2024 Startup Cohort

Presenter: Chief Business Officer - Nick Sandland has over 35 years experience in the polymer industry. He left school at 16 to begin an apprenticeship at a plastic molding company, and after working in a variety of technical roles, he became a Graduate of the Plastics and Rubber Institute. He also received a B.Eng. in Polymer Technology and Materials Engineering from Loughborough University. In the early part of his career he worked mainly in the automotive market, developing rubber formulations and optimizing processes. After that he worked for a polymer manufacturer in technical support and application development roles, supporting customers in the high performance elastomer markets, such as automotive, oil & gas, industrial and others across Europe. Prior to joining Algenesis, Nick held a number of senior commercial leadership and business development roles, culminating in scouting start-up companies with technology that could disrupt the polymer industry. This is how he first discovered the pioneering work of Algenesis, and moved to his current role on the leadership team.

Presenter: Chris Shugart comes to Ambient Fuels with over 25 years of experience in renewable and industrial and energy projects including wind, solar, battery storage, high voltage transmission, and cogeneration. Chris is responsible for leading the development, execution, and operations of the Ambient Fuels’ project pipeline.

Prior to his current role, Chris was a member of the executive management teams at leading renewable energy firms Pattern Energy and Rev Renewables (LS Power). In these roles, Chris had diverse leadership roles spanning project development, construction, project operations, asset management, corporate operations, supply chain and construction management of renewable energy and storage projects.

Prior to Pattern, Chris worked in power project development roles at Calpine Corporation, including extensive work helping energy intensive industrial clients to improve the efficiency and environmental footprint of their operations. Chris earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He resides in Houston TX with his wife and has three children.

Presenter: Dr. Amy Heintz is the Technical Fellow in Materials Science at Battelle. She drives Battelle’s strategic efforts in materials Science and Technology for National Security, Health, and Environment & Infrastructure markets. She works across Battelle and partner organizations to accelerate the application of transformative materials into systems. She is the steward of Battelle’s independent research and development (IR&D) portfolio. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring the success of Battelle’s research in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), climate resilience, circular plastics economy, drug delivery and synthetic-biology enabled systems. She is also responsible for ensuring the impact of Battelle’s research enterprise through intellectual property management. During her tenure at Battelle, she has developed new materials technologies, including HeatCoat™, lightweight sensors, thermal management systems, signature control coatings, cancer diagnostics, and wearable electrodes for neurostimulation. She has 36 issued U.S. patents. Dr. Heintz serves on the Board of Governors and S&T Council for UT-Battelle and the Scientific Advisory Board for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Dr. Heintz has B.S. in Chemistry from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Presenter: Being attracted to chemistry early in his life, Jan Weernink pursued a degree in Chemical Engineer in the Netherlands. As a dual national (US and Dutch citizen) Jan began his US career with Benjamin Moore as a product development chemist in the paint & coating industry. He quickly realized that being technical was only part of the chemical industry, he obtained an MBA and he gradually moved into broader and more senior commercial roles at companies like Zeneca, Elementis, Dow Chemical and ADM and finally he transitioned into taking on the CCO role at GFBiochemicals located in Marseille, France. Trained as a chemical engineer and being embedded in the petrochemical sector he realized that creating sustainable solutions where no longer just an option but a requirement if we are to address the existential challenges humanity and the planet face today. At GFBiochemicals, Jan is leading the commercialization of it’s levulinic acid platform which has been identified by the US DoE as a platform chemical of the future.

Presenter: Hamilton Perkins' first business venture was a magazine recycling operation in middle school, which was eventually shut down by the school. However, this setback did not stop his entrepreneurial spirit or his commitment to social impact. He later launched a product on Kickstarter made from recycled plastic bottles and billboards, successfully selling over 50,000 units. Perkins has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, and The Washington Post. His customers include Hewlett-Packard, Ellen, and Affirm. Currently, Perkins is working to commercialize intellectual property that depolymerizes and bio-converts waste streams into circular polymers aka reusable materials, supporting the expanding customer base of the Hamilton Perkins Collection (HPC). Additionally, Perkins was both a finalist and a winner of the 2023 Black Ambition Prize, presented by Pharrell Williams. He is an alum of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and a 2024 LabStart Fellow. Hamilton holds a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University's Strome College of Business and an MBA from William and Mary. Perkins serves on the Executive Advisory Council at Old Dominion University's Strome College of Business. He is married, has one son, and resides in Los Angeles, California.

Presenter: Jimmy Chiu, Ph.D., is the CTO of Loop CO2, a pioneering startup focused on the catalytic transformation of CO2 together with bio-derived material into valuable and upcyclable polymer materials. With expertise in catalysis and materials science, he leads the development of innovative technologies that tackle sustainability challenges through carbon utilization and advanced recycling solutions.

Before joining Loop CO2, Jimmy served as a Technical Manager and Senior Chemist at DuPont, where he led the design and synthesis of specialty polymers for the electronics industry. He also spearheaded intellectual property strategy and new product development and scaleup, contributing to $30 million in annual revenue.

Presenter: Eric Steen, PhD is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Eric achieved a bioengineering doctorate from a joint program between UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco and furthered his studies at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business in a Management of Technology program. As CEO of Lygos, he plays a pivotal role in setting the company's vision and ensuring its successful execution. Eric addresses challenges like finite resources, plastic buildup, and environmental toxins, driven by a profound bond with nature stemming from his childhood near Indianapolis farming communities. With two young children, he's determined to foster a better world for them and future generations.

Presenter: Ned Weintraub brings a history of success in achieving and beating objectives for revenue growth to his role as Chief Revenue Officer at NobleAI, a pioneer in Science-based AI solutions for chemical and material informatics. Prior to joining NobleAI, Weintraub was Senior VP, World Sales for 7SIGNAL, an enterprise SaaS Wifi monitoring solution provider, Vice President of Sales at Virtana, a leader in hybrid cloud infrastructure, and Aternity, a provider of application performance and end-user monitoring tools. His deep domain experience additionally spans sales roles at HP Cloud, Savision BV, Trellia Networks and Lumeta Corporation, as well as Executive Advisor engagements with Undock, Bevi and other mission driven companies where he provides mentorship on sales strategy and execution.

Presenter: Kelly Redmond is a founder and co-CEO of Oleo Sustainable Palm Oil Solutions, a biotechnology company transforming biomass waste into sustainable oil supply-chain inputs. Redmond completed a B.Sc. in environmental engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an M.S. in engineering at Stanford University. Before starting Oleo, Redmond worked as an environmental science and engineering officer in the U.S. Army, managing large-scale environmental health programs, projects, and operations domestically and abroad.

Presenter: Advait Holkar is the founder and CEO of Praio, a biomanufacturing startup focusing on low-cost production of biocommodities. He completed his bachelor's degree at IIT Delhi and obtained a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UCLA. Holkar formed Praio based on his graduate research and is dedicated to reducing reliance on fossil-based sources for a sustainable and green future.