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University of Hawai'i |
(808) 956-8856 Telephone |
For Immediate Release: |
November 2, 1998 |
Contact: Oskar Zaborsky, 808 956-8146 Alan Teramura, 808 956-7651 Cheryl Ernst, 808 956-5941 |
$12.4 million in NSF funding UH, Berkeley Launch Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center The University of Hawai'i is the lead university in a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center dedicated to marine bioproducts destined for the chemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and life sciences industries. UH and its core partner university, the University of California, Berkeley, were selected from more than 160 initial proposals to receive $12.4 million over five years from NSF for the Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center (MarBEC). "The world's oceans represent one of our largest untapped biological resources. The diversity of marine life points to a myriad of new bioproducts waiting to be discovered and developed commercially," notes UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer. "A special feature of MarBEC's technology transfer program is its strong linkage to key Hawai'i business, financial and economic development organizations and to national laboratories and industries." MarBEC has a critical mass of expertise that can be called upon to tackle major barriers or pursue opportunities in a timely fashion. In addition to the talented faculty at UH and Berkeley (see fact sheet), MarBEC will draw on Hawai'i's experience and natural advantages in collecting and analyzing marine products and organisms, Mortimer adds. Years of research have created large and unusual collections of varied marine microbes at UH. The University's exceptional marine and ocean research fleet will aid in acquisition of even more biological resources, some from extreme environments, such as the undersea volcano Lo'ihi, located 20 miles off the Big Island of Hawai'i. Says Hawai'i Gov. Ben Cayetano: "Marine biotechnology is an industry that has its natural home in Hawai'i because of the University of Hawai'i. Our university ranks among the most respected in the world in marine science. The research and development projects at the University of Hawai'i, combined with the investments being made by industrial partners here and across the nation are critical to Hawai'i's economic growth. "MarBEC's vision is to be a Pacific cornucopia that brings forth 21st century marine biotechnology businesses," says Oskar R. Zaborsky, center director and the HECO Williamson-Matsunaga Fellow in Renewable Energy Engineering Research (FREE) at UH Manoa. "We are in the international Year of the Ocean, and the time has come for a national effort that will bring benefits to Hawai'i, California and the rest of the nation." Adds Zaborsky: "MarBEC's mission is to lay the groundwork for future use of marine biotechnology products in the chemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and life sciences industries. MarBEC will incorporate expertise from many different fields of engineering and marine sciences to develop the basis of a working marine biotechnology industry. Priority marine bioproducts include carotenoid pigments, polyunsaturated fatty acids, biocatalysts and bioactive agents of medicinal use." MarBEC will involve students from chemical engineering, ocean engineering and marine microbiology to create a new, interdisciplinary curriculum to produce the next-generation marine biotechnology engineers, Zaborsky continues. Additional partners in the multi-disciplinary effort include three national laboratories (Argonne National Laboratory, Edgewood Research Development and Engineering Center, and Eastern Regional Research Center), the Bishop Museum, State of Hawai'i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and industrial firms. Participating industrial firms include Aquasearch Inc., Aquatic Farms, Cyanotech Corporation, Eastman Chemical Company, Genencor International, Hawaiian Electric Company, Honolulu Venture Capital Inc., Monsanto Company and Precision Systems Science Company. Documents officially accepting the grant to establish MarBEC were signed today at a UH Manoa gathering attended by Gov. Cayetano and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono. |
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