Category: News

Matís opened a biotechnology center in Sauðárkrókur recently. Tuesday, November 18th. Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, opened the workshop in the presence of a large crowd.

With the establishment of the biotechnology center, research facilities will be created with associated processing facilities where scientists and pioneers in biotechnology can develop their products and processing processes in collaboration with Matís. It should come as no surprise that Matís is opening this workshop in Skagafjörður, as Skagfjörður's food box is well known, where it grows and thrives under the auspices of a vibrant and diverse food industry. The biotechnology center is open to all Icelanders, and individuals and companies can have facilities there for a shorter period of time to produce products. The workshop will be a kind of hatchery for new start-up companies in biotechnology and very important in shortening the process from idea to market.

The photos show when Einar K. Guðfinnsson and Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, formally open the biotechnology center together with Guðmundur Guðlaugsson, mayor of Skagafjörður, Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson, project manager at Matís and Patricia Hamaguchi from Matís.

Trust the pillars - mobilize human resources

Last Friday, November 14, a mass meeting was held among companies and people in the high-tech and start-up sector at Hilton Reykjavík Nordica.

The meeting was called "Now" is the opportunity because now is the time to start the systematic development of high-tech and start-up companies through active cooperation and solidarity between the government, management and employees to strengthen the foundations of innovation and mobilize human resources. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen offensive spirit and self-confidence.

At the meeting, the companies presented their operations, brought good news about the results of development and marketing work and presented offers that included, among other things, that they can add people, provided that certain working conditions and pillars for innovation are in place.

Matís' presentation can be found here and here Matís' offer can be found.

Representatives of several companies spoke in addition to Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Guðlaug Þór Þórðarson and Össur Skarphéðinsson. Valgeir Guðjónsson, musician, created music on site together with DJ Margeir and Björk Guðmundsdóttir, musician, gave an encouraging speech. The meeting was chaired by Þórólfur Árnason, CEO of Skýrr and Svafi Grönfeldt, Rector of RU.

The meeting was hosted by the Confederation of Icelandic Industries, the Association of Biotechnology Companies, the Association of Start-up Companies, the Association of Information Companies and Reykjavík University.

Agenda

16.00 Helgi Magnússon, Chairman of SI opens the meeting and the chairmen take over

16.10 Short contributions from representatives of companies and the government

Stiki - Svana Helen Björnsdóttir, Managing Director

Össur - Egill Jónsson, Managing Director of Production

Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Minister of Education

Skýrr- Sigrún Ámundadóttir, Director of Software Solutions

Klak - Eyþór Ívar Jónsson, Managing Director

Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister of Health

Valgeir Guðjónsson creates music with the participation of meeting guests       

Marel - Sigsteinn Grétarsson, CEO of Marel in Iceland

CCP - Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, Managing Director

Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister of Industry

Marorka - Jón Ágúst Þorsteinsson, CEO

Betware - Stefán Hrafnkelsson, Managing Director

Stjörnuoddi - Jóhanna Ástvaldsdóttir, CFO

SagaMedica - Perla Björk Egilsdóttir, specialist

Björk Guðmundsdóttir, musician

Song by Valgeir Guðjónsson and DJ Margeir performed 

17.00 Mannblendi

At a conference on business and innovation on the shores of Vatnajökull last weekend, the Cluster Harvest Festival was held at Smyrlabjörg on Friday night, hosted by the State of Vatnajökull and the East Skaftafellssýsla Tourism Association.

Recognitions were given on the one hand from the State of Vatnajökull and FASK, Vitinn - another guiding light, and on the other hand from the Icelandic Tourist Board.

The choice was made by the former Hotel Höfn, which has been a major pillar in the tourism industry in the area.
The lighthouse - another beacon is provided to companies or individuals who in one way or another have been a beacon to other parties in the industry.

The Icelandic Tourist Board also awarded recognition for Professional Development in Tourism and Research, the award was presented by Pétur Rafnsson on behalf of the Icelandic Tourist Board, but the award went to Nýheimar. Ari Þorsteinsson accepted the award on behalf of Nýheimar.

The award was given to all parties within Nýheimar who, on the one hand, through purposeful co-operation between themselves and on the other hand through strong and growing co-operation with companies in tourism, food and culture, as well as enthusiastic and energetic individuals and entrepreneurs, provided new strong foundations for tourism. in the State of Vatnajökull. This has further strengthened the strong tourism industry that has been built up in recent decades and is known nationally for its cohesion, courage and daring.

At the same time, systematic work has been done to build bridges to neighbors, both in the east and west as well as across the country. This applies equally to co-operation on a social level as well as on behalf of individual companies or individuals. With this, we have continued to develop the journey that the pioneers of previous years set out on a long time ago with Árni Stefánsson, hotel manager at Hótel Höfn, at the forefront.

Members of Nýheimar are: (listed in alphabetical order)
Búnaðarsamband Suðurlands
The upper secondary school in East Skaftafellssýsla
Bird Observatory in Southeast Iceland
University Center in Hornafjörður
Hornafjörður Cultural Center
Matís
The Iceland Innovation Center, formerly the East Iceland Entrepreneurship Center
State of Vatnajökull
East Iceland Knowledge Network
Naturally
In addition to these, many companies and projects have had facilities there for a longer or shorter period of time.

The use of an enzyme saves a lot of time in cleaning the liver before canning, but the enzyme dissolves the membrane on the surface of the liver and thereby releases the snakes that have prepared themselves under it. Until now, this grooming has had to be done by hand, which is very time consuming.

Matís has in collaboration with the canning factory Ice-w ehf. and Martak ehf. worked on the design and development of equipment in the processing process for enzyme treatment of liver for canning, as well as equipment for brine pickling. The aim of the project, supported by the ACP Fund, is to increase the profitability of the production of canned liver by reducing production costs and increasing the quality of products, as well as increasing the automation of production.

Enzyme treatment of the liver saves both time and manpower by cleansing the membrane and worms of the liver surface. However, it is never possible to avoid any trimming of the liver as a vein to the liver and bile-stained liver must be removed before enzyme treatment.

The design of the equipment has been completed and experiments have been made during the production process. Roughly speaking, the processing process is structured so that the liver goes to a dressing table for pre-trimming. The liver is then fed into a conveyor belt and then into a vessel with enzyme solution and the solution is circulated from a side vessel. The liver is then fed to a saline brine and from there to a dispenser that dispenses the liver into cans. Then take over the traditional canning.

The results of experiments have shown that it is possible to increase the capacity to a significant extent, in addition to which utilization increased by 20%. In 2007, about 900 tonnes of canned liver were produced in Iceland, or 9 million cans, and the value of these exports was almost ISK 320 million. This new enzyme processing method can increase this value by 20-30%.

Further information can be obtained from Ásbjörn Jónsson, project manager at Matís.

Opportunity for research and innovation was the title of the autumn conference of Rannís, which was held on 11 November at 9:00 at the Grand Hotel. The Minister of Education, Science and Culture convened the session.

The keynote speakers were Bernhard Pálsson, Kári Stefánsson, Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, Edda Lilja Sveinsdóttir and Eggert Claessen.

Here can be seen the agenda of the session.

Lecture Sjafnar Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís.

Matís is developing a new gene set based on repeated cod microsatellites from cod.

The aim of the project was to develop a new gene set based on repeated DNA microsatellites from cod. 10 genetic marker kits were to be prepared for use in breeding cod farming and also 20 genetic marker kits for the analysis of the origin of wild cod.

In addition, these diagnostic kits are useful for genotyping for traceability and species and origin analysis of eggs and larvae in the sea and for market doubts. The results of this study were recently published in Molecular Ecology Resources and can be seen in the article here.

On Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of November, a conference will be held in Höfn and Smyrlabjörg on business and innovation on the shores of Vatnajökull.

The conference begins with an address by the tourism director Ólafur Ýrar Atladóttir. On Friday evening, the harvest festival of the tourism industry will be held in Smyrlabjörg and starts with a dinner at 20.30.

Many interesting talks will be on the agenda and people are encouraged to attend. A lecture by Guðmundur H. Gunnarsson, project manager at Matís, can be accessed here.

As shown in the program (see here) the conference starts on Friday in Höfn but in the evening the conference will be transferred to Hotel Smyrlabjörg where the Harvest Festival of the State of Vatnajökull and the Tourism Association of A-Skaftafellssýsla will be held. Saturday's program will also take place at Smyrlabjörg.

The conference is free, but the price for the harvest festival is ISK 4,900.

Sandra Björg's participation in the conference and harvest festival must be announced by e-mail sbs@hi.is or by phone 470-8044 no later than Monday 3 November 2008.

It is possible to stay at Smyrlabjörg, but a room must be booked there, phone 478-1074.

Last Wednesday, Matís opened a food workshop in Höfn in Hornafjörður. Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, opened the workshop in the presence of a large crowd, but well over two hundred people attended.

Following the formal opening, guests listened to a few short lectures from Matís staff while offering refreshments made from local ingredients, such as salted fish, foals, smoked duck, ice cream, etc. but Matís has been involved in the development, design and marketing of these foods.

Matarsmiðjan is specially set up to support entrepreneurs and companies who want to start value-added small-scale production of food from Icelandic raw materials.

The picture shows Einar K. Guðfinnsson cutting a ribbon at the formal opening, but the Minister used special lobster scissors for the work. With him in the picture are Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, Hjalti Þór Vignisson, Mayor of Höfn and Guðmundur M. Gunnarsson, Project Manager at Matís in Höfn.

Further information can be found on Matís' website, www.matis.is.

Lecture dr. Harður G. Kristinsson from the opening.

A prototype of a software for fisheries companies is now ready, which proposes the most efficient arrangements for fishing and processing fish, can increase the value of seafood and at the same time contribute to increased profits for companies.

How can fishing and processing be managed so that the most efficient and profitable results are achieved from the operation as a whole? A detailed interview was recently published in Viðskipablaðið with Svein Margeirsson, department manager at Matís, about the FisHmark software, which is entirely Icelandic. The interview can be seen here.

Matís 'switchboard will be closed on November 4th and 5th due to the employees' autumn trip and the opening of a product development center in Höfn in Hörnafjörður.

The direct telephone number of the microbiology department is 422 5116 and the direct telephone number of the chemical department is 422 5154. Other direct telephone numbers of employees can be found on our website www.matis.is.

The service in Borgartún 21 will also be closed these days, but will be open on Skúlagata 4 and at Gylfaflöt 5.