Category: News

In Hallormsstaðarskógur, two thousand liters of juice from birch trees have been collected. The juice is drunk fresh or boiled syrup.

In the spring, when the trees are deciduous, they need to be transported to the branches. Every day, a full-grown birch tree transports hundreds of gallons of water out of the earth and, in fact, is slightly deformed by humans. Hallormsstaðarskógur is one of the largest birch forests in the country and nowhere can you find as many large and powerful birches. This is therefore an ideal place to collect birch sap.

Bergrún Arna Þorsteinsdóttir at Holt og heiði in Hallormsstaður says that when birch sap is collected, a hole is drilled in the tree and a hose is connected to the hole. One tree gave up to 8 liters per day. "We are only using wood for 4 or 5 days and then we close it. We are not using the same trees year after year. We give them a 2-5 year holiday before we start collecting from them again, "says Bergrún. 

The juice is considered healthy and contains minerals, antioxidants and sugars. "We boil birch syrup from the juice and work with MATÍS to bring it fresh to market. There are 60 trees we have today under. And I don't think we are getting about 200 liters a day from these trees, "says Bergrún.

This news was published on RÚV on the 3rd of June. Here you can see the video with the news.

Matarsmiðjar Matís offers entrepreneurs and small businesses the opportunity to pursue product development and start small-scale food production for a small rent. In this way, they save on investments in expensive equipment right from the start of operations. This provides a unique opportunity to continue testing oneself both in production and in the market. Special emphasis is placed on development in connection with local food and food tourism services. Further information about Matís' Food Workshops can be found here.

The Science and Technology Policy Council's Incentive Award for 2011 was presented at the Rannís Research Forum on Wednesday 8 June.

Dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson, Matís' research director and director of the biotechnology and biochemistry division, received the award this time. Hörður received the recognition from the Prime Minister, who is also the chairman of the Science and Technology Policy Council.

Hörður was born in 1972. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology from the University of Iceland in 1996 and then went to the United States for further studies. During his master's studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, he worked on research into the utilization of by-products of seafood using enzymes, but such technology is now used successfully in many parts of the world. In 2001, he completed a doctorate in food biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, where he researched the properties of fish proteins. The results of his doctoral project have been used to develop new technologies for isolating and utilizing proteins from by-products and underutilized fish species, such as blue whiting and capelin. It can therefore be said that they have both added to our well of knowledge about seafood as well as having great practical value. During Harður's last year of doctoral studies, he was offered the position of lecturer at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition at the University of Florida, which is one of the largest and most progressive in the USA. There he built from the ground up a powerful laboratory in the field of food biochemistry with a special emphasis on the utilization of seafood. Hörður moved to Iceland in 2007 and started working for Matís in 2008 but also holds the position of associate professor at the University of Florida.

Hörður has been a pioneer in building research on biomaterials and bioactive substances from Icelandic nature. He played a key role in the development of the Matís Biotechnology Center in Sauðárkrókur, which opened in 2008. Specialists work on domestic and foreign research projects in close collaboration with the food industry in Skagafjörður and elsewhere in the country. Emphasis is placed on offering facilities and expert assistance to develop both products and production processes with the aim of speeding up the process from idea to product and thus reducing the cost of development. In the same spirit, we can also mention a new facility for a start-up company at Matís called Brúin. There are now powerful biotechnology companies such as Kerecis and Primex that are close to Hörður and his colleagues.

Hardur's research has had great practical value and he holds three published patents. Hörður has published material about his research in prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals and given lectures at conferences around the world. He is active in international research collaboration and currently manages several multinational research projects. Hörður has also been active in teaching and his doctoral students have become ten and the master's students nine.

In his work, Hörður has shown that he is an excellent scientist, teacher and administrator. He has shown initiative and led the development of a new field of study that is already beginning to pay off in the national economy. He is a good role model for students and colleagues and a key employee in a growing company. It was the unanimous opinion of the jury of the Incentive Award that Hörður G. Kristinsson meets all its criteria and is therefore a worthy winner of the Incentive Award of the Science and Technology Policy Council 2010.

About the Incentive Award

The Science and Technology Policy Council's Incentive Award is given to a scientist who, early in his career, is considered to have excelled and created expectations for a contribution to scientific work that strengthens the foundations of human life in Iceland. The prize, which is now ISK 2 million, has been awarded since 1987, for the first time on the 50th anniversary of the University of Iceland's Faculty of Business. The aim of awarding the Incentive Award is to encourage researchers to do good and to draw the public's attention to the value of research and the work of scientists.

For further information, contact Hörður at 858-5063.

The EcoFishMan European Union project, led by Matís, will be on "Seas the Future"The conference in the Faroe Islands on 7 and 8 June.

The purpose of "Seas the Future" is to promote continued work, through Nordic co-operation, and thus to promote joint action and co-ordination in areas for sustainable development, both between the Nordic countries and their neighbors in the adjacent areas of the North Atlantic, the Arctic and in the European Union.

As has been stated in Matís news and websites, the European Union expects the EcoFishMan project to develop a new methodology that will be useful for changes and improvements to its fisheries management system. Emphasis is placed on co-operation with fishermen, fishing and processing and on the utilization of information from electronic catch diaries. The aim of the project is to promote environmentally friendly, sustainable and economic management with a special emphasis on traceability and to minimize discards.

That EcoFishMan The project involves a total of 13 institutions, companies and universities in eight European countries, including the University of Iceland and the University of Tromsø in Norway. The project is expected to cost 3.7 million euros over three years and the EU's grant is 3.0 million euros.

• Dr. Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir, division manager at Matís, will be project manager and dr. Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís, will be with her on the project's scientific committee.

About 20 people on a course on grain processing for human consumption that Matís ohf. was held at Verin science parks in Sauðárkrókur in collaboration with the Guidance Center with the support of the Vocational Training Council.

Eyfirðingar, Húnvetningar and Skagfirðingar learned about the handling of grain, demonstrated the diverse usefulness of Icelandic grain and reviewed recent examples of the development of new products from Icelandic grain. The guests also enjoyed quality bread from Skagafjörður barley as well as bread for which Skagafjörður flour was used for baking. An enthusiastic grain grower brought a sample of his production, oats, barley and wheat, both whole and ground. Ólafur Reykdal, project manager at Matís, gave a talk, taught the audience and answered questions.

For more information Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson and Ólafur Reykdal.

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg.

Master's thesis at the Faculty of Natural Resources, School of Business and Science, University of Akureyri

On Wednesday 1 June, Vordís Baldursdóttir will hold her master's defense in the field of biotechnology. The defense takes place at 10:00 and will be in room M101 in Sólborg. Vordís' project is entitled: "Occurrence of different persistent organic pollutants in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) in Icelandic waters”.

Vordís' project was a joint project of Matís ohf., The University of Iceland and the University of Akureyri.

The project was part of the project, "Let's take a closer look at the Yellow from fishing in the stomach - a study of factors that affect the value of cod catches", Which was funded by the AVS Fisheries Research Fund. Vordís' master's program was also funded by Matís ohf. and BYR Sparisjóður.

In the dissertation, Vordís discusses persistent organic pollutants in Icelandic cod. The amount and variability of persistent organic pollutants were examined and whether factors such as gender, age, puberty, fishing season and season affect the amount of the substances. Also whether the measurement methods that have been developed on the equipment of Matís ohf. in Akureyri for the measurement of persistent organic pollutants in fish products would be comparable to the methods used elsewhere. Some persistent organic pollutants were measured in the flesh of 64 cod and 38 of them in the liver. A small amount of persistent organic pollutants was detected in the cod. The amount measured in the liver was approx. 300 times more than in meat, but the substances follow the fat and the cod muscle is very low in fat. The measurement method used is perfectly comparable to the methods used elsewhere, and the method also seems to be useful for detecting the same substances in chicken.

Vordís Baldursdóttir completed a bachelor's (B.Sc) degree in biotechnology from the University of Akureyri in 2008 and started working as a specialist at Matís ohf. in the spring of 2010. She has been working on her research and dissertation for the past three years.

Main supervisor was Dr. Kristín Ólafsdóttir, Head of the Toxicology Department of the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Iceland.

Co-supervisors were Dr. Rannveig Björnsdóttir, Associate Professor at the University of Akureyri and Director of Matís ohf. as well as Dr. Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, director of Matís ohf. and Dr. Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, project manager of Matís ohf., Who were also the project supervisors.

Opponent is Dr. Stefán Einarsson, expert on climate and global pollution at the Ministry for the Environment. Stefán has, among other things, worked on the development of methods for the analysis of persistent organic pollutants and participated in international co-operation regarding the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, among other things in drafting guidelines on the best available technology to limit the release of persistent organic pollutants into the environment.

An international fisheries conference is currently being held in Ancona, Italy, for the 71st time. Matís participates in these conferences and will present the EcoFishMan project and how to improve the fisheries management system used within the countries of the European Union (EU).

Matís is specially invited to this conference by the Marche Regional Authority in Italy and the purpose is, among other things, to present the Ecofishman multinational project that Matís manages. At the meeting, for example, there will be an open discussion with stakeholders about their involvement in the EcoFishMan project, which is about the development of a new fisheries management system within the EU.

Further information about the project can be found on Matís' websites, e.g. here and here.

Further information about this meeting / conference can be found here.

For some, the Blood Bank car arrived at Matís at Vínlandsleið 12 in Reykjavík. Matís staff received well and almost half of the employees in Reykjavík (28 individuals) donated blood this morning.

• The blood bank, which is the only specialized institution in its field in the country, accepts the blood of healthy individuals to help the sick.
• Eligible blood donors are between 18 and 60 years old, over 50 kilos, healthy and drug-free.
• The blood bank is open every weekday and also has a blood collection vehicle that collects blood in the capital area and in neighboring settlements.

Many people donate blood to the Blood Bank, but the donation is essential for various hospital activities. Then people can fill out a card for an organ donation after death and complete a biography, a document that contains people's wishes regarding the end of life.

Recently, an article was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal in which Matís' employees are co-authors.

Arsenic is a well-known toxin as well as a carcinogen, however, the toxicity of arsenic depends on its chemical form. Arsenolipids have so far received very little attention compared to other forms of arsenic, despite the fact that they can be a significant part of the total arsenic in seafood. Much remains to be seen, both in terms of chemical formulas and structures, as well as the toxicity of these arsenic compounds. The article shows how arsenolipids can be identified and quantified without having specific arsenolipid standards at hand. Using a signal from the ICP mass spectrometer, for a known arsenic standard, a special response factor could be calculated. This response factor could then be used to quantify the unknown chemical form of arsenolipids. Among other things, one fatty acid (C24H38AsO3) was identified and identified for the first time. It has a smooth number of carbons, which is unusual because all previously found arsenic fatty acids have had an odd number of carbons.

Link to science article (here).

For further information, contact Ásta Heiðrún Pétursdóttir at Matís, tel. 422-5000.

The Nordic Innovation Center on behalf of the Nordic partners in the project "Innovation in the Nordic marine sector" is advertising for project applications in Parts 2 and 3 of the program.

Part 2
Tasks in Part 2 shall contribute to:
1. New and innovative recruitment processes,
2. New and innovative solutions to improve and increase safety in the work environment,
3. Coordination and increased transparency for seafood and related services in the Nordic market.

Examples of participants in the project group are: Nordic fisheries companies, fisheries service providers (who sell technology, services and / or knowledge), industry associations, innovation and research institutes, public bodies, both regional and national, and companies with marketing expertise and public relations.

The total amount available in this part is NOK 6 million. The application deadline is August 8, 2011.Further information can be found here: By Sigríður Þormóðsdóttir, s.thormodsdottir@nordicinnovation.org.

Part 3
This application call emphasizes the methodology of user-driven innovation and collaboration between companies, companies and researchers and companies and users / consumers.

Tasks in Part 3 shall contribute to at least one of the three components:
1. Sustainability in the fisheries sector,
2. Higher quality of seafood and raw materials
3. Variety of seafood and products.

Examples of participants in the project group are: Nordic fisheries companies, fisheries service providers (who sell technology, services and / or knowledge), industry associations, innovation and research institutes, public bodies, both regional and national, and other parties with expertise in the field .

The total amount available in this part is NOK 24 million. The application deadline is August 8, 2011.

Further information can be found here: By Sigríður Þormóðsdóttir, s.thormodsdottir@nordicinnovation.org.

The Nordic Innovation Center has recently launched a new website (www.nordicinnovation.org). The Center works to promote innovation in the Nordic countries through co-operation between innovative parties, both within and outside the region.

Matís has had very good co-operation with the Nordic Innovation Center, which is a forum for Nordic countries and companies and institutions in developing world-class innovation ecosystems to support the growth of business and the Nordic Region's long-term competitiveness.

Well-functioning and co-ordinated ecosystems of innovation are essential for fostering and supporting the development of new Nordic business. Efficient innovation ecosystems need to be aligned with market needs to ensure strong and competitive growth. The development of companies and industries is a necessary precondition for maintaining competitiveness in the coming years. Strong ecosystems of innovation also play a key role in making society more sustainable, while at the same time providing significant business opportunities in creating new «green» companies.

The Nordic Innovation Center has been responsible for many research projects on innovation and public innovation plans in the Nordic countries.

For further information, please contact Sigríður Þormóðsdóttir, s.thormodsdottir@nordicinnovation.org.