held at the Washington State University campus in Pullman, which serves as one of CB2’s research sites. The meeting, which included some virtual attendees, was CB2’s first in-person event since fall 2019 due to covid-19 pandemic. The fall 2022 meeting is also planned as an in-person event at Kimberly Clark Corporation with optional virtual attendance.
About CB2
CB2 is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center and is funded, in part, through the National Science Foundation. Representatives from CB2’s industry partners comprise an Industry Advisory Board that meets twice a year to review progress on current projects and, to pitch and assess new proposals. IAB members share in the research and development costs, as well as in the intellectual property; additionally, IAB representatives work directly with university faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students to develop technologies that can be rapidly adopted by industry. The program provides hands-on training while ensuring funds and projects are focused on rapid development of tools needed by industry to further sustainability goals. Students and university researchers work under the mentorship of industry scientists and product developers from some of the biggest names in industry: Amazon, Ford, John Deere, ADM, Kimberly-Clark, 3M, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel, Danimer Scientific, NatureWorks, RWDC Industries, and Avery Dennison, among others. Projects are funded through IAB membership fees, with Center/Site support funding provided by the NSF. CB2’s four search sites are located at North Dakota State University, Iowa State University, Washington State University, and the University of Georgia.
For more information about CB2, visit https://cb2center.org/home.