Biorefineries
Group led by Emeritus Professor Herbert Sixta
Biorefineries and Herbert Sixta in spotlight at 2022 seminar
The annual Biorefineries Scientific Seminar on 30 March 2022 featured presentations on the latest developments in biorefineries and biopolymer chemistry and engineering at Aalto from the research groups of Herbert Sixta and Michael Hummel. As the final seminar for the now-Emeritus Professor, Sixta reviewed decades of advancements in forest-based biorefinery.
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Biopolymer Chemistry and Engineering
Group led by Professor Michael Hummel
Professor Emeritus Herbert Sixta: “The most important task of a professor is to educate young people, to help them build their career”
After an extensive career in academia and the forest-based industries, Professor Herbert Sixta has retired. Having worked in Austria for 25 years, Sixta arrived ʵ in 2007, where his research in biorefineries helped create, among other things, the Ioncell process, a technology that turns used textiles, pulp, and paper into new textile fibres sustainably and without chemicals.
Marcus Wallenberg Prize to Professor Herbert Sixta for the development of Sustainable wood-based textile fibres
The 2022 Marcus Wallenberg Prize is awarded to Professor Herbert Sixta and Professor Ilkka Kilpeläinen for the development and use of novel ionic liquids to process wood biomass into high-performance textile fibres.
Pilot production line for Ioncell launched — a top made with the stronger-than-cotton ecofibre gets its colour from Finnish fields
In addition to producing the innovative textile fibre, the pilot production line will be used to develop wood-based carbon fibres.
Luxury fibre from recycled cardboard
Prize-winning spinning method can reduce the environmental hazards of textile production.
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Apply Now: Unite! Visiting Professorships at TU Graz
TU Graz, Austria, invites experienced postdoctoral researchers to apply for two fully funded visiting professorships. The deadline for expressions of interest is 20 February 2026, and the positions will begin on 1 October 2026.
Hanaholmen’s 50th anniversary exhibition lives on online – making the history of Finnish–Swedish cooperation accessible worldwide
MeMo Institute at Aalto University has produced a virtual 3D version of the anniversary exhibition of Hanaholmen.Soil Laboratory Exhibition – Exploring the Dialogue Between Human and the Earth in Utsjoki
Soil Laboratory explores the relationship between humans and the earth as a living landscape through ceramic practices in Utsjoki.