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Research The global aim of the Unit of Bioengineering at the Catholic University of Louvain is to intertwine engineering and biological principles with a view to translate a cellular process of interest into an appropriate bioreactor and to design innovative bioreactor systems for specific biological processes. Its educational and research programs are aimed at the training of engineers for the chemical and biotechnological industries and related careers in the public and private sector. On the postgraduate and doctoral level the Unit of Bioengineering offers the opportunity of preparing a new generation of multifaceted research professionals in state-of-the-art applied biotechnology. The spirit of the Unit is a total dedication to scientific excellence in advanced interdisciplinary research, teaching and professional service to meet society's rapidly evolving technological needs for the 21st century.
The main avenues of research pursued by the Unit of Bioengineering are in the areas of microbial and cellular engineering, bioreactor design, modelling and control, and environmental biotechnology. The Unit has been particularly interested in bioconversions catalysed by mixed microbial communities under anaerobic conditions, with applications in environmental pollution control, bioenergy conversion and value-added product formation, but has recently expanded its repertoire into aerobic and pure-strain bioprocesses, as well as animal cell culture engineering. One broad area of study addresses the development of strategies for process design in anaerobic reactors, including a fundamental understanding of the relationships among environmental conditions, microbial populations and products. Such processes include the biotransformation of resistant or toxic organic substances and the biomethanation of mixtures of substrates. The concurrent use of several distinct phases in detoxification reactors is especially useful for studying critical parameters for in situ bioremediation of soils and sediments. A second area of research deals with the development of aerobic microbial reactors for the transformation of gas or solid-phase pollutants. Aerobic pure- or mixed-culture reactors using suspended or immobilised cells for the removal of distinct families of toxic compounds are also being developed. A third area of investigation is carried out in collaboration with the Unit of Systems Automation and Applied Mechanics of our University in order to study the on-line estimation of parameters and the development of adaptive control algorithms for continuous bioreactor processes. A new area of research is undertaken in collaboration both with the above Unit of Systems Automation and with the Unit of Cellular Biochemistry of the University for the development of animal cell culture technology in conjunction with the elaboration of biomaterial support carriers and bioreactor control for the production of valuable recombinant proteins. Financial support for the research activities of the Unit of Bioengineering stems from a variety of public and private sector sources, including the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS), the Walloon Region, the Institute for the Encouragement of Scientific Research in Industry and Agriculture (IRSIA), the Commission of the European Union, and industry.
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