German students do genomics at Concordia

Lina Shoumarova

Tobias Rothacher, Antje Pegal and Daniel Gebhard are three visiting international students who have been working on projects to complete their undergraduate degrees in Germany here at Concordia.

Tobias has just completed a project that looked at marketing biotechnology being developed at Concordia. He was co-supervised by Michel Laroche in the John Molson School of Business.

Tobias contacted biofuel-producing companies in Quebec and visited their manufacturing plants and research facilities. He spoke with technicians and scientists about the processes of evaluation and implementation of new technologies. The strategy Tobias subsequently developed has the advantage of identifying the potential use of promising new biotechnology with more accuracy.

The response from the industry has been “exceedingly positive,” Tobias said.

The model also proved that collaborations between the industry and universities are mutually beneficial. Biofuel companies can rely on the extensive research labs found at the universities, while university researchers can follow up their studies from the lab to the manufacturer with an eye on the market needs.

Tobias has provided Dr. Tsang and the Fungal Genomics Project with a new model to develop new partnerships with industry considering adopting environmentally friendly fungal enzymes identified at Concordia for a variety of industrial processes.