Implementation of Microreactor Technology in Biotechnology (IMTB) 2013 Conference: a new community for new perspectives

In this special issue, mainly dedicated to the 2nd International Conference Implementation of Microreactor Technology in Biotechnology – IMTB 2013, Green Processing and Synthesis reflects on some of the key issues targeted by specialists, who believe that microreactor technology is one of the great challenges for biotechnology, both for accelerated bioprocess development and analysis, and as a potential for bioprocess intensification and integration with downstream processing.

The IMTB conference provides a forum for people from academia and industry to share and discuss the cutting edge results on implementation of microstructured devices in applied biology, involving bioprocesses in engineering, technology and medicine, with the aim of developing new projects and exploiting new technologies for biotechnological applications. The motivation for the organization of the first IMTB 2010 Conference, which was held at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in September 2010, emerged from the scientific cooperation of the Microprocess Engineering Research Laboratory from the host faculty and the research group from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology from the University of Zagreb. The conference was initially planned as a bilateral event, but at the end resulted in the international conference with open access to the audience, where more than 20 invited experts with various backgrounds, including chemical engineers, biotechnologists, electrical and mechanical engineers, chemists and biochemists presented their work to almost 100 participants from 11 countries. The success of the IMTB 2010 Conference inspired both teams to organize the next conference, with even higher ambitions.

The 2nd International Conference IMTB 2013, which was held in Cavtat, Croatia, from 5 to 8 May 2013, was organized by the same research groups under the auspices of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering and the Section on Applied Biocatalysis of the European Federation of Biotechnology. With 63 oral and poster contributions, presented to 81 participants from 19 countries, mostly from Europe, but also from Asia and the USA, the expectations of the organizers were fulfilled. Among the invited speakers, there were some pioneers, as well as some world leading researchers in the field of microreactor technology and its implementation in biocatalytic processes, cell culturing, analysis and development of lab-on-a-chip systems. An opening discourse about the promises of microtechnology was given by Professor Goran N. Jovanović from Oregon State University, while other plenary lecturers were Professor John M. Woodley from Technical University of Denmark who gave an insight in biocatalytic process development using microreactor technology, Professor Andreas Manz from KIST Europe who has addressed the use of microfluidic chips in analysis, while Professor Volker Hessel from the University of Eindhoven presented intensification of flow processes. In addition, many young researchers who share the enthusiasm for microreactor technology and biotechnology, as well as several participants from industry, such as from Sigma-Aldrich, Sandoz GmbH, Gedeon Richter Ltd., iX factory GmbH etc. were present at this very exciting event. More than 20 oral and poster presentations were contributed by the members of the EU FP7 project consortium BIOINTENSE – Mastering Bioprocess Integration and Intensification Across Scales, whose main objectives are to bring about economically feasible biocatalytic processes by integration and intensification and to shorten the development times by developing optimized tools and protocols that can be widely applicable in industry.

The program was divided into four sessions: enzymatic microreactors, cells within microstructured devices, analysis within microstructured devices and process intensification and integration. According to opinion of the participants, selected oral and poster presentations were of a very high quality. The best poster award was allocated to Birgit Ungerböck from the Austrian Graz University of Technology.

All four days of the IMTB 2013 Conference were buzzing and pulsing with lively discussions and debates – not only during the interactive sessions, but also around coffee tables, dinners and social events. New acquaintances have been made and new ideas for future collaborations have emerged. The best illustration of the atmosphere at the conference might be taken from impressions given by Professor Goran N. Jovanović who is the most meritorious person for the research activities on microreactor technology in the region of IMTB Conference domicile: “We all became part of the IMTB “family”.”

The Editor-in Chief of Green Processing and Synthesis, Professor Volker Hessel, who was also one of the most vivid members of the IMTB 2013 Scientific Committee, pointed out this conference in an inspiring editorial written together with Qi Wang entitled “Micro(reactor)cosmos – still expanding into the engineering universe” [1], with the following words: “An own community evolved. In the terminology of this Editorial, this is an own planetary system, mirroring the large one in the universe, which is concerned with conventional biotechnology.”

The outcomes of the IMTB 2013 Conference were collected on CDs with extended abstracts. In addition, selected papers from the conference will be published in two international journals: as well as this issue of Green Processing and Synthesis, a special issue of the journal Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly will be released in winter 2013/2014.

In this issue of Green Processing and Synthesis, authors tackled several very perspective topics, such as microfluidic-based biocatalytic process development and a comprehensive review on multiphase biotransformations in microstructured reactors, as well as more specific enzymatic microreactors based on immobilization with nanoparticles, or integrated with a microseparator, in order to enable biocatalyst and solvent (ionic liquid) recycle. As a complement to multiphase biotransformations, a comparative study on ultrasound, microwave and microreactor-assisted processes of ionic liquid synthesis is presented. From the field of analysis within microstructured devices, the benefits of the micro fluid segment technique application in microtoxicology are shown.

We hope that this journal, together with the following IMTB Conferences, will spur further research activities on these topics and promote implementation of microstructured devices in biotechnology, which would lead to industrial applications. We look forward to welcoming you to the IMTB 2015 Conference.