The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks listed below are part of the full agenda for Innovations for the Next Generation of Mobility (HOSTED BY PLASTIC OMNIUM).
Mobility is being re-invented in a transforming world and faces a striving need for innovation. Decarbonization is one of the drivers to select new paths but also the modifications in social, economic, energy and cities to ease access to a more frugal mobility.
Among the many possible ways, how can new technologies have an impact and offer a path to achieve the ambitious targets to limit the impact of climate change.
From the very small nano-level research to macro-economics topics, we will explore through examples and concrete research programs how experts are innovating for designing the next generation of mobility means.
In this forum organized by Plastic Omnium with MIT, you’ll learn how generative artificial models are supporting the creation of new innovations and how emerging technologies can be adapted. You’ll also hear from experts on the impact of technology on mobility and how corporations, academia and startups can work together to tackle today’s challenges with the environment and energy transition while also offering people adapted and valuable means.
Director, MIT Startup Exchange
Catarina Madeira joined the Office of Corporate Relations as Program Director of Startup Exchange, in May 2021. She was promoted to Director of Startup Exchange in December 2022.
Catarina has been working with the Cambridge/Boston startup ecosystem for over 10 years and joined Corporate Relations with a solid network in the innovation and entrepreneurial community. Prior to MIT, she was part of the team that designed and launched the startup accelerator IUL MIT Portugal later rebranded to Building Global Innovators. She was based in Lisbon and worked in direct relation with the Cambridge team. She held positions including Operations Coordinator, Program Manager, and Business Developer. The accelerator soon achieved steady growth in large part due to the partnerships that Catarina led with regional and global startup ecosystems. After that, she worked at NECEC, leading a program that connects cleantech startups and industry. In this role, she developed and built a pipeline of startups and forged strong relationships with both domestic and European companies. She has also held positions in Portugal and France including at Saboaria e Perfumaria Confiança and L’Oréal as Technical Director and Pharmacist.
Catarina earned her Bachelor in Chemistry at the University of Porto and her Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. She went on to earn her Master of Engineering for Health and Medicines at University Lyon 1 and EM Lyon in France.
Dr. Cyrus Shaoul obtained his BSc in Cognitive Science from MIT in 1993, and his PhD from the University of Alberta in 2012. While at MIT he was an undergraduate researcher at the Media Lab. He co-founded one of the first Internet technology companies in Japan in 1994, called Digital Garage. Cyrus is a co-founder and the CEO of Leela AI. He and his team are laser-focused on building a scalable solution to the problem of building a new, more powerful kind of visual intelligence. Cyrus speaks Japanese, French and Spanish.
Co-Founder and 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 ClimateChange is available on MIT Opencourseware.
CTO and Co-Founder, Ubicept
Bio coming soon.
CEO, Primitives Biodesign
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.
Co-founder and CEO, Lunewave
John Xin is a proven business executive with 20+ years of experience across financial services and automotive industry; Past experience include business development, strategic partnerships, fundraising, product innovation, corporate investment and management consulting. Prior to founding Lunewave, he was a Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships Group at a Fortunate 100 company responsible for ~$500M in annual revenue.
Principal Software Engineer, GelSight
Patrick Stack has beendeveloping software for the surface metrology, finite element analysis, and additive manufacturing industries for over 25 years. Patrick founded the software company, TrueGage, which has been in the surface metrology software business for 20 years. Currently he is working for GelSight, a manufacturer of mobile tactile sensors and software, as a Principal Software Engineer. Patrick is a member of the B46.1 Standard Committee on Surface Texture Analysis.
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.