SINGAPORE: At 33, Siobhan Coster, a dietitian who detoured into the world of business, was trying to solve a career puzzle: how to combine her love of health with her passion for building things. She enrolled in a master of business administration at the University of Queensland hoping the program would help the two pieces fit together.

The picture emerged during Coster’s final project, which gave students the option to pair with an industry partner. Working with the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, Coster investigated ways of commercialising precision fermentation technology.

That capstone project became the initial pitch for what is now Eclipse Ingredients, a start-up harnessing precision fermentation technology to produce lactoferrin, an immunity-boosting nutrient found in breast milk. After a further three years’ incubation within CSIRO, with Coster leading the business development, the biotech was spun out in early 2025 with more than $7 million in funding.

While Coster didn’t set out to become a biotech founder, she says the support of her MBA peers and lecturers convinced her the project could become something bigger. “One of the most powerful things is being surrounded by people that have this unwavering confidence in my ability to excel at this,” she says.

Now 40 and the mum of a toddler, Coster says Eclipse Ingredients is on track to launch its first commercial product next year, a lactoferrin powder designed to boost the potency of skincare products. The company has grown to a team of 15 and has raised more than $10 million from investors and government grants.

Lactoferrin, a protein normally found in human and cow’s milk, is sold as a supplement for managing a range of conditions. But traditional methods of producing lactoferrin are expensive and hard to scale — it takes 10,000 litres of cow’s milk to produce 1 kilogram of lactoferrin.

Using precision fermentation – a process similar to brewing beer – Eclipse Ingredients can produce the difficult-to-source protein at scale. The company intends to sell the ingredient to skincare brands, followed by supplements and infant formula as it progresses through regulatory hurdles.

The MBA gave Coster high-level exposure to all aspects of business, which helped prepare her for the long process of validating the idea and getting the product into the hands of customers.

“It’s rare for research to translate into a successful academic paper, let alone a funded company,” says UQ MBA program director Sam MacAulay. “It was amazing to see Siobhan’s story come to life.”

The idea of studying an MBA was planted early in Coster’s career. After graduating from Melbourne’s Monash University, she worked as a dietitian for a nutrition consulting firm. At the time her boss – the first female leader she worked under, and a role model – was doing her MBA to pivot into a business role.

In her mid-20s, Coster followed a well-worn path for young Australians and moved to London, working in business development and sales for a consulting firm providing services to global investment banks. There she discovered a knack for scaling businesses, but still felt something was missing.

“Ironically, it was this diversion of my career path away from dietetics that made me realise that health is actually where I wanted to be and where I belonged,” Coster says.

After returning to Australia, Coster enrolled in her MBA, commuting between the Sunshine Coast and UQ’s Brisbane campus for classes while also running her own e-commerce business, which sold a portfolio of brands on Amazon.

Her studies, which focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, introduced her to high-growth, venture-backed start-ups. It’s this experience that informs her advice to future MBA students.

“Don’t treat the MBA as theory you’ll apply later. Use the time you’re given – the time you’re dedicating to it – to build something, test an idea, or work on a project that actually matters to you and your career,” Coster says.

“I spent my capstone validating and building the business case for Eclipse, and I pitched it to CSIRO before I’d finished. That dedicated time disappears after you graduate, so use it while you have it.”

On the back of growing demand for entrepreneurial skills, the University of Queensland redesigned its MBA program to introduce three practical courses where students can work with an industry partner or on their own new entrepreneurial venture.

“UQ’s had a long legacy of students like Siobhan building businesses through our MBA program and recent years has seen interest accelerate,” says MacAulay, an associate professor at UQ’s School of Business.

“People test, iterate and advance their ideas, and it’s been great to see progress, whether that’s converting the idea into a business or helping our students identify flaws in their approach and thus avoid costly mistakes down the line.”