Sustainability Spotlight Session

Students learn about strategies and measures for implementing the SDGs

As part of the “Sustainable Development Goals” course, students from the bachelor's degree program in Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering had the opportunity to learn about strategies and measures for implementing the SDGs and to discuss challenges and opportunities together with experts during exciting keynote speeches. For that purpose, the lecturer Nina Schaaf, B.Eng. MSc. invited high-profile representatives from various companies and organizations.

The session was kicked off by Dr. Jan Back, Senior Lecturer at MCI and expert on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). He spoke about the occurrence of these so-called forever chemicals and their impact on the environment. He also addressed the chronic effects these substances have on human health and emphasized the importance of especially protecting the youngest members of our society. With a contribution about his current research topics, he made visible what possibilities there are to remove these substances from wastewater. Here, he specifically emphasized the importance of the MCI research projects covering activated carbon adsorption and membrane technologies.

Directly after, Johannes Wildner B.Sc. from Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe gave a very interesting presentation in line with the SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production. His focus was on waste management, in particular best practices, challenges and future prospects of efficient waste management for sustainable cities. In practical terms, he showed what can be done in the private sector to improve the circular economy and resource efficiency and clearly explained the projects IKB is supporting Innsbruck's society with. IKB invests in modern technologies and is a model waste management company in Austria. According to Wildner, the company is highly innovative and, in its field of activity, stands right between an administrative company and innovative companies such as Apple Inc.

During the subsequent networking break, the students had the opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions with the guest speakers over snacks and build important connections for the future, before continuing with two more presentations.

“Hydrogen as the key to defossilisation” was the topic of Magdalena Lindl, M.Sc. from the HyPA Cluster. She gave an impressive account of the political challenges that she coordinates in her work for the whole of Austria. Partnerships at home and abroad as well as innovations in the so-called hard-to-abate sectors play a central role here. The conversion of these energy-intensive sectors to a fossil-free operation is crucial in order to follow the decarbonization strategy and thus achieve the EU targets. The process engineering graduate also clearly explained the existing plans for the production and distribution of hydrogen and how these processes work.

Last but not least, DI Marcel Huber, co-founder and managing director of Syncraft, an MCI spin-off, gave an catching talk about his company and their mission. Marcel Huber studied Environmental, Process and Energy Engineering at the MCI several years ago (at that time called Process and Environmental Engineering) himself and subsequently worked here as a research assistant. With the founding of Syncraft in 2009, he dedicated his focus entirely to the sustainable generation of energy. Syncraft's reverse power plants convert regional forest waste wood into electricity, heat, gas and green carbon in a resource-saving and efficient manner. This not only generates renewable energy (SDG 7), but also reduces CO2 emissions, thus counteracting climate change (SDG 13). With the company slogan “Reverse is the new forward”, Marcel Huber was able to inspire the students explaining Syncraft's mission in his presentation and bring the Sustainability Spotlight Session to a close with an interesting discussion.

The Department of Environmental, Process & Energy Engineering at MCI would like to thank the guest speakers for the exciting presentations, the interesting discussions and the opportunity to network.