Past Event

2023 MIT Sustainability Conference - Startup Exchange Lightning Talks

September 26, 2023 - September 27, 2023
Boston Marriott Cambridge
2023 MIT Sustainability Conference - Startup Exchange Lightning Talks

Location

Boston Marriott Cambridge
50 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02142

Overview

The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks and Startup Exhibit listed below are part of the full agenda for 2023 MIT Sustainability Conference - Frontiers of Sustainability.

Sustainability is a broad and popular topic. Renewable energy; energy transition; recycling and the circular economy; climate and environment; water and food – these topics are quickly maturing into fields of their own. But what is next for sustainability? What lies beyond what we now consider sustainable technologies and business practices, and how will they affect your industry? What does emerging government policy suggest will be the hot sustainability topics of the future? Join MIT faculty, researchers, and startups as we review core topics like energy and climate, but also explore new ones, like digital sustainability, sustainability for the built environment, and how we teach sustainability – both to the workforce of the present and the workforce of the future.

  • Overview

    The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks and Startup Exhibit listed below are part of the full agenda for 2023 MIT Sustainability Conference - Frontiers of Sustainability.

    Sustainability is a broad and popular topic. Renewable energy; energy transition; recycling and the circular economy; climate and environment; water and food – these topics are quickly maturing into fields of their own. But what is next for sustainability? What lies beyond what we now consider sustainable technologies and business practices, and how will they affect your industry? What does emerging government policy suggest will be the hot sustainability topics of the future? Join MIT faculty, researchers, and startups as we review core topics like energy and climate, but also explore new ones, like digital sustainability, sustainability for the built environment, and how we teach sustainability – both to the workforce of the present and the workforce of the future.


Agenda

11:40 AM
MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks

Program Manager, MIT Startup Exchange

Ariadna Rodenstein headshot
Ariadna Rodenstein

Program Manager, MIT Startup Exchange

Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.
 
Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.

In order of appearance:
Empowering Dairy, Transforming Tomorrow
Julia Somerdin

Co-Founder and CEO, Labby

Julia Somerdin headshot
Julia Somerdin

Co-Founder and CEO, Labby

Julia Somerdin, the trailblazing CEO and Co-founder of Labby, is reshaping the dairy industry with transformative technology. With Labby's instant on-farm milk testing, Julia and her team ensure healthier cows, superior milk quality, and transparent supply chains. Armed with two decades of experience in technology commercialization, Julia deftly merges innovation with real-world impact. While pursuing her engineering leadership degree at MIT, she made the audacious decision to put it on hold, following her entrepreneurial dreams. Julia's visionary leadership empowers sustainable practices and memorable outcomes in the dairy world.

The Material Solution to Carbon Capture
Cameron Halliday

Co-Founder and CEO, Mantel Capture, Inc.

Cameron Halliday headshot
Cameron Halliday

Co-Founder and CEO, Mantel Capture, Inc.

Cameron Halliday is co-founder and CEO of Mantel, a carbon capture start-up based in Boston. Mantel’s solution captures CO2 at the high temperatures found inside boilers, kilns, and furnaces, and by doing so, aims reduce the energy cost of carbon capture by more than 60%.

Originally from the UK, Cameron studied chemical engineering at Loughborough University before joining the PhDCEP program at MIT. As a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering department, Cameron developed the newly discovered carbon capture technology with Professor Alan Hatton and Takuya Harada. After demonstrating the technology at the bench-scale Cameron joined the MBA program at MIT Sloan, where he launched Mantel with co-founders Sean Robertson and Danielle Colson.

Low-Carbon Materials Powered by Robotics and AI
Jose Tomas Dominguez

Founder, Atacama

Jose Dominguez headshot
Jose Tomas Dominguez

Founder, Atacama

Jose Tomas Dominguez is a seasoned entrepreneur in deep tech robotics, having launched two startups and mentored others. His work in robotics led to successfully deploying autonomous robots in the Atacama Desert solar farms. He excels in renewable materials and advanced manufacturing, publishing with ASME, and collaborating with industry leaders like Dassault Systems and Formlabs. His deep tech expertise and robust industry network in renewables leap Atacama's technology.

Bringing Renewable Energy to Heavy Industry
Peter Godart

Co-Founder & CEO, Found Energy

Peter Godart headshot
Peter Godart

Co-Founder & CEO, Found Energy

Peter Godart, PhD is the co-founder and CEO of Found Energy, an MIT spinout commercializing breakthrough technology that turns aluminum into fuel for generating low-cost, clean hydrogen on demand. He holds BSc degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering and an MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. After earning his bachelor’s degrees in 2015, Dr. Godart spent two years as a research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (347G), where he worked daily operations for the Mars Science Laboratory (“Curiosity”), qualified hardware for the Mars 2020 Rover (“Perseverance”), and led a research team in the exploring aluminum-based fuel for potential Europa lander applications. For his doctoral work, Dr. Godart developed new ways of extracting energy from aluminum waste to power electricity generation and seawater desalination in the aftermath of natural disasters, laying the groundwork for his company. Dr. Godart is also an avid educator and writer, and his first book Thermodynamics and Climate Change is available on MIT Opencourseware.

Low-Cost, Non-Flammable, Non-Lithium Battery Technology
Matthew West
Head of Marketing, Alsym
Matthew West
Matthew West
Head of Marketing

Matt comes to Alsym with more than 20 years of marketing and technology experience. Before joining Alsym he led growth marketing and communications at Allegro MicroSystems and led brand and corporate marketing at Rocket Software. Matt has also held marketing leadership roles at Dassault Systems and began his career at Circuit City, where he was editorial manager for the company ecommerce website.

Engineering the Most Advanced Alloys in the World. Better Materials, Better Products, Bigger Impact
Jake Guglin

CEO & Founder, Foundation Alloy

Jake Guglin headshot
Jake Guglin

CEO & Founder, Foundation Alloy

Jake Guglin is CEO and founder of Foundation Alloy, where they take a materials-first approach to enabling modern engineering through faster production of better metal parts for a variety of applications. He is most excited about Foundation's broad potential to bring the best of what can be designed into reality, and make the world a safer, greener and more exciting place in the process. Jake has previous experience in business formation, supply chain, operations and strategy at companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX, and an MBA from MIT.

Microwave to Hydrogen for Decarbonization
Matt Hudson

Project Engineer, MAAT Energy

Matt Hudson headshot
Matt Hudson

Project Engineer, MAAT Energy

Matt Hudson is a Project Engineer at MAAT Energy, a renewable energy startup focused on converting methane and carbon dioxide into valuable molecules sustainably. His role within the company started with conducting plasma chemistry experiments and expanded to performing techno-economic and lifecycle analysis, project controls, and technical procurement. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University and a master’s in Energy Systems Engineering from Northeastern University.

Beyond Air
Mike Strauch
Senior Systems Engineer, Transaera
Mike Strauch
Mike Strauch
Senior Systems Engineer

Mike Strauch is a senior systems engineer for Transaera, a startup developing a new class of ultra-efficient air conditioning systems. Transaera is on a mission to cut the cost of ownership of air conditioners by more than half using a combination of novel materials and systems. Strauch is responsible for managing commercial partnerships and system modeling efforts for Transaera’s technology, which uses materials with nano-scale pores to remove moisture from the air, dramatically reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning. Prior to joining Transaera, he worked as a design engineer for GE Aviation, after completing GE’s engineering development program. He earnedan MS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from MIT and a BS in aerospace engineering from Ohio State.

Intelligent & Functional Biomaterials
Virj Kan
Virj Kan headshot
Virj Kan

Virj Kan is an engineer, designer, and entrepreneur. Her work centers on building experiences that reshape human relationships with the environment and each other. She is the CEO of Primitives Biodesign, a biomaterials startup that produces functional, intelligent, and biodegradable materials to combat environmental issues in kelp conservation, plastics pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. As an avid scuba diver, Virj draws on her first-hand experiences with marine ecosystems, to develop market-based solutions to drive climate action. Virj Kan received her master of science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she utilized ocean-based materials to develop stimuli responsive biopolymers that changed color, released odor, and changed shape for industrial design applications. She has over seven years of hands-on materials engineering and formulation experience with a range of biological materials. Her body of work spans from engineering functional biomaterials, to building digital fabrication tools, designing 3D robotic manipulation, IoT and mobile computing interfaces at the Samsung Design Innovation Center & NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.

Self-Healing Low-Carbon Concretes With Best-in-Class Performance
Paolo Sabatini

Co-Founder & CEO, DMAT

Paolo Sabatini headshot
Paolo Sabatini

Co-Founder & CEO, DMAT

Paolo Sabatini is the CEO of DMAT, a ground-breaking startup revolutionizing the concrete industry. Inspired by ancient Roman practices, DMAT has pioneered a novel concrete formulation with self-healing capabilities, extended longevity, reduced embodied and operational carbon footprint, and no retrofitting costs. As co-founder and CEO, Paolo is driving the company's growth to make this innovative concrete the global standard for durable and sustainable building and infrastructure. DMAT has successfully developed and tested its technology through partnerships with leading concrete laboratories and is now actively working on its first construction projects. The future of more resilient and sustainable structures begins with DMAT's visionary leadership and cutting-edge solutions.

Making carbon-negative chemicals for everyday life
Mark Poole

Director of R&D, Capra Biosciences

Mark Poole headshot
Mark Poole

Director of R&D, Capra Biosciences

Dr. Mark Poole has a Ph.D. in biological engineering and environmental engineering from North Carolina State University where he applied advanced synthetic biology techniques to engineer challenging non-model organisms. With an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and previous experience building custom bioreactor systems, Dr. Poole is able to apply his multidisciplinary experience to lead Capra's bioreactor development and synthetic biology programs as Director of Research and Development. Mark also has unique entrepreneurial experience –as a graduate student, he and his mother founded a Kombucha business in Cary, NC called IngeuiTea Brews.

12:30 PM
Lunch with Startup Exhibit
  • Agenda
    11:40 AM
    MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks

    Program Manager, MIT Startup Exchange

    Ariadna Rodenstein headshot
    Ariadna Rodenstein

    Program Manager, MIT Startup Exchange

    Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.
     
    Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.

    In order of appearance:
    Empowering Dairy, Transforming Tomorrow
    Julia Somerdin

    Co-Founder and CEO, Labby

    Julia Somerdin headshot
    Julia Somerdin

    Co-Founder and CEO, Labby

    Julia Somerdin, the trailblazing CEO and Co-founder of Labby, is reshaping the dairy industry with transformative technology. With Labby's instant on-farm milk testing, Julia and her team ensure healthier cows, superior milk quality, and transparent supply chains. Armed with two decades of experience in technology commercialization, Julia deftly merges innovation with real-world impact. While pursuing her engineering leadership degree at MIT, she made the audacious decision to put it on hold, following her entrepreneurial dreams. Julia's visionary leadership empowers sustainable practices and memorable outcomes in the dairy world.

    The Material Solution to Carbon Capture
    Cameron Halliday

    Co-Founder and CEO, Mantel Capture, Inc.

    Cameron Halliday headshot
    Cameron Halliday

    Co-Founder and CEO, Mantel Capture, Inc.

    Cameron Halliday is co-founder and CEO of Mantel, a carbon capture start-up based in Boston. Mantel’s solution captures CO2 at the high temperatures found inside boilers, kilns, and furnaces, and by doing so, aims reduce the energy cost of carbon capture by more than 60%.

    Originally from the UK, Cameron studied chemical engineering at Loughborough University before joining the PhDCEP program at MIT. As a PhD student in the Chemical Engineering department, Cameron developed the newly discovered carbon capture technology with Professor Alan Hatton and Takuya Harada. After demonstrating the technology at the bench-scale Cameron joined the MBA program at MIT Sloan, where he launched Mantel with co-founders Sean Robertson and Danielle Colson.

    Low-Carbon Materials Powered by Robotics and AI
    Jose Tomas Dominguez

    Founder, Atacama

    Jose Dominguez headshot
    Jose Tomas Dominguez

    Founder, Atacama

    Jose Tomas Dominguez is a seasoned entrepreneur in deep tech robotics, having launched two startups and mentored others. His work in robotics led to successfully deploying autonomous robots in the Atacama Desert solar farms. He excels in renewable materials and advanced manufacturing, publishing with ASME, and collaborating with industry leaders like Dassault Systems and Formlabs. His deep tech expertise and robust industry network in renewables leap Atacama's technology.

    Bringing Renewable Energy to Heavy Industry
    Peter Godart

    Co-Founder & CEO, Found Energy

    Peter Godart headshot
    Peter Godart

    Co-Founder & CEO, Found Energy

    Peter Godart, PhD is the co-founder and CEO of Found Energy, an MIT spinout commercializing breakthrough technology that turns aluminum into fuel for generating low-cost, clean hydrogen on demand. He holds BSc degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering and an MSc and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. After earning his bachelor’s degrees in 2015, Dr. Godart spent two years as a research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (347G), where he worked daily operations for the Mars Science Laboratory (“Curiosity”), qualified hardware for the Mars 2020 Rover (“Perseverance”), and led a research team in the exploring aluminum-based fuel for potential Europa lander applications. For his doctoral work, Dr. Godart developed new ways of extracting energy from aluminum waste to power electricity generation and seawater desalination in the aftermath of natural disasters, laying the groundwork for his company. Dr. Godart is also an avid educator and writer, and his first book Thermodynamics and Climate Change is available on MIT Opencourseware.

    Low-Cost, Non-Flammable, Non-Lithium Battery Technology
    Matthew West
    Head of Marketing, Alsym
    Matthew West
    Matthew West
    Head of Marketing

    Matt comes to Alsym with more than 20 years of marketing and technology experience. Before joining Alsym he led growth marketing and communications at Allegro MicroSystems and led brand and corporate marketing at Rocket Software. Matt has also held marketing leadership roles at Dassault Systems and began his career at Circuit City, where he was editorial manager for the company ecommerce website.

    Engineering the Most Advanced Alloys in the World. Better Materials, Better Products, Bigger Impact
    Jake Guglin

    CEO & Founder, Foundation Alloy

    Jake Guglin headshot
    Jake Guglin

    CEO & Founder, Foundation Alloy

    Jake Guglin is CEO and founder of Foundation Alloy, where they take a materials-first approach to enabling modern engineering through faster production of better metal parts for a variety of applications. He is most excited about Foundation's broad potential to bring the best of what can be designed into reality, and make the world a safer, greener and more exciting place in the process. Jake has previous experience in business formation, supply chain, operations and strategy at companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX, and an MBA from MIT.

    Microwave to Hydrogen for Decarbonization
    Matt Hudson

    Project Engineer, MAAT Energy

    Matt Hudson headshot
    Matt Hudson

    Project Engineer, MAAT Energy

    Matt Hudson is a Project Engineer at MAAT Energy, a renewable energy startup focused on converting methane and carbon dioxide into valuable molecules sustainably. His role within the company started with conducting plasma chemistry experiments and expanded to performing techno-economic and lifecycle analysis, project controls, and technical procurement. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University and a master’s in Energy Systems Engineering from Northeastern University.

    Beyond Air
    Mike Strauch
    Senior Systems Engineer, Transaera
    Mike Strauch
    Mike Strauch
    Senior Systems Engineer

    Mike Strauch is a senior systems engineer for Transaera, a startup developing a new class of ultra-efficient air conditioning systems. Transaera is on a mission to cut the cost of ownership of air conditioners by more than half using a combination of novel materials and systems. Strauch is responsible for managing commercial partnerships and system modeling efforts for Transaera’s technology, which uses materials with nano-scale pores to remove moisture from the air, dramatically reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning. Prior to joining Transaera, he worked as a design engineer for GE Aviation, after completing GE’s engineering development program. He earnedan MS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from MIT and a BS in aerospace engineering from Ohio State.

    Intelligent & Functional Biomaterials
    Virj Kan
    Virj Kan headshot
    Virj Kan

    Virj Kan is an engineer, designer, and entrepreneur. Her work centers on building experiences that reshape human relationships with the environment and each other. She is the CEO of Primitives Biodesign, a biomaterials startup that produces functional, intelligent, and biodegradable materials to combat environmental issues in kelp conservation, plastics pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. As an avid scuba diver, Virj draws on her first-hand experiences with marine ecosystems, to develop market-based solutions to drive climate action. Virj Kan received her master of science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she utilized ocean-based materials to develop stimuli responsive biopolymers that changed color, released odor, and changed shape for industrial design applications. She has over seven years of hands-on materials engineering and formulation experience with a range of biological materials. Her body of work spans from engineering functional biomaterials, to building digital fabrication tools, designing 3D robotic manipulation, IoT and mobile computing interfaces at the Samsung Design Innovation Center & NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.

    Self-Healing Low-Carbon Concretes With Best-in-Class Performance
    Paolo Sabatini

    Co-Founder & CEO, DMAT

    Paolo Sabatini headshot
    Paolo Sabatini

    Co-Founder & CEO, DMAT

    Paolo Sabatini is the CEO of DMAT, a ground-breaking startup revolutionizing the concrete industry. Inspired by ancient Roman practices, DMAT has pioneered a novel concrete formulation with self-healing capabilities, extended longevity, reduced embodied and operational carbon footprint, and no retrofitting costs. As co-founder and CEO, Paolo is driving the company's growth to make this innovative concrete the global standard for durable and sustainable building and infrastructure. DMAT has successfully developed and tested its technology through partnerships with leading concrete laboratories and is now actively working on its first construction projects. The future of more resilient and sustainable structures begins with DMAT's visionary leadership and cutting-edge solutions.

    Making carbon-negative chemicals for everyday life
    Mark Poole

    Director of R&D, Capra Biosciences

    Mark Poole headshot
    Mark Poole

    Director of R&D, Capra Biosciences

    Dr. Mark Poole has a Ph.D. in biological engineering and environmental engineering from North Carolina State University where he applied advanced synthetic biology techniques to engineer challenging non-model organisms. With an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and previous experience building custom bioreactor systems, Dr. Poole is able to apply his multidisciplinary experience to lead Capra's bioreactor development and synthetic biology programs as Director of Research and Development. Mark also has unique entrepreneurial experience –as a graduate student, he and his mother founded a Kombucha business in Cary, NC called IngeuiTea Brews.

    12:30 PM
    Lunch with Startup Exhibit

Disclaimer:  MIT Startup Exchange can make introductions that ideally provide open ended discussions in order to share mutual interests and potentially create common ground that incite the parties to collaborate. MIT Startup Exchange introductions may eventually lead to mutual partnerships, but that is not in any way guaranteed by MIT, MIT Corporate Relations, MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) or MIT Startup Exchange, which takes no responsibility for these outcomes and no formal part in such discussions following our introduction. MIT Startup Exchange and its activities and events are not for purposes of soliciting investment or offering securities.