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`Emphasis shifting to product engineering'

Special Correspondent

SURATHKAL: Stagnation of traditional low-value bulk chemicals has impacted the profit margins of several existing products, including synthetic fibres.

This has forced the industry to look toward avenues to produce high-value products, which was possible through product development based on nano-biotechnology, said Ashok Mulchandani, professor, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California.

Delivering the ninth M.G. Subba Rau lecture series on "Nano-biotechnology: the new frontier in chemical engineering" at National Institute of Technology - Karnataka, here on Tuesday, Prof. Mulchandani said the falling profit margins has resulted in big companies giving up production of synthetic fibres. Nano-biotechnology had its advantages in a number of fields, including food, healthcare and security, he said. He said that achievements such as the splitting of the atom, production of fissionable isotopes, production of plastics and liquefaction of air had sustained the chemical industry till now. He said with the stagnation in the chemical industry the emphasis was fast shifting from "process engineering" to "product engineering" with an eye towards developing new fields of production in the future. He said frontier technology could now emerge out of nano-biotechnology.

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