The Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance funds the Highly Qualified Personnel Scholarship (HQP) program. The program supports the development of highly skilled graduates at the University of Guelph who become future researchers, policy-makers, business leaders and innovators to meet the changing demands of the agri-food and rural sector. 

Peter Zytner, a BDDC graduate student, was announced as one of the 2021/22 HQP Scholars. He quoted, "One of the biggest things that drew me towards pursuing an engineering degree for my undergrad was the idea of using that knowledge to solve some of the world’s problems. As I worked my way through my degree, I noticed how serious the global plastic waste crisis has become and decided that would be a good problem to try to tackle!". 

Peter's research focuses on the development and design of biodegradable packaging for food applications, as well as the synthesis of compostable plastic from agricultural waste within a bioreactor. The goal of this work is to utilize waste streams from various agricultural sectors to maximize their value within the circular economy and reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics by providing a sustainable option to fossil-fuel based plastic.

Read more about the HQP scholar here.