Executive Director, Columbia Technology Ventures
Senior Vice President for Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer
Orin Herskowitz is a frequent speaker at technology-focused events in NYC and across the country. He has also been appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, serving a two-year term beginning in 2016.
Orin received his BA from Yale and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Prior to joining Columbia, Orin spent 7 years at the Boston Consulting Group's New York office as a strategy consultant, and was previously an entrepreneur and a consultant to start-ups.
Specialties: Brand Design & Strategy, Identity & Implementation, Marketing Process & Automation, Experience Strategy, Agile Design Process, Design Research, Qualitative Research, Usability Testing, Creative Direction, Creative Facilitation, Experience Design, Service Design, Product Design, Information Architecture, Prototyping, Digital Pattern Libraries, Brand Style Guides & Templates, Digital Advertising, Content Strategy & Campaigns, Technical Integration, QA and Program Management.
The 2018 CleanTech Innovation Showcase was hosted by Columbia Technology Ventures, Columbia Engineering, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. This inaugural event highlighted advancements by Columbia researchers in clean technology including waste conversion, fuel production, wastewater treatment, sustainable energy storage and batteries, environmental microbiology, data analytics, and smart cities.
Columbia Sustainability Leaders Discuss Science, Markets, and Clean Energy Storage.
Featuring:
- Arthur Lerner-Lam, Deputy Director Of The Earth Institute’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- Dan Steingart, Stanley Thompson Associate Professor Of Chemical Metallurgy Earth And Environmental Engineering And Chemical Engineering
Moderated by: Claudia Dreifus, Adjunct Professor Of International And Public Affairs; Interviewer And Journalist, The New York Times
Columbia Deans discuss the university's vision for CleanTech and a sustainable future.
Featuring:
- Peter deMenocal, Dean Of Science For The Faculty Of Arts & Sciences
- Dean Mary Boyce, Dean Of The Fu Foundation School Of Engineering And Applied Science
- G. Michael Purdy, Executive Vice President For Research
Moderated by: Orin Herskowitz, Executive Director Of Columbia Technology Ventures
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Forkhead BioTherapeutics is a seed stage biotechnology company recently founded to advance our transformational oral therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes to the clinic. Our technology is based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. Domenico Accili at Columbia University. Dr. Accili has demonstrated the ability to achieve targeted suppression of Foxo1, a nuclear transcription factor, to transform cells in the gut into glucose regulated insulin producing cells. We aim to exploit this discovery by developing an oral agent -- a pill -- to treat insulin-dependent diabetes by restoring normal glucose metabolism. Our addressable market includes over 5 million patients in the US alone that now using insulin therapy, a market in excess of $20 billion worldwide based on sales of insulin and insulin analogues. We are raising $3.5 million in seed financing from accredited investors to delineate and optimize a lead chemical agent ready for late-stage preclinical development prior to filing for an IND to begin clinical trials.
LuminiFi was founded in 2016 to create a completely new WiFI experience based on new software and hardware ideas developed at Columbia University. The WiFi market is almost as big as the Cloud as-a-service market, yet has seen far less investment and innovative energy. Recently introduced mesh WiFI systems, developed by larger companies such as Linksys and Google, or start-ups such as Eero, are essentially traditional WiFi access points with a common management system. They do not address basic questions of performance, RF coverage, and prioritization of traffic, and are expensive for the features provided. The LuminiFi system addresses these basic issues through two new innovative concepts -- a software-based performance boost engine that incorporates patented ideas on traffic acceleration and prioritization, and ultra low-cost RF repeaters which enable the RF coverage to be tailored to the area of interest and do not sacrifice capacity, based on patented ideas on full-duplex RF technology. LuminiFi works with standard, unmodified client devices and is completely compatible with IEEE 802.11 standards. The company is founded by seasoned entrepreneurs with experience in start-ups (Infinio, ReefEdge, Iptivia) and in large companies (IBM, Ericsson), working closely with leading academic experts from Columbia University.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a key mediator of oxidative ER stress and cell death in response to protein misfolding. This provides a mechanism linking expression of misfolded proteins to cell dysfunction, ER stress, and neurodegeneration, and offers a new therapeutic approach for treating Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Huntington’s Disease (HD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. PDI modulation thus represents a previously unexplored node for intervening in AD and HD pathogenesis. We have developed potent, drug-like small molecules that directly modulate PDI function to suppress ROS generation, and prevent cell death and neurodegeneration in cell and animal models. Development of these compounds will allow for a new paradigm for treating neurodegeneration.
Pancreatic cancer (PC), brain cancer and other cancers are deadly diseases with very few effective treatment options. Vesselon's mission is saving lives and improving quality of life by enhancing the delivery of cancer therapeutics to improve patient outcomes by repurposing and improving delivery of approved of approved drugs already shown to be effective. Oncology companies are trying to treat PC and other cancers by discovering and developing new oral or injectable compounds, which historically have resulted in only 5% being approved. Instead of a high-risk drug discovery path, Vesselon’s approach is to repurpose approved drugs to attack cancer – using microbubbles to enhance the deliver of approved chemotherapy agents. We believe this strategy provides an accelerated path to commercialization and improved outcomes. Approved drugs have safety and efficacy data already on file at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We have a targeted drug delivery technology platform from Columbia University that has been shown to significantly increase targeted drug transport into tumors, without the need to modify the therapeutic drug in any way.
The near future is autonomous—full of self-driving cars, robots, and drones that can navigate the world around them without human intervention. As these technologies progress, manufacturers more and more require high-resolution, robust 3D imaging systems like LIDAR (laser radar) to map the world surrounding these robots. However, LIDAR sensors on the market today are incredibly large and expensive, and smaller alternative depth-camera solutions are very low-performance. Cost-effective LIDAR presents a formidable roadblock to an automated future. Leveraging breakthrough technology, Voyant Photonics will sell LIDAR systems that can fit on a thumbnail and cost 50 times less than current products at high volume. These optical systems are manufactured on silicon wafers, much like computer chips, lending themselves to massive economies of scale. After hundreds of millions USD of government investment over more than a decade, such technology has only recently become sufficiently mature for designing complete LIDAR systems. This maturity coincides with increasing pain in the industry from lack of good 3D imaging solutions, and with the maturity of AI and augmented reality technologies that can make the best use of advanced LIDAR. Several robotics and autonomous car manufacturers have expressed strong interest in becoming early-stage customers.
NoMo Diagnostics is a company focused on real-time concussion detection for athletes and military personnel. Sport-related concussion is a common mild traumatic brain injury affecting roughly 300,000 young Americans annually. Depending on the sport and group, it is estimated that 5-6 concussions go unrecognized for every one diagnosed, leaving the majority vulnerable to repetitive concussions and increased risk for musculoskeletal injury. Repetitive concussions can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, causing significant neurological health issues ranging from mood disorders to dementia. Our technology, incubated at Columbia University through Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership with a grant from the Coulter Foundation, will provide an immediate assessment on the field of play, or during military conflict, via a miniaturized quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) with a novel biosensor which can be sent to the sideline or military command center through telemetry, prompting immediate action by health personnel.
Built on our team's strong background in optical physics and material science, we develop and commercialize the ideal clothing system with the following features: fade resistance and microclimate control. We have a phased approach to target the following market segments: athletic wear and mass market, in sequential order. In the athletic wear market, performance enhancement, comfort improvement, and stylish appearance are highly desirable features. In the mass market, brands like Uniqlo have shaped the market of performance fabric in everyday clothing. MetaRe has developed a line of fabric with superior reflectivity performance than Uniqlo’s Airism, therefore we see opportunity to effectively compete and grow the segment of the mass market that focuses on performance as well as aesthetics.
Phorcyte Therapeutics is advancing novel small-molecule drugs that prevent photoreceptor degradation and loss of function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is an inherited disorder affecting approximately 100,000 patients in the US. Because there is no effective treatment, diagnosis as an adolescent brings the certainty of blindness by age 40. Therapeutic advances have proven difficult due to heterogeneity in the underlying genetic cause of the disease with 67 different mutations identified to date. Our novel approach to treating RP is based on enhancing the intrinsic ability of photoreceptors to regenerate as part of their normal function. Specifically, we have identified compounds that activate aerobic glycolysis in photoreceptors, resulting in the production of lactate and other key intermediates used to rebuild critical cellular structures including outer segments that are disposed daily. In a mouse model of RP, we have shown that our approach results in delayed disease progression with improvement in both, the morphology and function of diseased photoreceptors. Most importantly, Phorcyte’s novel treatment is applicable to all patients regardless of underlying genotype. This unique approach is protected by one PCT patent application and two provisional patent filings by Columbia University that have been exclusively obtained by Phorcyte. We have identified several initial compounds as starting points for lead optimization and further in vivo efficacy testing. Phorcyte Therapeutics is seeking a $2M investment to support advancement to our next milestone of candidate selection and initiation of IND enabling studies.
Linnaeus Therapeutics, Inc. is a development-stage, biotechnology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was launched through the UPstart incubator at the University of Pennsylvania’s PCI Ventures. Linnaeus is currently focused on developing small molecules that activate previously untargeted G protein-coupled receptors (“GPCRs”), which engage tumor-suppressive cellular signaling pathways. The Company leverages the expertise of the founding scientists, Todd Ridky, MD, PhD and Chris Natale and of the discoveries of the Ridky Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn, who have developed a deep understanding of the mechanism of action of Linnaeus’ compounds. Initially, Linnaeus is focused on melanoma, but the lead compound (“LNS-0507”) has anti-cancer activity against common tumors in addition to melanoma including non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) and pancreatic carcinoma. Linnaeus’ compounds are safe and effective when delivered systemically, but also have local activity in skin upon topical delivery. Through topical formulations, Linnaeus’ compounds can be designed to act on normal skin melanocytes, extending therapeutic indications beyond oncology to correcting both hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation disorders of the skin.
EnaChip Inc. (Enachip), is a private company specializing in design and process development, as well as contract manufacturing of micro-magnetic components and devices mainly on silicon substrates. Although Enachip is a relative new company, its executive and technical team brings over 40 years combined experience on MEMS and wafer level magnetic technology with innovative structures and product introductions of integrated micro-magnetics. The company’s technical expertise is focused on customized devices using advanced microfabrication methods, and new magnetic materials that enable the manufacturing of high efficiency inductors and transformers that can be used in power management integrated systems, in signal isolation sensitive circuit components where data integrity is critical, magnetic sensors and electromagnets. The company offers business development experience and product commercialization path in the areas of materials, sensors, magnetics, CMOS and MEMS, to enable high impact solutions. Areas of interest include consumer electronics and healthcare products in which small size, low cost, power efficient devices and nanotechnology solutions are the key enablers.
AMY-101 - a novel therapeutic for complement-mediated diseases and health conditions with unmet medical need
Amyndas is an emerging leader in the field of complement therapeutics focusing on discovery and development of advanced therapies to treat inflammatory disorders. Amyndas’ lead candidate, compstatin ("AMY-101") is a novel compound with potential therapeutic utility in a broad range of indications that currently have limited therapeutic options or no therapy at all. Priority indications include the rare hemolytic disease Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH), the rare kidney disease C3 glomerulopathy (C3G), ABO incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation, periodontal disease and Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Additional indications include Cancer Immunotherapy, Hemodialysis and Ischemia/Reperfusion Injuries. Amyndas is founded on the world-class science and expertise of Dr. John Lambris, a world leader in complement research, with 35 years of experience in the complement field, over 450 scientific publications in top journals and the inventor of a broad IP portfolio. Moreover, the company is supported by an extended international network of scientific, clinical and industry experts.
For professionals developing products in the life sciences, Biorealize invented an all-in-one bioprototyping tool that allows users to design, test, and iterate biological solutions for new product applications in cosmetics & personal care, textiles, materials, food and industrial applications using synthetic biology or microbiome approaches.
To improve upon current immuno-oncology approaches to the treatment of solid tumors, CARMA TherapeuticsSM has established a novel platform for adoptive cancer immunotherapy by genetically engineering patient macrophages to create chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CARMA). CARMA cells are poised to have better access to theTME because of active recruitment of monocyte/macrophages into the TME by tumor-derived factors called chemokines. In a sense, CARMA act as a Trojan horse. Once they enter the tumor, macrophages are less prone to the immunosuppression issues that T cells face in the TME, and are able to exert their natural function of phagocytosis, whereby they engulf and break down diseased material (such as cancerous or infected cells). Adoptive transfer of macrophages into cancer patients has already been performed, albeit without tumor-recognition capacity. The CARMA platform now brings together tumor recognition with the effector functions of macrophages.
Exyn is a spin-out from the GRAP Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania, and our proposition in a nutshell is this: what Google is doing to the car to make it fully autonomous, Exyn is doing to drones to make them fully autonomous. Our AI software enables aerial robots to autonomously and safely execute complex missions in high-value commercial operations. Exyn’s aerial robots operate in GPS-denied environments without the need for human control, prior information, or pre-existing infrastructure (e.g. no motion capture system). Our unique technology leverages decades of ground-breaking research in aerial robotics, multi-modal sensor fusion, 3D mapping, obstacle avoidance, and autonomous navigation & planning. The key to our differentiation is the robustness of our robots in complex indoor environments, which enables safe and reliable operation for real-world commercial applications.
PolyAurum is a preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing biodegradable gold nanoparticles (BGNPs) for diagnostic and therapeutic indications. The initial focus will be using BGNPs to enhance the effect of radiation therapy (RT) for patients with locally advanced, difficult to resect solid tumors. Radiation therapy is very effective at killing tumor cells, but the doses needed to achieve this effect often produce life-altering or life threatening side effects. BGNPs accumulate in a tumor and amplify the effect of RT without increasing damage to adjacent healthy tissue. Previous approaches using gold nanoparticles to achieve this amplified effect with RT have all failed because the particles were large and became lodged in sensitive organs like the spleen, liver and kidneys, interfering with the function of those organs. PolyAurum uses clusters of small excretable gold nanoparticles embedded in a biodegradable polymer, allowing enough gold to accumulate in the tumor for a good therapeutic effect. As the polymer degrades these particles are released and easily excreted from the body. Enhancement of radiotherapy with BNGPs has the potential to increase cancer-free survival and improve patient quality of life.
Immerge Labs: Using virtual and augmented reality to re-image how the world prepares for emergencies
ImmERge Labs uses virtual and augmented reality to re-imagine how the world prepares for emergency situations. Using disruptive technologies to improve critical skills, we transform bystanders into rescuers through applications that integrate a physical manikin with highly realistic, multi-sensory simulations that technically, emotionally, and mentally prepare one to render life-saving interventions.
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a common complication in diabetic patients. It leads to pain while walking, ulcers, non-healing wounds, gangrene, and, in extreme cases, to amputations. Existing methods to accurately diagnose and monitor this debilitating condition have severe limitations. Our technology, which is based on non-invasive transillumination measurements of near-infrared light, promises to provide a comprehensive solution to assess blood and oxygen perfusion in the feet of PAD patients. In a published clinical study with 40 subjects, we have demonstrated that vascular optics tomographic imaging can be used to diagnose PAD with high sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, first results of another ongoing clinical trial show that intra-operative monitoring can be employed to assess the success of revascularization and provide markers that predict long-term treatment outcome.
eBrevia uses proprietary machine learning technology to analyze, extract information from and summarize contracts. The software parses complex legal documents in seconds to isolate key data into easy-to-read and exportable summaries reducing contract review time by over 50%. eBrevia’s clients include global law firms, corporate legal departments, audit/consulting firms and commercial real estate firms. The company’s customers use the software for general contract review and tracking, M&A due diligence, audit & compliance work and lease abstraction. Many clients also leverage eBrevia’s Bespoke solution to train the software themselves for custom applications. The company was founded by two entrepreneurial corporate attorneys from Harvard Law along with a machine learning expert who previously led the R&D team at a company extracting data in the medical industry. The company’s Chief Data Scientist holds a PhD from Columbia and three patents in natural language processing from IBM Research. Through a strategic partnership with Donnelley Financial Solutions, eBrevia’s salesforce has extended to over 150 globally.
deCervo's mission is to measure and improve cognitive performance. deCervo's products are developed for and used by professionals in baseball, basketball and the military. With its uHIT product, deCervo has become a brand name in cognitive assessment and training of baseball hitters, from the Major Leagues to youth leagues. In further developments of uHIT for use with video, deCervo has entered the lucrative virtual reality sports training market with a particular edge coming from its ability to measure key performance indicators for cognitive ability in sport. Moving beyond baseball and beyond players too, deCervo's uREF product has been selected for development by the National Basketball Association to reduce mistakes and enhance the training of its referee personnel. And with its first Department of Defense grant awarded this fall, deCervo has entered the arena of cutting edge neuroscience research and product development done in the United States Army. Today, we ask for financing partners to help scale our marketing, sales and operations as we continue to increase market share in baseball, while establishing first-mover status in basketball and other sports.
Biobina LLC is focused on the 22,000 USA (77,000 worldwide) yearly cases of epithelial ovarian cancer involving the peritoneal cavity. Current surgical or chemotherapy treatments are neither curative nor fully satisfactory, The yearly market for treatment, currently $9.1B, will reach $16B by 2023. We have developed and patented AviRadTM, a novel soluble carrier for delivering short range (3-5mm) Yttrium-90 intracavitary ovarian cancer treatment. AviRad-Y consists of purified egg-white protein avidin, tightly bound to a biotinylated DOTA chelator which binds Yttrium-90. In clinical use, Avirad-Y is introduced into the postoperative cancerous abdominal cavity via an implantable catheter. Because AviRad-Y has both a substantial positive charge and a high molecular weight of 66,000, it will not readily diffuse out of this cavity, but will radiate all inner bowel and omental surfaces and drifting intracavitary cancer cells, while sparing uninvolved tissues. We have identified a manufacturing partner to provide GMP AviRad-Y in kit form to end-user radiotherapists and nuclear medicine physicians. We are requesting feedback from FDA regarding the possible device status of our construct. We are currently seeking prospective funding and partners for completion of preclinical characterization and through Phase I studies.
Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) experience a low quality of life. The hallmark clinical feature is reduced blood flow to the legs and arms due to narrowing of the arteries. With time, the ability to walk is impaired, patients can develop skin ulcers, and gangrene that may require limb amputation. Currently, there is no therapy that restores blood flow, alleviates symptoms and impacts disease progression. In the US, close to 8 million patients suffer with PAD. Of these, 40-50% are diabetic. CureRAGE is developing CR-3, and anti-RAGE monoclonal antibody, for use in PAD. Activation of RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation endproducts) by specific immunomodulators, such as AGEs, triggers a deleterious inflammatory response and reduces the ability to generate new vessels. Diabetics are more prone to the effects of RAGE activity owing to the high levels of AGEs produced in this disease. In 2 different experimental models of diabetic PAD, CR-3 has demonstrated the ability to restore blood flow to major muscle groups and to stimulate regeneration of blood vessels. The current US market size is estimated at $8B, and projected to reach $10B by 2024. Through multiple rounds, CureRAGE is seeking a total of $27M for human proof-of-concept. Additional disease states associated with high RAGE activity include ovarian cancer, which may provide a second indication for CR-3.
Stroke is the major cause of long term disability and the 4th leading cause of death (over 140,000/year) in United States, incurring high medical costs ($102B/year). Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), another leading cause for brain damage, has no FDA approved drugs for treatment despite its high economic costs ($76B/year). DeckTherapeutics has developed a novel patent protected omega-3 diglyceride emulsion (THDG3) as a gold standard emergency treatment for both stroke and TBI.
Studies in 6 rodent models show that acute injection of THDG3 and omega-3 emulsions following ischemic stroke leads to marked reduction in brain tissue death (>90%), with preservation of short and longterm neurofunctional outcomes. Competitive advantages include omega-3’s multiple pleiotropic mechanisms of action, excellent safety profile and potentially longer treatment windows (up to 6hrs) compared to t-PA (current standard of treatment, but received by <8% of stroke patients). Additional potential secondary indications of THDG3 include hemorrhagic stroke, acute renal failure, spinal cord injury and organ preservation for human transplantation. DeckTherapeutics is now conducting additional pre-clinical safety and efficacy studies of THDG3, with phase 2a trials planned in 2021.
EpiBone is a biotechnology company spun out of Columbia University that grows personalized, living, and anatomically correct bone and cartilage grafts (in addition to compound bone/cartilage grafts) using stem cells and 3D design. Due to traumatic injuries or congenital abnormalities, some skeletal defects can exceed the body’s natural capacity to heal itself. Using proprietary technology, we grow personalized grafts that integrate naturally with the surrounding tissues to restore biological and mechanical function.
Many cancers become addicted to specific nutrients that drive their growth and survival, and inactivate tumor suppressor pathways. We have found that cysteine uptake through system x(c)- is critical for many cancers to survive, but that normal tissues do not use this uptake mechanism. We have developed potent drug-like small molecule inhibitors of this antiporter, and demonstrated their efficacy in a xenograft lymphoma model. We have also developed a predictive signature to identify tumors that are sensitive to cysteine uptake inhibitors. In combination with a robust platform for systematically identifying and exploiting nutrient addictions in cancers, this technology represents a powerful new paradigm for precision targeting of human cancers.
Immplacate, Inc. is a pre-clinical stage cell therapy company that aims to provide a safe and effective therapy that will reduce morbidity and mortality from immune disorders. By taking advantage of the latest science in mesenchymal stem cell biology, we have designed an educated mesenchymal cell (EMSC) therapy, which will have higher potency than competing MSC therapies while maintaining an excellent safety profile.
We have recruited a well-balanced senior management team and BOD to lead our company. We are pursuing seed funding and moving to JLABS, NYC location In October, 2018 to further our project in an environment set up to provide leverage for resources and industry contacts. To that end, we have signed a key strategic partner that is a recognized, global cell therapy industry leader in Daewoong Pharmaceutical Inc. Daewoong has taken an equity stake in Immplacate contributing $1mm USD and other resources and will retain a board seat at the firm. In addition, we have recruited a top-notch list of scientific and clinical advisors familiar with this market.
Upon completion of our clinical trails and following FDA approval, we will market our offering to physicians and hospitals via distribution on a global scale. We will also look to license our technology to various markets and strategic partners. Our initial target market will be GvHD related to BMT. This is a robust market both in the USA and abroad, and will serve as a base upon which we will build other indications for EMSC therapy.
Immunogrow: The first cell activation platform purposefully designed for the industrialization of cell-based ‘CAR T’ cancer immunotherapies that will simplify production, reduce costs and enhance patient safety
Today, manufacturers are forced to rely on solutions that require significant skilled operator input, achieve inadequate cell growth, pose harm to patients due to sample contamination, and are open necessitate costly Class A/B cleanroom environments.
Key Product Benefits include:
• Simplified manufacturing process that reduces cell loss, maximises yield and lessens reliance on skilled operators
• Reduced risk of inadequate cell count by increasing yields by 8x over same growth period
• Closed environment reduces cleanroom requirements resulting in significant cost saving potential for manufacturers
• Eliminating microbeads from cell product improves patient safety
MindScan, Inc.TM will enable physicians and clinical researchers to more accurately diagnose neuropsychiatric disorders. MindScan applies its proprietary machine learning algorithms to standard MRI brain scans to reveal structural abnormalities indicative of neuropsychiatric disorders. Disorders include ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Depression. In a published study, sensitivity was 94% to 100% and specificity was 89% to 100% versus a consensus panel of experts using research-grade assessments. The output is a classification report which physicians will use to improve their diagnostic accuracy, which can be as low as 50%. U.S. market research results indicate strong demand among psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family medicine physicians. More than half would order the report for newly presenting patients. More than three-quarters would order the report for patients with an unclear diagnosis. We expect to complete de novo regulatory requirements and launch in 2021 for the first two medical devices, be cash flow positive in 2022, and achieve reimbursement in 2025. MindScan will also pursue Dx/Tools partnerships with drug companies to improve clinical trial recruitment using classification reports and its opt-in database. MindScan has an exclusive license from Columbia University and recently received a notice of allowance from the U.S. patent office.
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Soundstim Therapeutics: Non-Invasive Focused Ultrasound Technology for Peripheral Neuromodualtion to Treat Neuropathic Pain
Soundstim Therapeutics is a development stage, venture backed company that is developing a non-‐invasive method of peripheral neuromodulation using focused ultrasound (FUS). The company’s first clinical indication is treatment of neuropathic pain. Currently, the prototypic device consists of an imaging transducer (real time) and a therapeutic ultrasound probe, allowing for targeted neuromodulation in peripheral nerves, which has been successfully demonstrated in animal studies in the lab of Elisa Konofagou at Columbia University. Ultimately, Soundstim envisions the commercial device to be wearable patch, embedded with a chip that will be used to target and deliver the ultrasound energy to the appropriate nerve.
The “chip” technology is being developed in the lab of Ken Shepard, also at Columbia University. The company is currently exploring the use of the prototype device in normal human volunteers at Columbia.
Soundstim has optioned the intellectual property covering the technology from both labs at Columbia, has filed an additional company-‐owned patent, and has optioned additional third-‐party patents that protect the most important aspects of the technology. The company is now seeking a series A financing to advance the development of the technology into proof of concept studies in patients with chronic pain.
Gemzin: The first smart drug-carrier designed for site-specific delivery and release of therapeutics in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer (PDAC), is one of the most aggressive and lethal cancers found in humans. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the US (45,000 annually) and only 1-6% of patients contracting the disease survive past five years. Chemotherapy remains the primary option in treating metastatic PDAC ($1.7 billion market size) but its effectiveness is only palliative and has minimal impact on survival. The poor efficacy is attributed to inefficient delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the pancreas and their rapid clearance. In other words, it is difficult to get drugs to reach the pancreas. Once there, they clear rapidly, and are not taken up well by the tumor due to poor hypovasculature. Our team has developed a drug-carrier, Gemzin (Gemcitabine conjugate) that is intended for use with a promising new method of drug delivery, direct injection of tumors by endoscopic ultrasound fine needle injection (EUS-FNI). In EUS-FNI, therapeutics are injected directly into PDAC tumors by a fine needle guided through the stomach and into the tumor by ultrasound imaging. Gemzin carriers are expected to meet two important criteria: they physically retain gemcitabine in the pancreas after injection, and provide controlled release over an extended period of time. These features would result in the reduction of side-effects typically associated with chemotherapy and improved clinical outcomes. In the next 12-months, we plan complete work to demonstrate these primary end-points in mouse models and file for an Investigation New Drug (IND) application for this treatment.
YouGene’s goal is to compile a shared database of the genetic basis of human disease curated by the crowd, and available for all to use. Understanding the clinical significance of genetic variants and making that information available in medical-grade form is critical to enabling widespread adoption. Currently, clinical understanding is fragmented and siloed among different groups. Public efforts, such as ClinVar, are limited to low-grade data with few clinical assertions and no evidence, whereas high-value data is held as trade secrets by corporations. Industry efforts to collaborate have fallen flat due to lack of incentives for meaningful economic coordination between member-competitors. Data-hoarding also hampers scientific consensus and hinders the collective power of peer-review. The results are a fractured understanding of disease, sub-optimal clinical outcomes, and a higher societal cost of healthcare. YouGene solves these problems by tokenizing DNA assets so that data submitters and curators are incentivized to work together to improve genotype-phenotype correlations for diagnosis and treatment of patients. Using smart contract technologies, YouGene provides an efficient, low-cost mechanism for data consumers and data creators to exchange data on a democratized ecosystem that encourages coordination and eliminates information asymmetry. Correlations reached by consensus can then improve the utility of new molecular diagnostic tools such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). A concrete example of how we are translating genetic research into the clinic is our scientific collaboration in personalized nephrology with the Gharavi Lab and the Kiryluk Lab at Columbia University. Our go-to-market strategy is to bring a portfolio of non-invasive gene-based tests for kidney disease available on YouGene-Connect®. Currently, we are communicating with the FDA for recognition of YouGene-Connect®, as a “Human Genetic Variant Database to Support Clinical Validity for Genetic and Genomic-Based In Vitro Diagnostics
We have invented a battery utilizing inexpensive organic compounds in salt water for grid scale energy storage. This battery is non-flammable, scalable, simple to manufacture, less expensive than lithium-ion, and has a 20 year lifetime. Currently in the USA, there are only 25 gigawatts of grid level storage as compared to 12,000 gigawatts of daily energy use (0.002%), which represents a completely untapped market. With 60% of all new power predicted to be intermittent sources such as solar and wind, there will be a demand for grid-scale batteries that is estimated to reach $500 billion. Our unique approach utilizes highly stable molecules derived from paint and iron as the charge storage compounds, which are dissolved in salt water and flowed through an electrochemical cell. Importantly, this flow battery architecture is industrially simple to scale and manufacture for grid-size batteries as we anticipate this technology is poised to fulfill demand for large, stationary storage.
Workbench is a collaborative workspace for non-technical people to analyze data without coding.
Only a handful of specialized workers in each company hold the majority of knowledge about its data resources: where to find relevant, up-to-date data and how to accurately transform it into useful information. Those ‘data teams’ are overwhelmed, unable to respond to the fast growing number of requests coming from marketing, sales and product teams outside their department.
Workbench solves this problem by empowering domain knowledge people with the skills and tools they need to efficiently work with data -- without having to learn how to code. It's a web application that integrates hands-on training with a suite of intuitive tools to connect, clean, analyze, monitor and visualize data.
Analysis, data, documentation and creators are linked together, making it easy to know who produced which asset, and understand contexts and goals. Every step in the analysis is recorded, accessible and reversible in one click by creators and consumers alike. Transparency and reproducibility are built in, providing the building blocks for the distribution of data knowledge and skills throughout the organization.
Workbench is currently in public beta.
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Affective disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are currently treated from a symptom-suppression approach. Existing drugs aim to mitigate the impact of these chronic diseases, but do not cure or prevent the disease itself. We are developing the first drugs that would prevent the development of stress-induced psychiatric disorders, obviating the need for treatment. We have identified and validated 3 different small molecule compounds (hits) that enhance stress resilience and induce long-lasting protection against stress-induced depressive behavior in mice. Our target product is an orally available, single dose short-acting small molecule that provides at least one month of stress resilience enhancement, and decreases the incidence of PTSD by at least 20%. As there are currently no effective preventative psychiatric interventions available, resilience-enhancing pharmaceuticals would establish a new market, as well as easily overtake the existing resilience-training behavioral products currently. This technology represents a paradigm shift in psychiatry; using pharmacotherapy to prevent mental illness—rather than just treat it—is a completely novel approach.
Tenza is developing a novel symbiotic drug-delivery platform employing engineered lactic acid bacteria. Living bacteria from the human microbiome are reprogramed to produce and deliver therapeutic proteins using a proprietary, machine learning–powered genetic bioengineering platform. Such engineered microbes offer a more targeted alternative to conventional drug delivery methods by restricting exposure to the target tissues naturally inhabited by the symbiotic microbe, thereby increasing therapeutic efficacy while reducing systemic side effects. We are currently pursuing animal evaluation of two engineered organisms adapted to the gastrointestinal tract and female genital tract that deliver anti-inflammatory and anti-viral therapeutics for IBD therapy and HIV prevention, respectively.
Presented by: Tina Liu, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
A team in the Church lab is developing proprietary genome-based technologies to improve the effectiveness of nucleic acid–based therapies. Our lead technology improves the therapeutic window for gene therapy by reducing innate immune responses against the DNA. Studies in vitro and in vivo (in mice, pigs, and soon non-human primates) have demonstrated that by reducing this early innate immune response, this technology can profoundly reduce downstream toxicity and increase gene expression by up to 10x. We are preparing to develop uniquely enabled gene therapy products using this technology as well as partner with other industry leaders.
Presented by: Henry Lee, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Harvard Medical School; Founder, Kern Systems
DNA has garnered considerable interest as a medium for digital information storage due to its superior density and durability over existing silicon-based storage media (solid-state drive, hard drive, and magnetic tape). For example, DNA is 1000-fold denser than solid-state hard drives, capable of storing 455 exabytes (1 exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes) in 1 gram. Furthermore, DNA is at least 300-fold more durable than the most stable magnetic tapes, capable of remaining intact over millions of years. These features, along with DNA’s lack of foreseeable technology obsolescence, makes it a compelling medium for storing the vast and exponentially growing volume of digital data being generated. Despite these promising advantages, however, DNA has not been adopted for widespread use due to the prohibitive cost of synthesizing this polymer. As of 2017, the cost to chemically synthesize sufficient DNA to store 1 megabyte of information is $3,500. We have developed new approaches for synthesizing DNA using enzymes, which are simpler and faster. Importantly, these new enzymatic approaches are projected to reduce the cost of DNA synthesis up to 8 orders of magnitude. At that scale, the cost of DNA will be competitive to the price of magnetic tape, enabling broad market adoption.
Presented by: Raffaella Squilloni, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Harvard University; Co-founder, Hermetica
Over- or under-activation of the innate immune system can be a double-edged sword for drug safety and efficacy. Hermetica works at the intersection of innate immunity and synthetic immunology to read, write, and edit targeted nucleic acid therapeutics that modulate the cross talk between innate and adaptive arms of immunity.
Presented by: Yaron Singer, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Despite the enormous success of machine learning, the current algorithms we have are extremely sensitive to noise. In some cases, this is due to natural noise (classifier in self-driving may fail due to unexpected road conditions) and in some cases there may be an adversary that distorts the data to manipulate the classification (e.g. forge a bank note or check). We’re developing new machine learning frameworks based on non-convex robust optimization that significantly beat the state-of-the-art both for defense and for attacks. We published some work about this at top ML venues (NIPS, ICML) and are building platforms and APIs that allow users to use machine learning technologies in a provably safe manner.
Voxel8 is a digital manufacturing company operating at the intersection of Materials Science, Hardware, and Software. We have developed a strong, protected, core technology platform with countless applications. In the short term, we remain laser focused on the first killer application: Digital Manufacturing of Athletic Footwear Uppers.
The footwear industry is a $350B market. Over 2.5B pairs of athletic shoes are made each year. However, the footwear industry supply chain is one of the most antiquated and slow of any industry. In recent years, the industry has been aggressively moving to establish an automated digital supply chain to address the issues with current processes and bring new products to market much more quickly. Voxel8 has developed the only end to end digital solution for the automated fabrication of the top half of athletic shoes.
Voxel8’s core ActiveMix® and ActiveImage® technologies enable 3D printing with industrial grade elastomers with on-the-fly zonal tuning of the material stiffness and embedded high resolution full color images. These technologies will enable footwear brands to manufacture athletic footwear uppers, with full customization of both mechanics and aesthetics, while eliminating the need for tooling, labor, and adhesives.
We are building the Materials Company of the 21st century. Think about it: Why should materials discovery be so slow while the pace of our life keeps increasing? Can we get the materials for tomorrow already today? Kebotix, born out of Harvard, is the “fabless” materials company that combines cutting-edge AI and robotic synthesis to rapidly innovate new materials to build a better world.
Root Robotics is a Learning as a Service robotics company on a mission to help you explore all the truly amazing things you can do with your imagination. Our robot, Root, is a fun and easy-to-use creativity tool that teaches coding and problem-solving skills to kids as young as four, all the way to adults. Subscribers of Root’s app get new content every month to transform coding lessons into real-world experiences. Coders of any age or skill level can use Root as their creative tool in defying gravity and climbing walls, or moving about on smooth surfaces to draw artwork, play music, respond to touch and color, and more. Root’s app features three levels of coding interfaces designed to grow with the user as their skills and knowledge improve, beginning with simple sequences and patterns and working up to advanced programming languages like Python, JavaScript and Swift.
Presented by: Stratos Idreos, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Key-value stores are used to store and access data in large distributed databases with applications across social media, cyber security, transaction processing, and machine learning algorithms, forming the critical data storage component in data-driven applications.
What if we knew all key-value stores we could ever invent? And what if we could compute their performance characteristics? Self-designing key-value stores know the possible design space and learn the optimal design, making it possible to adapt to workload and hardware characteristics. The net effect for data driven applications is that 1) no human administration is needed, bringing down the cost of ownership, and 2) the system can automatically take the optimal shape for the problem at hand, maximizing performance by several orders of magnitude or alternatively minimizing the hardware resources needed (i.e., minimizing the cloud bill) while maintaining the required performance level.
We intend to spin out a new company that allows existing applications to enjoy these benefits through a hidden tuning layer that automatically explores the design space and tunes existing NoSQL key-value store instances for optimal performance and costs. We continue to explore and discuss preferred business models.
Photonics systems are indispensable for a wide range of applications, including optical telecommunication, wireless networks, sensors and emerging quantum optical systems. Historically, photonic systems have been based on silicon, given this material’s maturity, ease of integration and low fabrication cost. Silicon, however, is not an optimal optical material. As a result, silicon photonics today are ill suited to meet the growing demand for ultrahigh performance in the big data age.
HyperLight is a startup emerging from the lab of Harvard Professor Marko Lončar that is commercializing the Lončar Lab’s pioneering research in the nanofabrication and integration of lithium niobate (LiNbO3). This electro-optic material has demonstrated properties that make it ideally suited as a platform for ultrahigh-performance photonic systems. Results on prototype devices were presented at high-profile industry conferences and published in high-profile journals. As a result, the team has attracted significant attention from both industry and academia and already has purchase orders from customers. The company is rapidly commercializing LiNbO3-based photonic products that can address large, near- and long-term needs in telecommunication, high-performance computing, optical machine learning circuits, machine vision, radar systems, quantum computers and sensing and navigation.
The world is urbanizing: two-thirds of humanity is anticipated to live in urban areas by 2050. As the boundary between residential and commercial becomes blurred, light pollution from LED-based digital signs reduces the quality of life for those living or working nearby, causing cities to ban or strictly regulate LED digital signs.
However, future Smart Cities need digital signs: brands and businesses need to connect with consumers and cities need to connect with residents. As an alternative to large-area LED signs, Solchroma is building a full color, reflective digital display enabling digital capability with a printed aesthetic. With origins in a DARPA-funded effort at Harvard, Solchroma’s cuttlefish-inspired digital display is far more vivid than reflective technologies coming before it. Technology that works with the sun rather than against it uses at little as 1% of the energy of an LED sign, while facilitating digital in high-value urban locations.
Nearly half a million billboard locations exist in the US, with up to 10% of zoning codes prohibiting LEDs while potentially permitting Solchroma’s reflective technology – a $6B exclusive US market, with 10x available worldwide.
Join us and build our future Smart Cities in a sustainable, beautiful way.
Imagine you are shopping on a tablet for a new sweater and that you can feel the texture of the fabric by touching your screen. Imagine you are playing a VR game and that you can feel the virtual world surrounding you. Haptic feedback (touch) enables users to feel digital objects on the screen of a device, opening new opportunities for enhanced user interfaces. Haptic applications are countless. However, haptic power consumption needs to be reduced to realize its full potential. Boréas Technologies offers low-power electronics that enable 10X power savings compared to the competition. Its products are perfect for consumer electronics (e.g. phones, watches, gaming) where space and power are limited. Now 18 months after its first financing, Boréas has already developed its first product offering, based on the core technology from Harvard, and has delivered it to multiple customers. The company is currently discussing with numerous Tier-1 OEM for the integration of its technology in future products.
Peter B deMenocal is Dean of Science for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Columbia University, and the Thomas Alva Edison/Con Edison Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Climate & Life, a research team of over 120 PhD scientists leading climate and life system research to understand how climate impacts life’s essentials – our access to food, water, shelter, and energy. He is a marine geologist and and paleoclimate scientist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who uses ocean sediments to understand how and why past oceans and climates have changed, and their impacts on human evolution and culture.
He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2013), an AGU Emiliani awardee (2014), recipient of the Lenfest Columbia Distinguished Faculty award (2008), and the Distinguished Brooksian award (2013). He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from St. Lawrence University in 2009.
Dean Mary C. Boyce leads the education and research mission of Columbia Engineering with more than 200 faculty, 1600 undergraduate students and 2600 graduate students.
A strong advocate of interdisciplinary research and the translation of innovation to impact, she has increased faculty in cross-cutting fields, and recently launched an inspiring new vision for the school, Columbia Engineering for Humanity.
Her own research focuses on materials and mechanics, particularly in the areas of multi-scale mechanics of polymers and soft composites, both those that are man-made and those formed naturally. She has been widely recognized for her scholarly achievements, including election as a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering.
Dean Boyce earned her BS degree in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Tech, and her MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.
Dan Steingart is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University and will be joining Columbia University as the Stanley Thompson Associate Professor of Chemical Metallurgy in Earth and Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering. His group studies the interactions between materials and systems in electrochemical reactors with a focus on energy storage devices. His current research looks to exploit traditional failure mechanisms and "unwanted" interactions with batteries for systematic understanding and device enhancement. His efforts in this area over the last decade have been adopted by various industries and have led directly or indirectly to five electrochemical energy related startup companies, the latest being Feasible, an effort dedicated to exploiting the inherent acoustic responses of closed electrochemical systems.
Dr. Alissa Park is the Lenfest Chair in Applied Climate Science of Earth and Environmental Engineering & Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. She is also the Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute. Her research focuses on sustainable energy conversion pathways with emphasis on integrated carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). The current efforts include the fundamental studies of chemical and physical interactions of natural and engineered materials with CO2 such as the development of novel nano-scale hybrid materials for integrated CO2 capture and conversion. Founded on these new materials and reaction schemes, Park group is also working on innovative fuel synthesis pathways using unconventional energy sources such as shale gas, biomass and municipal solid wastes, while minimizing environmental impacts. Park received a number of professional awards and honors including the NSF CAREER Award (2009), James Lee Young Investigator Award (2010), American Chemical Society WCC Rising Star Award (2017), Janette and Armen Avanessians Diversity Award at Columbia University (2017), International Partnership Award for Young Scientists of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2018), American Chemical Society Energy and Fuels Division - Emerging Researcher Award (2018), PSRI Lectureship Award in Fluidization at American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2018), and U.S. C3E Research Award (2018). Park was also the Chair of the CO2 Utilization Area for the Mission Innovation Workshop on Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage held in September 2017.
G. Michael Purdy assumed the role of Executive Vice President for Research on February 1, 2011. Reporting directly to President Bollinger, Mike works closely with Provost John Coatsworth and other University leaders on research strategy, and they share the goal of fostering an environment that attracts the brightest and most creative faculty and students to pursue questions that will elucidate and improve our world. His office also establishes and administers the policies that govern the conduct of research and oversees the management of its research programs. It also assists investigators seeking external funding, promotes interdisciplinary research and awards seed money for early stage investigations.
He received his Ph. D. degree from the University of Cambridge in the UK in Marine Geophysics in 1974 and joined Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts as a Post Doctoral Scholar. In 1995 he joined the Federal Government as Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation. In 2000 he joined Columbia University as the Director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Daniel Esposito received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware. After studying as a postdoc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), he became an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Columbia University. At Columbia, he leads the Solar Fuels Engineering Lab, which combines its expertise in electrochemical and catalytic sciences with core chemical engineering principles to develop innovative electrochemical and solar energy conversion technologies. Of particular interest are low-capex and durable electrolysis technologies that can convert low-cost electricity into fuels and chemicals under low capacity factor scenarios. Prof. Esposito is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, and receives funding from a combination of federal agencies and industrial sponsors. He is seeking additional partners who can help him translate these clean energy technologies into impactful commercial products.
Dr. Yuan Yang is currently an assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the department of applied physics and applied mathematics at Columbia University. He received his B.S. in physics at Peking University in 2007 and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Stanford University in 2012. After graduation from Stanford University, he was a postdoc in department of mechanical engineering at MIT until 2015. His research interests include electrochemical materials and devices for energy storage, thermal energy harvesting and management. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers with citation over 15,000 times, and five patents. His research on electrochemical thermal energy harvesting was selected as "ten world changing ideas" by Scientific American in 2014. He is a Scialog fellow for Advanced Energy Storage. He received RISE award at Columbia in 2016 and MRS Postdoctoral Award (2015).
A leader in the field of water resources and urban sustainability, Patricia Culligan explores novel, interdisciplinary solutions to the challenges of urbanization, with a particular emphasis on the City of New York. Her research investigates the opportunities for green infrastructure, social networks, and advanced measurement and sensing technologies to improve urban water, energy, and environmental management. She is co-Director of a $12 million research network sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop new models for urban infrastructure to make cities cleaner, healthier, and more enjoyable places to live. She is a faculty member of the Earth Institute and was the founding associate director of Columbia University’s Data Science Institute. She is the author or co-author of more than 160 technical articles. Dr. Culligan received her M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
Vijay Modi is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department and the director of the Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab at Columbia University. While his early work was on heat transfer and micro-electro-mechanical systems, his recent work has been on energy infrastructure design & planning; solar energy; energy efficiency in agriculture, and data analytics spanning from urban settings to remote rural settings. He is currently working closely with city and national agencies/utilities to understand how energy services can be more accessible, more efficient and cleaner. His recent project on minigrids is providing a unique understanding of consumer behavior and business models for deploying energy solutions.
Ray Sambrotto has worked on the nature of environmental microbes and how they interact with our environment for over 30 years. He has sampled microbes high and low, in the ocean and rivers as well as in sea-ice, glacial ice and sediments. He saw firsthand how their near omnipresence is made possible by the extraordinary diversity in the tools they use to make a living. At the same time, growing environmental challenges prompted him to consider the ways environmental microbiology could contribute to solutions. This led to the creation of Allied Microbiota, a company focused on bringing cost-effective, environmental solutions to the marketplace based on the broad array of microbial functions. Allied Microbiota’s initial products remediate of organic contaminants in soils, sediments and water using selected microbes and their proteins.
Ozgur is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Physics at Columbia University. His research group is investigating energy conversion in biological nanostructures, developing nanomechanical approaches to determine structures of biomolecular complexes, and studying cell mechanics. Ozgur is best recognized for inventing a nanoscale microscope that can visualize mechanical properties of molecules, cells, and materials, which earned him the Grand Prize at the Collegiate Inventors Competition. Ozgur received a Young Scientist Award from the World Economic Forum, a Junior Fellowship from the Rowland Institute at Harvard, and he currently holds a Packard Fellowship from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. His research program is also recognized with a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award and a New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health.
David Miller was Founder and Executive Managing Director of the Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG) between 2005 and 2017. An engineer by training, he brings over twenty years of technology startup management experience and over eighteen years of seed stage investing experience. He has been on the board of directors or advisory board of several clean energy companies, including Pika Energy, MyEnergy, Azima DLI, and Cambrian Innovation and has mentored many others. He also has an appointment as Research Affiliate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Previously, Mr. Miller founded several companies, including Quantum Telecom Solutions, which developed software for programmable switching equipment. He grew the company to profitability, with over 100% annual growth over a four-year period, and then negotiated venture financing and sold the company to Excel Switching Corp. a public company that shortly thereafter was itself acquired by Lucent Technologies.
At Lucent, he served as Director in the New Ventures Group, where he managed and evaluated a diverse set of early stage investments. Mr. Miller is a New England Chapter Director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a national community of business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity and has developed relationships with state and federal policy makers to support the growth of the clean energy industry. He is a founding member of the MIT Enterprise Forum’s Energy Special Interest Group and chaired the mentor program for what is now called the “Northeast Cleantech Open” for its first four years. Mr. Miller also co-founded EPrime, which is a forum for clean energy entrepreneurs to network and support each others’ enterprises, was a board member of New England Energy and Environmental Funders, which educated investors interested in energy and environmental companies, and was a founding advisory board member of the Northeast Clean Energy Council. Mr. Miller was awarded a patent for co-developing a “one number” telecom service, and taught at Rutgers University in the Electrical Engineering Department.
He received his BS and MS in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, and completed his doctorate at MIT’s Lab for Energy and the Environment, where he studied the utilization and commercialization of distributed generation and energy efficiency measures. His dissertation examined the impact of a variety of management and investment strategies and public policy initiatives on the success of new clean energy ventures. As Research Affiliate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, he supervises the continuation of this work. Mr. Miller lives in Newton, MA with his wife and two children.
Jiong Ma has more than 20 years of research, operating and venture capital experience in the technology industry. Prior to joining Braemar, she was with the venture group at 3i, Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs in product portfolio strategy, new product launches for Optical and Data Networking, and R&D, She was also with Nortel Networks and a founding member of Onetta.
Dr. Ma received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an M.S. in electrical engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and a B.S. in physics from Lanzhou University, China. She is a graduate of the Kauffman Fellows Program, has published or co-authored 15 technical papers, and holds one U.S. patent. Dr. Ma serves on the boards of Aledia, Fulham, MC10, and Voxel8.
David Miller was Founder and Executive Managing Director of the Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG) between 2005 and 2017. An engineer by training, he brings over twenty years of technology startup management experience and over eighteen years of seed stage investing experience. He has been on the board of directors or advisory board of several clean energy companies, including Pika Energy, MyEnergy, Azima DLI, and Cambrian Innovation and has mentored many others. He also has an appointment as Research Affiliate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Previously, Mr. Miller founded several companies, including Quantum Telecom Solutions, which developed software for programmable switching equipment. He grew the company to profitability, with over 100% annual growth over a four-year period, and then negotiated venture financing and sold the company to Excel Switching Corp. a public company that shortly thereafter was itself acquired by Lucent Technologies.
At Lucent, he served as Director in the New Ventures Group, where he managed and evaluated a diverse set of early stage investments. Mr. Miller is a New England Chapter Director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a national community of business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity and has developed relationships with state and federal policy makers to support the growth of the clean energy industry. He is a founding member of the MIT Enterprise Forum’s Energy Special Interest Group and chaired the mentor program for what is now called the “Northeast Cleantech Open” for its first four years. Mr. Miller also co-founded EPrime, which is a forum for clean energy entrepreneurs to network and support each others’ enterprises, was a board member of New England Energy and Environmental Funders, which educated investors interested in energy and environmental companies, and was a founding advisory board member of the Northeast Clean Energy Council. Mr. Miller was awarded a patent for co-developing a “one number” telecom service, and taught at Rutgers University in the Electrical Engineering Department.
He received his BS and MS in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, and completed his doctorate at MIT’s Lab for Energy and the Environment, where he studied the utilization and commercialization of distributed generation and energy efficiency measures. His dissertation examined the impact of a variety of management and investment strategies and public policy initiatives on the success of new clean energy ventures. As Research Affiliate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, he supervises the continuation of this work. Mr. Miller lives in Newton, MA with his wife and two children.
Benjamin Bostick is an Associate Research Professor of Geochemistry and Soil Science at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Environmental Science Policy in the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University. His research examines the chemistry of iron and sulfur in natural environments, and how those elements affect the fate, transport and bioavailability of contaminants. In particular, he focuses on understanding the the networks of biological and chemical redox reactions that occur in the environment, and how to engineer those processes to improve environmental and human health. He is currently involved in field research in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Peru, Chile and Antarctica.
Dr. Kurt brings over 10 years of expertise in microbial ecology and genetics, and currently serves as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University. His primary research areas encompass nitrogen removal from wastewater with an emphasis on enhancing the knowledge of ecology and functions of microbial communities in engineered systems. These include anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) and complete ammonia oxidation (Comammox) systems. In particular, Dr. Kurt’s strengths integrate critical metagenome and metatranscriptome bioinformatics data analytics.
Dr. Kurt is also a Senior Analyst and Co-PI at AdvanceH2O, a PowerBridgeNY/NYSERDA funded startup. He is responsible for co-leading design, testing, and building of next-generation monitoring and data informatics platforms.
Nicholas Querques is Program Manager, Technology to Market at NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. NYSERDA advances innovative energy solutions in ways that improve New York's economy and environment. Nick leads the Technology to Market team at NYSERDA where he is directly responsible for a $130 million portfolio of innovation, technology development, and investment initiatives targeted to entrepreneurs, innovators, and early-stage companies in the energy space. Nick’s team is driving New York’s efforts to develop and deploy world-class clean energy innovation assets throughout the state and accelerate the time to market for NYSERDA’s portfolio companies. Nick joined NYSERDA in 2014 as a Project Manager with the former Innovation Capacity and Business Development team.
Prior to NYSERDA, Nick was Assistant Vice President for Clean Energy Programs at SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. In 2010, he co-founded MICROrganic Technologies, a biotechnology startup that is commercializing microbial fuel cell technologies for wastewater treatment applications.
Nick holds a BS in finance and management magna cum laude and an MBA in information technology and nanotechnology from the University at Albany.
Alan C. West creates, analyzes, and develops electrochemical technologies used for materials, sensors, energy storage and conversion, and the sustainable production of chemicals. He has worked on the design of novel electrodes for next-generation batteries and has collaborated extensively with industry on electrochemical metallization methods used in semiconductor manufacturing.
West has developed novel methods that couple electrochemical and biological technologies that may potentially be used to produce fuels from renewable electricity, to convert inorganic waste streams to fuels, and to enable alternative processes for use in copper mining. Of particular interest to West are the experimental and numerical methods used to characterize transport phenomena and reaction mechanisms in electrochemical systems. He has simulated and analyzed a variety of metallization and dissolution processes, including studies by which the design of the electrolyte composition controls film growth and nucleation, and thus properties in geometries of relevance to the manufacturing of electronic devices. He has developed models of battery electrodes that capture experimental observations ranging from the atomistic scale to the mesoscale to the full scale of the electrode. Due to the multi-scale, complex nature of batteries, West works closely with a range of scientists and engineers, including chemists, material scientists, physicists, and mechanical and electrical engineering.
West received a BS in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve in 1985 and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989. He is a fellow of the Electrochemical Society, and in 2014 he received the society’s Electrodeposition Award. He joined the faculty of Columbia Engineering in 1992.
Amit Srivastava is Senior Partner at Cycle Capital. He has more than 30 years in operational, Venture Capital, cross-boarder transactions and fund management in high tech companies. He is also Chief Executive Officer of Entrepia Ventures. Prior to that, he worked for seven years at JP Morgan Chase, including four years at JP Morgan Partners (formerly Chase Capital Partners), where his responsibilities included leading venture capital investments in the electronics sector, oversight of private equity investments in India, and serving as the Portfolio Manager of a private equity portfolio of over 700 investments in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia, with an aggregate carried value exceeding US$10 billion. Before he worked at JP Morgan Chase, Mr. Srivastava was a Principal for five years at Mercer Management Consulting, where he advised major global IT and communications companies on strategy, business development and operational effectiveness. Earlier in his career, he held marketing and engineering management positions during five years at Texas Instruments.
Amit holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Presentation by: Onur Cakmak, Postdoctoral Research Scientist Department of Biological Sciences and Physics
Power generation and water management is a coupled challenge which is generally faced by the same entities. Increasing water scarcity problems directly affect the energy field not only by limiting hydropower generation but also by increasing the power need for water delivery. Evaporation is one of the largest forms of energy transfer on Earth. Solar Hygro’s patented technology enables power generation from evaporation at open bodies of water such as reservoirs of hydroelectric power plants. The technology uses, biologically-sourced, environment-friendly, highly efficient, and durable materials to harness energy from evaporation.
The impact of harnessing evaporation energy could be revolutionary: (1) annually-averaged power from a given surface area can be comparable with current renewable energy technologies; (2) during this process evaporation rates reduce by 50%, resulting in potential water savings. (3) Technology may further utilize heat storage in the environment, to eliminate intermittency issues plaguing most other renewable energy sources.
The dual function of Solar-Hygro evaporation engines provides both power and water revenues, which enables shorter payback periods compared to renewables and water saving technologies. In addition, these engines are made of low-cost and abundant materials which enable lower upfront costs
Orin Herskowitz is the Senior VP of Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer for Columbia University, as well as, Executive Director of Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV). He also is an Adjunct Professor, teaching an Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs course. He has served on boards or served as the Principle Investigator for a number of innovation and entrepreneurship-focused initiatives, including the NYC Media Lab, the PowerBridgeNY clean energy proof-of-concept center, the Columbia Coulter Translational Partnership, the NYC ACRE technology incubator, and Harlem Biospace; has been a peer reviewer for innovation and entrepreneurship awards for the National Science Foundation and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; and is a frequent speaker at IP- and technology-focused events in NYC and across the country. He is a board member for the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research, policy, and advocacy organization engaging policymakers in Washington and across the nation regarding the critical importance of entrepreneurs and start-ups to innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Orin is also an appointee to a two-year term on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), a Federal committee that advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on issues related to accelerating innovation, enhancing entrepreneurship, and expanding workforce skill development.
Built on our team's strong background in optical physics and material science, we develop and commercialize the ideal clothing system with the following features: fade resistance and microclimate control. We have a phased approach to target the following market segments: athletic wear and mass market, in sequential order. In the athletic wear market, performance enhancement, comfort improvement, and stylish appearance are highly desirable features. In the mass market, brands like Uniqlo have shaped the market of performance fabric in everyday clothing. MetaRe has developed a line of fabric with superior reflectivity performance than Uniqlo’s Airism, therefore we see opportunity to effectively compete and grow the segment of the mass market that focuses on performance as well as aesthetics.
Tim is currently Managing Director, NYS Cleantech Venture Exchange at Columbia Technology Ventures, where he is designing and implementing a program to match C-level business talent with cleantech startups in the State of New York.
For over 20 years Tim has provided strategic and M&A advisory, capital raising, and financial modeling services for large corporations, family-run firms, renewable energy developers, middle market companies and early stage enterprises. Most recently Tim has served as Managing Director with Karbone Capital Markets (formerly Watts Capital, LLC), a FINRA and SIPC member broker-dealer. He also serves as NYC Metro Director of the Cleantech Open Northeast, Board member of the NECECi and Advisory Board Member of the Global Sourcing Council.
Previously, Tim was an Entrepreneur in Residence for NYSERDA, served as Co-Chairman of the Cleantech Open Board and was a Managing Director with Scott-Macon, Ltd. and Natixis Bleichroeder, Inc. Tim is a graduate of Indiana University, where he earned two B.A. degrees and spent one year studying at Universität Hamburg. He later earned an M.A.E. with a concentration in Finance from the University of Michigan. Tim is fluent in German and proficient in Japanese and holds Series 7, 79 and 63 securities licenses.
Ozgur is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Physics at Columbia University. His research group is investigating energy conversion in biological nanostructures, developing nanomechanical approaches to determine structures of biomolecular complexes, and studying cell mechanics. Ozgur is best recognized for inventing a nanoscale microscope that can visualize mechanical properties of molecules, cells, and materials, which earned him the Grand Prize at the Collegiate Inventors Competition. Ozgur received a Young Scientist Award from the World Economic Forum, a Junior Fellowship from the Rowland Institute at Harvard, and he currently holds a Packard Fellowship from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. His research program is also recognized with a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award and a New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health.
We have invented a battery utilizing inexpensive organic compounds in salt water for grid scale energy storage. This battery is non-flammable, scalable, simple to manufacture, less expensive than lithium-ion, and has a 20-year lifetime. Currently in the USA, there are only 25 gigawatts of grid level storage as compared to 12,000 gigawatts of daily energy use (0.002%), which represents a completely untapped market. With 60% of all new power predicted to be intermittent sources such as solar and wind, there will be a demand for grid-scale batteries that is estimated to reach $500 billion. Our unique approach utilizes highly stable molecules derived from paint and iron as the charge storage compounds, which are dissolved in salt water and flowed through an electrochemical cell. Importantly, this flow battery architecture is industrially simple to scale and manufacture for grid-size batteries as we anticipate this technology is poised to fulfill demand for large, stationary storage.
Arthur Lerner-Lam is the Academic Director and also serves as the Deputy Director of the Earth Institute’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. He is a seismologist, who has studied and published on the interactions between crust and mantle, the thickness of tectonic plates, the structure of mountain belts and crustal rifts, and active seismicity. He has led scientific expeditions in the Middle East, Europe, Central and South Asia, the Southwest Pacific, and throughout the United States. Over the last 20 years, he has lectured and written widely on natural hazards and society. Lerner-Lam and his colleagues and students have supported the activities of the United Nations, the World Bank, and other international institutions promoting sustainable development in the face of extreme natural hazards.
Lerner-Lam teaches in Columbia’s Masters programs in Sustainability Science, Sustainability Management, and Environmental Science and Policy. With colleagues from political science, economics and international affairs, Lerner-Lam also has developed related curricula on sustainability management and sustainable investing suited for intensive executive education certificate programs.
Lerner-Lam received his undergraduate degree in geological sciences from Princeton University, and his doctorate in geophysical sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. He has held Post-doctoral positions at Scripps and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has been at Lamont-Doherty since 1985. He has been on numerous scientific advisory committees and editorial boards including as a member on the Federal Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee for the U.S. Geological Survey, as a consultant to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and as a contributing author to the U.N.’s Global Risk Update. He has consulted on environmental and natural hazard resilience for the governments of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Chile, India, China, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on the nation’s preparedness for natural disasters.
Dan Steingart is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University and will be joining Columbia University as the Stanley Thompson Associate Professor of Chemical Metallurgy in Earth and Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering. His group studies the interactions between materials and systems in electrochemical reactors with a focus on energy storage devices. His current research looks to exploit traditional failure mechanisms and "unwanted" interactions with batteries for systematic understanding and device enhancement. His efforts in this area over the last decade have been adopted by various industries and have led directly or indirectly to five electrochemical energy related startup companies, the latest being Feasible, an effort dedicated to exploiting the inherent acoustic responses of closed electrochemical systems.
Prize-winning journalist Claudia Dreifus, writes about science and society for the New York Times and the New York Review of Books. For the past decade, she's been teaching one of the first ever journalism courses for scientists in the Earth Institute's Masters in Sustainability Management Program. Off campus, she produces and moderates the "Science Talks" series at the 92nd Street Y. Ms. Dreifus, the author of six books, is an honorary member of Sigma Xi, the science honor society.
AdvanceH2O develops next-generation monitoring & data informatics for water treatment industries. Our clients and partners include water utilities, engineering/consulting firms, and technology providers.
Recent water crises such as Flint, Michigan, and the Legionnaire's Disease outbreak in New York City, were all avoidable had more sophisticated monitoring and data analytics programs been in place. Moreover, according to the EPA, there are thousands of outstanding regulatory violations, and $700BN+ will be needed for US water infrastructure improvements ($20TN globally). The combination of increasing EPA stringency and all-time high water demands has been leading to debilitating costs from rising energy and chemical requirements. For example, US water treatment already accounts for 4-6% of total annual national electricity consumption, and this energy footprint could double in 5-10 years (already doubled for some of our major water utility partners).
AdvanceH2O uniquely combines treatment plant monitoring, metaomics, chemical analytics, and proprietary data analytics to help water managers worldwide catalyze the following: 1) "Predict & prevent" operational failures to avoid human health hazards, regulatory violations, and exorbitant fines ($30K+ / day in some cases). 2) Reduce energy & chemical demands, ultimately by 50%+ & 95%+ respectively. 3) Cost effectively scale for growing populations. 4) Simplify complex data management from costly equipment such as sensors.
