Solugen
Navy , a vaccine and API process engineer for Merck in Singapore , and a Cocoa Puff engineer at General Mills . Sean holds a PhD in chemical engineering from MIT , where he studied renewable energy and green chemical manufacturing on metal catalysts as an NSF graduate research fellow . With these credentials , the pair have formed an unstoppable partnership .
“ Back in 2010 , Gaurab was working on enzymes that produce chemical processes at 100 percent yield with water at room temperature , which is the definition of green chemistry . This offers the best of both worlds because we get the same upfront functionality of enzymes , coupled with downstream heterogenous metal catalysis process ,” Sean shares .
The idea was sparked by the possibility of building a chemical plant that yields 90 percent , instead of 50 , to increase revenue and lower emissions . Through the use of AI to engineer enzymes and metal catalysis that can bypass the limitations of traditional fermentation , Solugen produces molecules at room temperature using bio-based feedstocks , no air or water waste emissions , resulting in zero toxins and zero waste . “ It allowed us to have a smaller CapEx footprint as we wouldn ’ t have the downstream installation costs . So , we pitched the concept to MIT in a competition where the grand prize was $ 100,000 , and we lost spectacularly .”
Golden month
However , this defeat did not dishearten the pair . If anything , it spurred them on . Following that , one of its first customers saw the MIT pitch video , and expressed that if Sean and Gaurab could produce the same bio peroxide that was demonstrated in the video , the customer would buy it . “ So , we built this tiny PVC reactor to create our solution , and that ’ s how we expanded into a one-stop-shop – manufacturing chemicals , and growing to become fully integrated .”
Since then , the company has scaled up its core technology and blended its supply chain distribution business to service customers in the energy , industrial water treatment , agriculture and concrete sectors . Sean is pleased to announce the company
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