The year 2020 begins at the ITB with the search for new master students that are either interested in digitalisation or in the enzymatic decomposition of grain. The project titles of the new open master theses are:

• Im Labor der Zukunft. Darstellung eines Enzym-Membran Reaktor mittels Augmented Realty
• Enzymatischer Phytin-Aufschluss in Getreide

Visit THESES & JOBS to look for more open positions.

Research assistant:

Zeynep Percin works in a bilateral cooperation with a pharma company in the field of bioprocess optimization.

PhD students:

Jan-Ole Kundoch works on the production of valuable chemical building blocks via enzymatic cascade.
Leon Hennecke researches new self-optimizing reactor systems for the production of pure diastereomers of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids.

Exchange students:

The bachelor students Laura Vega Fernández and Sofía Chacón Vargas join the ITB as exchange students from Costa Rica for 3 months. Laura Vega Fernández works on the biosynthesis of caffeic acid phenethyl ester and Sofía Chacón Vargas works on the synthesis of bio-based plasticizers.

Dr. Stefan Wahlefeld joins us as new group leader of the ITB group ‘Process Analytical Technologies’.

Ina Klose will help in the organisation of diverse Kinderforscher school projects and Kinderforscher events.

This year too, most researchers from the ITB participated at the Dechema Himmelfahrtstagung 2019.

• Our post-doc researcher Dr. Claudia Engelmann gave a lecture on ‘Enzyme Cascades for Flavor Synthesis via Process Intensification’ at the conference.
• Besides giving a lecture, our researchers prepared scientific posters to showcase their research. These posters were added to our online ‘Poster Collection‘.

The third day of the 830th Hamburg port anniversary was blessed by perfect weather for paddling. Our ITB raced on this day, the 12.05.2019, in the yearly dragon boat race against other companies. In our glorious team, the Hydrophilic Dragonases, we not only mobilised people from the ITB, but also friends from the Institute of Multiphase Flows and the TUHH rowing club RuderING. Together, we trained and had thrilling matches against the other teams. It was always by an arm’s length when we didn’t win match. In the triumphant challenge of the hydrophilic Dragonases against the dragons from C. Steinweg, both were seperated in front of the finishing line only by a dragons sniff, namely 0.3 seconds.
Altogether, we reached the 5th place and had a lot of fun. The Hydrophilic Dragonases will now undergo an engineering optimization for one year to reach the next generation of dragonases with enhanced flow properties and improved paddling rates.

Results from the third day of the Hamburg Harbour Cup:
1. Platz Deutsche Bank Dragons Hamburg (Deutsche Bank AG)
2. Platz Sauberdrachen (Stadtreiningung Hamburg)
3. Platz BASF Dragons (BASF Coatings GmbH)
4. Platz Die Aichberger BGHM
5. Platz Hydrophilic Dragonases (Institut für Technische Biokatalyse, TUHH)
6. Platz C. Steinweg
7. Platz Orange Vikings (Ohly GmbH)

Daniela Eixenberger will work on the technological development for intelligent biocatalytic reactors in which for example “smart” materials can be used.

Dr. Ayad Dawood joins us as the new group leader of the ITB group ‘Reaction Sequences’.

Franziska Rohweder replaces our former secretary Ulrike Zimmermann who held this position for 25 years. Franziska Rohweder will staff the secretary’s office from Monday to Wednesday.