Marcel Schlaf, a professor at the University of Guelph’s Department of Chemistry, has won a contest sponsored by InnovationHouse™, an interactive web resource from GreenCentre Canada and the Chemical Institute of Canada that facilitates connections amongst entrepreneurs, academic researchers, investors, and industry to develop early-stage technologies. He entered the promotional draw last fall by creating a profile on the InnovationHouse™ web site, which highlighted his research group and link with potential development and commercialization partners.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but it was certainly a nice bonus,” said Schlaf, who is receiving a complimentary registration to the XXIX Interamerican Congress of Chemical Engineering incorporating the 68th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, which will be held in Toronto from October 28-31, 2018.
He adds that he is looking forward to attending the conference and making new connections, in addition to the ongoing support that InnovationHouse™ will provide to the Schlaf Research Group.
Schlaf joined Guelph in 1999 and is now a full professor. He holds several patents and has more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as co-editing a recent book on catalytic biomass conversion. In 2006 he was a visiting researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and in 2015 was appointed to a four-year term as visiting professor at China’s Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. His work focuses on catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived substrates to value-added chemicals, specifically in the conversion of sugar alcohols and sugar-derived furans to polymer components, solvents and fuels.