In May, the team took part in Chem UK 2024, running two sessions during the conference and partnering on the Scottish Pavilion with ScotChem, University of St Andrews, Heriot Watt University, and University of Edinburgh.

On Day one, we ran ‘Building and Scaling for a Biobased Future’ , which explored all the building blocks needed to transition from chemical processing to bioprocessing using engineering biology. We heard from industry and academia, highlighting the benefits engineering biology has brought to the development of sustainable end products. We also heard from the UK’s support landscape for the design, build, test, and scaling of novel products and processes harnessing the power of Engineering Biology. It was the first time engineering biology had been discussed at ChemUK and it garnered lots of attention with all the seats at the session full and some delegates standing to listen.

Day two’s session was a panel discussion ‘Harnessing the Power of Biotechnology Towards Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing’ and heard from a panel that included speakers from innovative chemical companies from across the manufacturing supply chain. The session discussed the products that can be developed, the alternative feedstocks that can be used, and the processes which can be adopted to manufacture sustainably and reach Net Zero goals. It was a really lively discussion and a well-attended session, with some great and thought-provoking points raised by our panellists.

And at the Scottish Pavilion, 326 delegates signing up to receive the IBioIC newsletter. A huge congratulations to Business Card raffle winners with Colin Pulman from University of Edinburgh winning a bottle of Glenfiddich 12, and Hannah Rodgers from Oxford nanoSystems on winning a bottle of Hendricks Gin.

Overall ChemUK attendence grew by 17% from last year, with 6677 delegates attending ChemUK 2024.