Biobased was a hot topic at this year’s Corn Utilization Technology Conference (#CUTC16) and one person on hand who knows a lot about the emerging technologies in this space is Nathan Danielson, who works for Biocognito. The company is a small consulting firm that counsels businesses working to bring new technologies to the biomaterials space. He said that many of his clients are located in California because there is great interest in new materials and discovering new ways to use corn. He added that there are a lot of private investors that are excited about this area as well.

Danielson was very involved in the planning of this year’s CUTC conference and served as chair for two sessions. His panel focused on near-term and long-term technologies that have a significant potential to increase corn utilization from lab to commercialization. “One of the things I challenged the speakers to think about was how do you find a home for the next one billion bushels of corn,” said Danielson.

He is also chair of the poster committee with more than 40 posters on display. Danielson focuses on the student side of the presentations although there are also posters from companies. He said each year he walks away saying he can’t believe they just keep getting better and better. He has been chairing this committee for four years and has found that, “What I love about this session is that it show’s how bright the future is for this industry. When you get this many people with this talent and this dedication getting into the industry it makes me really happy to be a part of it.”

To learn more listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with Nathan Danielson here: Interview with Danielson, Biocognito

Check out pictures from the conference: 2016 CUTC Photo Album.