SASKATOON — University of Saskatchewan Associate Professor Dr. Bishnu Acharya won the prestigious Mitacs Innovation Award for his groundbreaking work turning agricultural waste into canola meal, oat hulls, and flax into high-value products. The award was presented at a ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 19.
The research of Acharya, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Chair in Bioprocess Engineering, focuses on converting these waste materials into nutritional food additives, sustainable packaging, and clean energy sources.
One of his significant achievements is developing a process to convert leftover canola meal into nutrient-dense feed for microbes used in fermentation, which supports the rapidly growing North American biotechnology sector.
This work led to the creation of CanXtract Innovation Inc., a Saskatoon-based spin-off aimed at reducing costs for fermentation companies while adding value to canola oil producers. His innovative research turns agriculture waste into nutritional food additives, sustainable packaging and clean energy sources.
“There’s a big push to move from a fossil fuel-based economy towards a bio-based economy to mitigate climate change and global warming. Our work focuses on innovating new processes and products that will be crucial for this transition to work,” said Acharya.
His research would not be possible without the support of Mitacs and partner organizations like the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He is one of eight Mitacs Innovation Award winners nationally, chosen from thousands of innovators participating in Mitacs programs each year.
“The best part about Mitacs-funded collaborations is that the industry becomes more aware of what’s happening at the leading edge, and students get an opportunity to understand the workplace. It changes our perspective on how to carry out our research because we’re constantly thinking about how that research can be implemented in industry,” he added.
Acharya’s work also includes collaboration with Richardson Milling Inc. to explore the value of oat hulls, a byproduct of grain processing. His team discovered that oat hulls contain high-quality sugar and fibre, which can be used to enhance food products and create sustainable packaging.
His research, supported by Mitacs and other partners, is a part of the shift towards a bio-based economy, contributing to climate change mitigation as Saskatchewan looks to increase canola crushing by 75 per cent by 2030.
Acharya applied his expertise in bioprocessing and conversion — methods for turning waste into valuable end-products — to lead the research on turning canola meal into a low-cost, nutrient-dense feed for microbes used in fermentation, and is the fastest-growing North American biotechnology sector segment aimed at supporting new foods, beverages, medicines and other applications.
Mitacs, supported by the Government of Saskatchewan, is a Canadian innovation leader that connects businesses and researchers to drive competitiveness and productivity in agriculture, life sciences, biomass, energy and mining sectors.
The Mitacs Award Innovation Award — Outstanding Research Leadership is presented to a post-secondary supervisor with an exemplary record of developing collaborations with enterprise partners, providing valuable research and training experiences to their interns, and utilizing Mitacs funding to initiate groundbreaking research. Mitacs programs are supported by funding from the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments nationwide.