Water & Biotech series
Biotech Atelier always aims to promote the dialogue between companies, start-ups, academia and businesses in the area of biotechnological developments. To achieve this, we unitеd key stakeholders across the field in a Special Edition Atelier focused on “Water and Biotechnologies”. The first conference of the series was part of ViennaUP’21, and it was a virtual event that was held on 10th May 2021. It was supported by the Vienna Business Agency, IAWD, and other relevant stakeholders.
Why water?
With rising population numbers and subsequently a high demand for food and industrial supply in recent decades, water has become a scarce resource. The evolution of the corporate world which has been experiencing big system transformation in the past couple of years towards more sustainable and environmentally responsible operations is a reflection of a society that values water. Biotechnology comes as a key instrument that is already revolutionizing a number of industries and has made a huge impact on the environment.
Why Vienna?
Vienna has shown a great interest in playing an active role in the international water business with more and more projects around sustainable business development. Eco-friendly mobility, renewable energy, and efficient, socially equitable use of resources are all priorities in the city’s near-future plans. Smart City Wien is looking to improve its economic and social performance and drastically reduce its ecological footprint with projects.
Speakers
We had three special guests opening the conference – Mrs Yordanka Fandakova – Major of Sofia city, Mrs Lilyana Pavlova – Vice President of European Investment Bank and Mr Walter Kling – Deputy Managing Director at Vienna Water Works and Secretary General at IAWD. Furthermore, a special interview with Prof. Dr. MD Markus Metka (Austria) – one of the leading pioneers in the field of anti-aging medicine and hormone research, on the topic “Water and Health” was a part of the agenda.
Potable Water and Biotechnologies
Dr. Sabine Lengger (United Kingdom) gave her expertise on „Monitoring challenges and solutions in the water industry“. Mr. Rado Russev (Bulgaria) provoked the audience with the topic of „Water Quantity/Scarcity is a Major Problem. Isn’t Water Quality a Bigger One“. Acad. Atanas Atanassov (Bulgaria) as an expert on agriculture talked about “Water use efficiency, crop productivity and food supply“.
Wastewater and Biotechnologies
The Viennese representative from the Boku University, Prof. Georg Gubitz (Austria) gave his expertise on “Biotechnologies for microplastics removal“. Insights from Sofia University about “Innovative and applied potential wastewater treatment biotechnologies faced to circular economy“ gave Prof. Yana Topalova (Bulgaria). The project “S”ustainable phosphorus management in WWTPs: a promising microalgae biotechnology“ was presented by Eng. Dobril Valchev (Bulgaria). Last but not least, the popular topic of the year: „Wastewater surveillance – the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and beyond“ was presented in details by Mr Valentin Nikolov (Bulgaria).
The Future of the Water Sector – Matching needs and Technologies
Cynthia K. Bruzell (USA) delivered a lecture on the topic “Antibiofilm and antifouling research“. Current insights, trends and expectations for the future of Water and Biotechnologies were presented by handpicked experts from Europe and around the world – Assoc. Prof. Evgenia Benova & Assoc. Prof. Yovana Todorova (Bulgaria) – “Plasma technologies – complex solution for the future of the water and waste treatment” and Prof. Murthy Chavali (India) who talked about “Advanced Nano and Bio Technologies for Water“. The session was skillfully moderated by Mr Piers Clark (United Kingdom), Founder and Chairman of the Isle Group Ltd.
Water and Biotechnologies special event in numbers
| Day | 1 |
| Speakers | 14 |
| Registrations | 100 |
| Topics | 3 |
| Attendees | 70 |
| Countries | 10 |
Biotech Atelier
Biotech Atelier was founded in 2018 as European biotech conference complemented by satellite events. Following the success of its first three editions, we are expanding our horizons. Starting in 2021, we opened a new chapter in the history of Biotech Atelier – the “Water & Biotechnologies” series. With this new endeavour, we continue following our goal to bring start-ups, innovative companies, and larger businesses in biotechnological development to share innovative technologies and best practices that can be applied in the water sector.