Maud BENOIT
ALGAIA’s services manager
Maud BENOIT is ALGAIA’s services manager and partnership developer. She is in charge of the development of the customer base service, nationally and internationally, providing our clients with tailor made projects, from micro and macroalgae analyses to bioactivity assays and pilot plant extraction trials. She received her phD in green chemistry in 2012, and her research interests cover the applications of seaweed in cosmetics, biomaterials, agriculture, feed, food and energy industry and their integration in the “blue bioeconomy”. Maud is an expert in plant and algae-based chemistry, biopolymers/carbohydrates and fractionation, purification and transformation by physicochemical routes. She has managed over 30 public and private projects related to “algae” including publicly funded projects such as regional, national (ANR/IA IDEALG, ADEME, CASDAR) and European projects (FP7 as WP leader, FEADER as coordinator). Moreover, Maud is the co-author of 12 publications.
Franck HENNEQUART
ALGAIA’s Research and Innovation Director
Franck Hennequart is an Engineer specialised in the valorisation of marine resources. Franck was co-founder of OGT, an Irish company developing novel seaweed extracts and joined the company as a full time Technical Director in 2008. OGT was acquired by the Spanish company Tradecorp International in June 2014 where he became global seaweed project manager for the whole group. 2016, Franck and his colleagues turned over a spin-off company into ALGAIA, a company producing seaweed extracts and specialised in providing consultancy, analyses and bioactivity tests for the valorisation of algae in many sectors of activities. Franck is also share-holder of a French consulting company called SEANEO specialised in management of aquaculture, artificial reefs and Marine Protected Areas.
Andrea MORO
Head of Hyperfood
Andrea MORO is Head of Livegreen. Andrea has a BS and Masters in Industrial Engineering from the University of Padua, Italy. From 2008, Andrea was one of the pioneers in the field of photosynthetic biotechnologies, focusing in particular on the engineering solutions. Andrea was one of the founders of MICROLIFE SRL, one of the most important Italian companies in the microalgae sector, contributing to the growth and commercialization of microalgae products.
Dr. Theodor FAHRENDORF
Co-founder of MIAL
Dr. Theodor FAHRENDORF obtained his PhD in plant biochemistry and enzymology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. After undertaking 8 years postdoc of which several international interactions as a scientific visitor in the USA and in Denmark Theodor returned to Germany to co-found different green start-up companies, serving as a business development manager or managing director. In 2014 he became the co-founder of Mial GmbH, in charge of research activities and product development.
Kevin MCDONNELL
University Professor, UCD
Kevin MCDONNELL is a University Professor appointed across crop science and Biosystems Engineering in University College Dublin with responsibility for renewable energies, green technology, precision agriculture & crop science. Currently supervising 8 PhD’s and one masters student on a range of funded projects worth in excess of 20 million euros funded from national and international agencies. He has also spun out two campus companies commercialising on his research and works closely with a number of companies on their R&D development.
Fionnuala MURPHY
Assistant Professor, UCD
Fionnuala MURPHY is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, and is an SFI Industry Fellow. Dr MURPHY teaches on the MSc programme in Sustainable Energy and Green Technologies, and across the School’s undergraduate BAgrSc programme on Agricultural Systems Technology. Her research focuses on life cycle assessment modelling for the analysis of environmental impacts of a range of production systems, with a special interest in renewable energy systems. Dr Murphy is a participant on AgroCycle, a multi-partner, Horizon2020 project focusing on the valorisation of agricultural waste and maximising the use of by-products and co-products via the creation of new sustainable value chains. A key element of Dr. MURPHY’s work is to carry out industry relevant research, participate in effective and relevant knowledge transfer, and foster links between industry and academia. Dr. MURPHY is a PI on AgriChemWhey.
