Canberra scientists strive to make wastewater more sustainable
From left to right: Dr Annamaria De Rosa, Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt and Dr Samantha McGaughey
Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE) wants to shift the focus from water treatment to water resource recovery. By using molecular component knowledge gathered from studying plants, MTE is working on engineering systems for recovering water, nutrients, metals, and minerals from liquid wastes. I sat down with the three brilliant minds behind MTE: Dr Annamaria De Rosa, Dr Samantha McGaughey and their supervisor, Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt.
Question: What drew you to plant science?
‘Seeing plants in nature inspired me,’ said De Rosa. ‘I’ve always been drawn to understanding how plants grow, how they thrive and survive in diverse environments.’
McGaughey said she found the plant courses in her biotechnology degree the most fascinating.
Meanwhile, Byrt was drawn to plant science due to another reason. ‘Food obsessed,’ she laughed. ‘I remember being a little kid and having this freakout moment when realising that humanities use of critical resources was unsustainable. Sustainability wasn’t really a buzzword back then, but it was clear that the availability of resources, like great food, would likely exceed demand during my lifetime. I worried about food security and quality and how access could be fairer to enable everyone to eat well.”
Question: What persuaded you to start MTE?
‘In 2018, I read about the Aquaporin company in Denmark,’ shared McGaughey. ‘Learning about their development of water filter technologies using the type of porteins we study in plants, called aquaporins, was quite exciting,’ added Byrt. ‘Most of what our team had done related to manipulating plant aquaporin functions to achieve a specific outcome for crop improvement, but seeing a group pluck out the water selective feature of aquaporins and put it into water filter technology was exciting. At the time, we were looking at what molecules different Aquaporin proteins in plants can transport.’
‘We have two biotechnology development projects focused on resource recovery from complex liquids. One is related to nutrients for agriculture, and the other is related to metal and mineral recovery from mining wastes,’ she sdaid.
Question: Do you find innovation hubs important?
“CBRIN has built such a nice community. ”
‘We’ve been supported by the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) since 2020,’ said De Rosa. ‘We participated in a variety of different programs like Research to Impact and the Griffin Accelerator Program. CBRIN has built such a nice community. It’s important to have these spaces where we can connect and network with people who have experience and expertise in commercializing innovative ideas, and have opportunities to learn from their experiences. There’s a wealth of knowledge at CBRIN.’
‘CBRIN has given us opportunities to connect with startups and be introduced to other projects. The networks and supportive community, and dedicated individuals at CBRIN, created those opportunities,’ added Byrt.
Growing plants on the moon
Byrt has also been working on Lunaria One as a biology science advisor. Lunaria One is a project aimed at growing plants on the moon by as early as 2025.
‘This project feeds back into the food and resource security theme,’ said Byrt. ‘We read about how the water filters that the Aquaporin company built were created with support from NASA, and the application they were focused on was recycling water in space, their technology is now used for a range of water filtering applications on Earth and in space. Their work provides an example of how innovating with the significant challenge of developing something that works in a space environment creates flow on opportunities back on earth because for operating in space everything needs to be robust and efficient.’
A supportive team
‘What I really like about this team is the support,’ stated Annamaria.
‘The first thing Caitlin (Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt) does is offer opportunities to other people,’ continued McGaughey. ‘As a team leader or somebody in science, opportunities do come your way. Caitlin’s unique in that she tries to pass those opportunities on to people she supervises to give them a chance to showcase their abilities. It’s so important to have that supporting group environment. People appreciate having a nice place to come and work.’
McGaughey described it as ‘leading with kindness’.
“Canberra exports talented people”
‘Canberra exports talented people,’ said BYRT. ‘We’re a small geographical area, but it’s an area where there’s a high density of activities around education and training. I hope in 10 years’ time MTE is solving real-world challenges and contributing in a meaningful way.’
‘We are trying to innovate ethically and follow our values to achieve positive impact. We’re doing a diverse range of activities. We always have our minds and calendars open to discussing how to do things better. We’ve mingled in the startup space, university space and innovation space. Being a part of the community makes it easier for the next generation of people to come through and work towards achieving their goals.’
Membrane Transporter Engineers – www.membranetransportengineers.com
Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE) have turned to the molecular componentry in plants to guide design of the type of ‘harvesting’ componentry needed for developing systems for circular reuse of resources. By mimicking modular plant selective separation functionality MTE have created novel resource separation technologies. By shifting the focus from water treatment to water resource recovery, we hope to support industry in the transition to a circular economy. Our team are working on creating a blueprint for future technology development that contributes to addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals and the World Bank Waste to Resource imperative.
