Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award
Menno Knetsch was a dedicated biologist and biochemist who joined Maastricht University in 2001, where he focused on biomedical research and education. Menno coauthored over 50 scientific papers, he will be primarily remembered as a passionate and inspiring educator. Menno Knetsch played a vital role in the establishment of the UM master's program in Biobased Materials, serving as its first Program Director. Unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly several years ago. Menno possessed exceptional teaching skills and had a profound impact on the future of numerous students, implementing his creative didactic ideas into innovative and high-quality educational programs.
In honor of our esteemed colleague and friend Menno Knetsch, the first Program Director of the Master Biobased Materials, we have established the Menno Knetsch Master Thesis Award. This award aims to commemorate his legacy. The criteria for determining the best master thesis include the overall grade achieved, the contribution made to the scientific field of biobased materials and/or its practical application, as well as the level of innovation exhibited in the topic and the research context.
The prize consists of a €500 cheque generously provided by the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM).
The award was handed out to the following former students
2024: Victoria Knubben is the winner of the Menno Knetsch Award 2024. Her winning thesis was about “Enhancing the Stability of Omniligase-1 in the Presence of Organic Solvents and Chaotropic Agents.”
- 2023: The Menno Knetsch Award 2023 Vittorio Ferretti di Castelferretto. His winning thesis was about ‘Production and characterization of a biochar-based self-assembling membrane for wastewater treatment.’
- 2022: The Menno Knetsch Award 2022 has been awarded to MSc Biobased Materials graduate Marco Serafini. His winning thesis was about ‘Sustainability assessment of biobased colourants for packaging applications'.
- 2021: Matilde della Fontan for her thesis about 'Sustainability assessment of biobased colourant in the textile value chain'
- 2020: Sophie Koch for her thesis about the combination of modified wood and bio-based polymers with the aim to develop entirely bio-based and biodegradable composites.
- 2019: Julian Engelhardt received this award for his research on designing lignin derived mesoporous carbon materials for adsorption applications.
- 2018: Ramiro Marroquín García received this award for his research on Biobased bioresorbable photo-curable poly (ester/carbonate) urethane acrylate resins for digital light processing 3D biofabrication.
