A research partnership that started years ago in Australia is bringing a Fulbright Scholar to UAB, where he will conduct postdoctoral research in the School of Engineering.

Edward “Eddie” Attenborough, a chemical engineer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering  at Monash University in Australia, received the award for his research into transforming food waste into compostable stretch wrap (also known as cling film). He will use the Fulbright to reunite with Mark Banaszak Holl, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, who was on faculty at Monash from 2018-2022 and continued to serve as Attenborough’s joint Ph.D. advisor along with Leonie van ’t Hag after he moved to UAB.

“I have known Eddie since he was an undergraduate,” said Banaszak Holl. “He is a dynamic, creative engineer with an entrepreneurial streak, and I am excited about the opportunity to continue to work with him as he continues his research at UAB.”

Attenborough’s research project is titled “Compostable biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) films and biomedical composite materials, and their end of life.” The project emerged from ongoing collaborations between van 't Hag and Banaszak Holl and combines key areas of bioengineering, polymer engineering and circular economy to utilize bacteria produced biopolymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), for development of functional films and biomedical composite materials.

For five months, he will research improving compostable biopolymer thin films for medical packaging applications, further develop PHA nanoparticles for drug delivery and for implantable devices, as well as look at PHA film degradation in ideal and non-ideal composting environments.

Attenborough’s research will utilize UAB's state-of-the-art mIRage-LS Microscope; which combines the functions of a microscope with infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy and imaging at sub-micron scale. He will also use the state-of-the-art Dimension Icon AFM-IR, which combines topographic, IR, and mechanical imaging at the nanometer scale. He is also looking forward to working with the engineers in the UAB MPAD facility.

He will also visit a variety of companies who make PHA's in the USA to facilitate knowledge transfer and learn from US expertise in PHA production and scale-up processes, allowing for the transfer of this knowledge to Australia to further develop our bioplastics industry.

“The Fulbright brings immense benefits to me and my work, with the research focused on answering some key questions in using PHA's as functional biomaterials, helping to further develop this non-toxic, marine biodegradable polymer for more wider-reaching applications,” Attenborough said. “I am very excited and honored to have received a Fulbright Scholarship to support this work and facilitate this academic and cultural exchange, and look forward to working with some fantastic researchers in the USA.”