Outreach with Industry
Calysta
Calysta is a biotechnology company leading the world in the development and manufacture of protein ingredients from new sources, which will feed the growing population without causing further damage to our planet.
During Yorkshire STEM Week (1-5, February 2017), The SBRC Nottingham outreach team worked with industrial partner Calysta* by running a number of science outreach workshops about DNA for pupils aged 10-14. The sessions were aimed to help raise aspirations and celebrate science and their importance in everyday lives.
One of the schools visited was Yarm School, in North Yorkshire, where we ran a number of DNA extraction workshops for over 80 pupils.
"Not only was the DNA topic and supporting presentation and investigation perfectly pitched to appeal to all abilities and interests, it was also wonderful to see our more able students being stretched and challenged as they were given the opportunity to ask quite probing scientific and philosophical questions and benefit from your detailed subject knowledge on DNA, inheritance and future food production methods. The children came out buzzing and it certainly was a super way to reinforce that science is great fun and also a rewarding area to take further into university and a possible career for BOTH boys AND girls". - Mr Grundmann, Science Teacher at Yarm School.
In addition to this, Tithira Wimelsena (Senior Fermentation Scientist) from Calysta gave a presentation on ‘Food for the future’ which included a Q&A session to provoke the thoughts on future food as well as answering questions from the pupils about working in industry and how she chose her career.
Deep Branch Biotechnology
At the Autumn 2019 event, we showcased our industrial collaboration with Deep Branch Biotechnology.
Deep Branch Biotechnology is a start-up company founded by Bart Pander, Rob Mansfield and Pete Rowe, who earned their PhDs at the SBRC-Nottingham.
Their technology takes carbon dioxide directly from industrial emissions and transforms it into single cell protein which acts as a more sustainable alternative to soy or fishmeal, the conventional protein sources for livestock and aquaculture feed.
Their disco-lit bioreactor and molymod interactive game were major draws to the stand and sparked many interesting exchanges.
