Cyclotron Road Announces Its Fifth Cohort of Entrepreneurial Fellows
Cyclotron Road Cohort Five pictured left to right: Ryan Pearson, Cara Beasley, Jesse Adams, Matthew Ryan, J Provine, Christina Boville, Cody Finke, Adrian Albert, Avish Kosari, Armin Jam, Parker Gould, Mitchell Hsing, Amir Atabaki. Not pictured: Raj Bhakta. (Photo credit: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab)
By Mary Catherine O’Connor
- Fourteen Fellows selected from 235 applicants from around the world
- Program supports entrepreneurial scientists and engineers in turning their technology concepts into first products
- Previous fellows have leveraged more than $13 million in direct support from Cyclotron Road to attract more than $100 million in additional research funding and initial private investments
Fourteen scientists and engineers will join the prestigious Cyclotron Road program for a two-year fellowship based at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley. With access to world-class scientists and research facilities, fellows will define optimal paths for turning their science into value for industry, national security, and society.
The fellows, selected from a record 235 applicants, are commercializing technologies to reduce energy consumption across industries and to enable next-generation computing and communications. Cohort Five is focused on research that helps technologies make it into ready markets. The fellows and their projects are listed below.
“These fourteen scientists and engineers are advancing technologies that could redefine the goods and infrastructure we depend on for a safe and healthy society and planet,” says Cyclotron Road founding director Ilan Gur. “Their ventures aim to transform global industries, spanning chemical production, advanced fabrics, microelectronics, and the built environment.”
To date, fellows in Cyclotron Road’s first four cohorts have benefited from more than $13 million in direct support from the program. Combined with access to Berkeley Lab and the program’s mentorship, network, and curriculum, this has helped them quickly gain traction for their hard-technology ventures. Current and alumni fellows have raised more than $100 million in additional research funding and private investments, and now employ more than 130 people.
Cyclotron Road Cohort Five Fellows and Their Startups
| Cara Beasley & J Provine | Aligned Carbon’s precision single-walled carbon nanotubes will enable 1000x improvement in computing performance through ultrafast and efficient three-dimensional chips. |
| Christina Boville | Aralez Bio uses engineered enzymes to expand the scope of products that can be produced bio-renewably. |
| Cody Finke | Brimstone Energy electrochemically co-generates commodity chemicals, such as hydrogen and sulfuric acid, with less energy and fewer carbon emissions than conventional means. |
| Ryan Pearson & Matthew Ryan | Cypris Materials creates paintable optical coatings that can be used for heat mitigation on the building envelope or serve as a replacement for pigments and dyes. |
| Jesse Adams
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FlatCam is developing ultracompact, inexpensive lensless cameras for Internet of Things, microscopy, and other imaging applications. |
| Raj Bhakta | Funxion’s energy-efficient manufacturing process seamlessly integrates smart materials, sensors, and circuitry onto fabrics without altering the look, feel, and function of the fabric. |
| Parker Gould & Mitchell Hsing | Inchfab is a platform enabling fabrication of the next generation of micro- and nanoscale technologies. |
| Amir Atabaki
|
NuSight Photonics develops optical sensors for material analysis to address global challenges in industries including security, food and drug safety, and health monitoring. |
| Armin Jam & Avish Kosari | SkyGig’s advanced wireless technology paves the way to 5G and broadband communications in the global race to ubiquitous connectivity. |
| Adrian Albert | Terrafuse develops physics-informed AI technology for ultra-fast, hyperlocal climate and weather risk prediction. |
Cyclotron Road is co-managed by Berkeley Lab and Activation Energy, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that provides pathways for scientists and engineers to become entrepreneurs whose products directly benefit society. The program is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office as one of three Lab Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, by the California Energy Commission, and by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), along with a number of the world’s most influential corporations and philanthropies.
More information about Cohort Five can be found on the Cyclotron Road website.
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Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab’s facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit https://energy.gov/science.
