Wageningen Food & Biobased Research

Applied research for sustainable innovations in healthy food, fresh food chains and biobased products.

Wageningen Food & Biobased Research develops insights and technologies that support companies, governments and other research institutes in creating innovative solutions for a healthier, more sustainable and prosperous world. We partner in the creation and production of healthy and tasty foods, of truly-sustainable food chains, and in developing chemicals and materials that use biomass instead of fossil resources. Wageningen Food & Biobased Research also helps companies to close water and nutrient cycles thanks to smart, integrated solutions for water treatment and desalination. Our in-depth knowledge of the entire chain, from raw materials through processing to end product, drives our approach.

Our research programs

Our mission

Wageningen Food & Biobased Research is one of the Contract Research Organisations of Wageningen University & Research, with the… https://www.wur.nl/en/Value-Creation-Cooperation/Facilities/Wageningen-…
. Development, Testing, Research
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Inagro is a research and knowledge center, dedicated to susainable innovation in primary production. 

Geographically speaking, Inagro is located in the very intensive and innovation-driven agricultural and horticultural heart of the province of West-Flanders in Belgium. 

Within its own optimised professional research infrastructure, more than 220 specialized staff members develop new techniques and technologies, directly implementable in agrofood-industry. Inagro focuses on development of innovative production systems and agrofood chains, with implementation of smart farming technologies. Making agrofood production more climate resilient and integrated in the circular economy and development of solutions to reduce impact of agrofood production on the environment, are important scopes in our research. 

Inagro delivers services to industry and SME's in the field of co-creating, testing, validating and demonstrating new solutions and technologies. If desired by the client, we might use a living lab… The practice-driven nature of the research at Inagro requires the research projects to be implemented on an operational scale. 
Which is why Inagro has set up a small-scale yet professional operational infrastructure for various agricultural sectors at its site. 

The infrastructure is adapted to simultaneously test various objects in various repetitions on a certain scale size to ensure the test results are statistically underpinned. The available acreage at our sites is largely insufficient to perform all research. Which is why we also set up trial plots in-situ. To this end, Inagro runs a network of 80 trial plot holders which offers the added benefit that this enables us to conduct research on different types of soil. 

Greenhouse horticulture: 4,200 m² glass and 1,000 m² of plastic greenhouses + 8000 m² new infrastructure for high tech urban farming under developement (https://leden.inagro.be/agrotopia/)

Conventional produce in soil, hydroponics and vertical farming
Focus on lettuce, tomato…. Inagro delivers services to industry and SME's in the field of co-creating, testing, validating and demonstrating new solutions and technologies.

If desired by the client, we might use a living lab approach, involving end-users such as farmers and consumers through co-creation activities. 
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LIST develops competitive and market-oriented product/service prototypes for public and private stakeholders, and works across the entire innovation chain: fundamental and applied research, incubation, transfer of technologies. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies. LIST is an active member of several European networks, including the European association of RTOs (EARTO)

Through its research into advanced materials and processes, the “Materials Research and Technology” (MRT) Department with is 170 researchers and engineers, to the emergence of enabling technologies that underpin the innovation processes of local and international industry. MRT’s activities hinge on three thematic pillars: nanomaterials and nanotechnology, sustainable composite materials and manufacturing and process technologies, including scientific instrumentation.

LIST-MRT is member… LIST’s Process Engineering and Prototyping Platform offers a unique variety of expertise and pools cutting-edge equipment for coating, thin films, particle engineering, nano-fabrication, prototyping and functional measurements

HPVD, HIPIMS (incl. wire treatment)
Atm. Plasma deposition (incl. wire treatment)
CVD, RTCVD, PECVD, OCVD
(DLI) MOCVD
ALD
PRAP-CVD
Electrochemical Replication ECPR
Sol-gel
Layer-by-Layer
Fluidized bed
Ink Jet printing

. The Materials Characterization and Testing Platform offers a wide range of standardized and made-to-measure services in: 

Molecular analysis
TOF-SIMS (Time-Of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, IonTOF)
High-Resolution Mass spectrometry (Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Elite), equipped with ESI, APCI, AP-MALDI, DART ionization sources
MALDI-TOF (Matrix-Assisted laser Desorption/Ionization - Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer, Autoflex III Smartbeam, Bruker)
Gel Permeation / Size Exclusion Chromatography / HPLC automated gradient…. the department MRT (Materials Research and Technologies) propose to the industry a support in terms of development of new advanced materials (surface and interface modification / functionalization) , production technics (cold plasma, sol-gel, layer-by-layer,...) , characterization and testing of the materials
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ProM Facility is a technological infrastructure open to collaborations with the business world, research and training, to develop, produce, research and experiment innovative and more efficient products, able to combine traditional mechanics with the most advanced and sophisticated prototyping systems physical and virtual, testing and pre-qualification. The result of the collaboration between the Autonomous Province of Trento, Trentino Sviluppo, the Bruno Kessler Foundation, the University of Trento and Confindustria Trento, it provides the companies in the mechatronics chain with an integrated platform for the prototyping and qualification of mechatronic systems and subsystems. Thanks to the commitment of European regional ERDF funds, the Facility now has innovative machinery for the prototyping (mechanical, electronic and IT) of complete mechatronic systems, for a total value of over 6 million euros, including 3D printing metal and polymer, the laser cutting of pipes and plates, as well as advanced… ProM Facility main equipments:

3 x Metal 3D printers with various metal powders including AISI316L stainless steel, AlSi10Mg aluminium, Ti6Al4V titanium and Inconel 718 and 625
1 x CNC Hybrid 3D machine (lathe and a 5-axis milling machine integrated with an additive cast metal powder deposition system)
1 x stereolithographic 3D printer to print prototype components by solidifying polymeric resins with UV light
1 x 3D polymeric printer up to 280x280x350 mm volume, starting from various polymer powders including PA11, PA12, PA12+GB.
1 x combined tube/sheet metal laser cutting machine 5kW fiber laser, suitable for most metals used in the mechanical industry
1 x 4-axis wire EDM machine
1 x polymer laser cutting machine 
1 x tomographic X-ray machine to perform high-resolution geometric and dimensional analysis on a wide range of metallic and non-metallic materials, to analyze residual porosity and internal continuity of 3D molded parts.
2 x 3D scanners, one with laser blade projection…. ProM Facility has a trivalent function, divided into service, research and training. The service offer includes the advanced development and prototyping service of mechanical components and micro-electronic sensors (MEMS, micro electro-mechanical Systems). Upon request, the Facility can also manage the production of small series ("workshop" service) thanks to its technological equipment. On the research side, ProM Facility supports research projects funded (subcontract) in Horizon 2020, provincial (LP6) and other funding areas (regional and national). It offers company technical staff in the mechanical and mechatronic sector a refresher course, specialist "hands-on" training on machines in a dynamic and cutting-edge context and support in the field of prototyping, 3D printing and sensors. ProM Facility offers students and PhD students excellent research and training courses, research partners the possibility of creating synergy by putting transversal skills in the system and bringing the realization of…. Yes. service.

At the Branch Lab Processing Technology of the Fraunhofer IVV in Dresden we develop efficient processing and cleaning processes. Using modern data analysis methods, we identify critical points and potentials in established processes and create innovative concepts for the industry 4.0.
Industrial Cleaning Technologies technical center:

Three robotic test rigs of different sizes (ABB IRB120, IRB2600, IRB4600) for the development of innovative automation processes and operator-like reproducible cleaning tests
Several dedicated spray cleaning test rigs
Falling film test rig
Closed/pipe system CIP test rig
Large cleaning detergent supply tanks for the test rig (2000L & 3000L)
Industry level test tanks for tank cleaning tests in different sizes (10.000L & 1.000L)
Ultrasonic cleaning test rig
Cold-atmospheric pressure plasma cleaning test rig
Special cleaning technologies can be supplied to all test rigs: dry steam cleaning, CO2-cleaning, dry ice pellet cleaning
Laboratory for production of reproducible test soiling/contamination
Several optical contamination sensors to be supplied to all test rigs, based on the fluorescence method

For information on the Processing Technologies technical center please check the link.
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Individual developments on innovative adaptive cleaning technologies and devices for Industry or Cleaning 4.0
Hygienic Design consulting
Cleaning tests for design accompanying optimization of machinery components and processing plants
Cleaning and flow simulation of closed systems as well as spray cleaning simulation for open-spray cleaning systems
Development of need-based contamination sensors for inline-monitoring of cleaning processes

. Yes. service.

ALPhANOV is a private, non-profit organization and is the Technology Center of the French “Route des Lasers” competitiveness cluster. It provides technical resources and expertise required to fulfill R&D challenges and innovative development in photonics, optics and lasers. Located in the Bordeaux area, ALPhANOV employs about 80 highly skilled Researchers, Engineers and Technicians.

 
ALPhANOV's expertise encompasses five fields of excellence:

- Laser processing and micromachining: From feasibility studies to prototype fabrication and small-scale production.  Large pool of lasers providing the capability to meet a wide range of needs for microfabrication on various materials (metals, glass, polymers, crystals, ceramics, etc).

- Laser sources and optical fiber components: Development of innovative fiber laser sources and systems, high-brilliance pump combiners and their applications, fiber processing and interfacing equipment

- Optical systems development and imaging: Design, analysis and tolerancing of combinations and optical systems (ZEMAX©); design and fabrication of optical-mechanical benches; metrology of wave surfaces and measurement of optical performance.

- Spectroscopy and Microscopy: Development and implementation of spectroscopy, microscopy and spectral imaging designs

- Medical applications: Optical and laser solutions for Medical and Life Science: biological…. The Technology Center offers dedicated facilities and equipment for laser developments, implementation and characterization. It has strong expertise in laser micro-machining developments, optical design and prototyping in vision, microscopy and spectroscopy, and fiber Laser sources and optical fiber components.
. Yes. service.

ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute) is a public, non-profit, state owned body. It is leading Slovenian Institute in the field of building and civil engineering and is an internationally recognized research organization. Its main activities include fundamental and applied research, development of new methods of testing and measurement, certification and attestation of conformity of products, training of research and technical staff in particular technical fields, participation in the preparation of technical codes and standards. Main research focus is put on:

synthesis of new materials (organo-inorganic composites, materials for restoration of the cultural heritage, nano self-cleaning coatings,...),
recycling and assessments of secondary raw materials in construction sector (e.g. industrial waste, C&D waste, municipal waste, mining waste etc.),
degradation processes (corrosion of metals, degradation processes in stone, concrete and ceramics, freezing, degradation… ZAG comprises 15 laboratories and sections, equipped with advanced laboratory infrastructure which provides quality performance in individual fields of activity.

ZAG is fully equipped for testing on nano-scale as well as for testing of structural elements in full-scale. More information on the equipment can be obtained on our website: http://www.zag.si/en/equipment

Some of the most important equipment is:

Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM)
Optical microscopes, including confocal microscope,
X-ray computed microtomography (MicroXCT400, XRadia) and 3D image analysis tool AVIZO (FEI)
Empyrean X-ray diffractometer, manufactured by PANalytical
Thermo Scientific ARL PERFORM'X WD XRF spectrometer
Micromeritics ASAP 2020 gas adsorber
Micromeritics AutoPore IV mercury porosimeter
Isothermal Calorimeter TAM Air 3 and 8, TA Instruments
Reometer Physica MCR 302, Anton Paar
Raman spectrometer Horiba Jobin Yvon labret HR800
Advanced TOpometric Sensor (ATOS I)
Bishop &…. ZAG provides research activities (development, prototyping and testing) through national and international research projects as well as through research for direct end-users.

http://www.zag.si/en/projects

http://www.zag.si/en/research-and-development/the-program-group

http://www.zag.si/en/research-and-development/the-infrastructure-group

ZAG provides certification and technical assessments and approvals services.

The Certification Service performs the following activities (more info available at http://www.zag.si/en/certifikati-soglasja/certification-service ):
• certification of products and factory production control in the fields of obligatory and voluntary,
• certification of construction products,
• certification of other products in the regulated or voluntary field,
• voluntary certification of various processes and services,
• voluntary certification of executed works.

The Service for Technical Assessments performs the following activities (more info available at http://www…. Yes. service.

The DITF Denkendorf are the largest textile research center in Europe. Three research areas, Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers, Textile and Process Engineering and Management Research, cover the entire textile value chain from molecule to product.

DITF was founded in 1921 as a foundation of public law, and performs interdisciplinary, public research (regional, national and EU) and industrial projects and services for all organizations involved in fibers and textiles in many sectors (e.g. mobility, construction and architecture, health care and medicine, fashion and functional clothing, interior and outdoor objects, and energy, environment and resource efficiency).

DITF conduct research on new high-performance fibers and materials, on new and adaptive processes in fiber and yarn production, and in textile finishing and textile functionalization. In all research areas, modern and cutting edge technologies are used; in addition, the potential of digital information and communications technologies are… DITF facilities comprise newest equipment and machinery in laboratories and pilot plants for research, development, upscaling as well as for testing and simulation of new fibers and textiles and related processes and new machinery for

Polymer synthesis
High Performance Fibee Centre (carbon fibres, ceramic fibers)
Extrusion
Spinning line and winding
Weaving (3D, multiaxial) and knitting (fully fashioned, circular)
Nonwovens
Surface functionalization, finishing and digital printing
Cutting and making up
Stitching
Composite, tape laying
Braiding, pultrusion
Recycling
Digital Textile Micro Factory
Simulation and Testing

. DITF offer their labs, pilot plants and expertise for research, development, industrialization and partly for small series production towards industry, in particular to SMEs. Services cover for example development and configuration of new fibers, new yarns and filaments, new fabrics and nonwovens. Consultancy services are also offered, related to production process reorganization, business process optimization, digitization and simulation.

The testing laboratories offer a wide range of test of fibers and textiles, including tests related to biological, chemical and environmental characteristics.

DITF is organizing conferences, seminars, workshops and training events, is publishing the research results and informing with newsletter. DITF are auditing companies, and participate in standardization activities.
. Yes. service.

Dekonta is an international Czech supplier of environmental technologies and services. It operates in various fields like contaminated sites management, waste management, water and waste water treatment, waste gas treatment, chemical and microbiological analysis, demolition and industrial cleaning services.

Due to a long term view of its business, Dekonta invests an important percentage of its turnover into R&D with a long-standing tradition. 

R&D activities are oriented mainly on perspective technologies, procedures and equipment for commercial application. Our technology center focus its research on the following topics:

(i) In situ Decontamination of Groundwater (such as ISCO/ISCR, Nanotechnologies, Hydraulic Fracturing Enhanced Remediation or Thermally Enhanced Anaerobic Dechlorination);

(ii) Advanced Physico-Chemical Methods for Soil and Water Treatment (photochemical oxidation, electrocoagulation of heavy metals, thermal desorption using microwave heating or membrane contactors for organic… • Technology Laboratory, Slaný – this facility focuses on research and development to treat wastewater and emissions, process waste and remediate contaminated sites using quarter- and half-scale operations. The facility is equipped to carry out basic operations to prepare and process tested samples. If necessary it is possible to carry out simple orientational chemical analyses on site. In the main laboratory building there is a vacuum thermal desorption unit with batch capability and a three-phase centrifuge. Also in this building is a half-scale mixer, pelletizer and hydrocyclone. In the newly acquired hall units have been installed for continual thermal desorption, waste scouring and activated carbon recovery. Technology for treating wastewater and atmospheric emissions is concentrated at the workplace by the decontamination area. Here there are also rooms to conduct quarter-scale and half-scale testing – especially column tests, biofiltration tests, scrubbing and catalytic oxidation of gases and air,…. A description of the services has been provided in the previous field. Additional info can be found at Dekonta's website (www.dekonta.com) at the R&D section.
. Yes. service.

Seamthesis Srl is a privately owned R&D and Competence Center as well as Research Body and Innovative Start-up based in Italy, highly specialized in metallic and non-metallic materials, fabrication processes and production technology, advanced characterization and performance assessment of products and systems. Found in 2013 by R&D experts, as the crown of more than total 200 years worldwide activity in the Industry R&D and international R&D centers, Seamthesis has been developing to include (among its competencies and know-how): 

Alloy design of metal and non-metal alloys, intermetallics, ceramics and refractories, advanced polymers, nanostructured materials and functional materials (e.g. graphene) 
Material production and characterization at the lab level in small, medium and large-scale conditions 
New fabrication processes and production technologies, including post-processing, in a full through-process approach 
Turnkey solutions deployment at client’s industrial site and tailoring 
… Many simulation codes and tools, both commercial and proprietary (home-made), for FEM/FEA, CAD/CAM, CFD (Comuputational Fluid-Dynamics) and finite differences modeling and analysis

HPC (High Power Computing) capacity, also for parallel calculation

N.1 EOS M290 DMLS-type 3D printing machine (metal powder)

N.1 CREATBOT 3D printing machine (plastics and techno-polymers)

Small metallographic laboratory for optical analysis, preparation and hardness intentation tests  
. Main services provided to SMEs', Industry, Public and Government Institutions; R&D Centres and Universities, Engineering companies:

1) metallurgy and material science (from alloy design to prototyping, from base characterization to performance assessment in real conditions, scaling up to industrial maturity and deployment, failure analysis)

2) simulation and modeling, both (new) materials, products and processes

3) development and deployment of new / innovative production technologies and related processes

4) training (room/frontal, on-the-job, in-field), publication and dissemination

5) Application Engineering (automotive, railway and naval; aerospace; oil&gas; power generation (fossil, renewable and nuclear); metals&mines; mechanics and industrial; bioengineering; luxury and fashion; food&beverage)  

6) Additive Manufacturing technologies and Powder Metallurgy

7) Surface Engineering (including cladding)

8) Patenting (and IPR-related issues).     

Seamthesis’ main core competences…. Yes. service.