The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is proud to present a virtual seminar with guest speaker Andrew Pasternak from GreenCentre Canada, titled "Accelerating Commercialization of Sustainable Chemical Technologies."

Please email Olivia Wise at olivia.wise@northwestern.edu for the Zoom link.

Abstract: Now more than ever, innovative new chemical technologies are required to address the many challenges faced by the chemical industry. The academic community is constantly discovering promising new chemical technologies and more importantly entrepreneurs are becoming empowered and encouraged to bring them to market. Unlike large multi-nationals with sizeable resources to address commercialization challenges, the entrepreneur developing a sustainable chemical technology is severely resource limited and faces significant barriers. However, the capabilities of established companies are limited. I believe it is the entrepreneur that can have the highest impact on bringing key innovations to market.

This seminar will focus on entrepreneurial aspects of commercializing a sustainable chemistry technology. It will broadly cover the challenges of commercializing a sustainable technology and the many ecosystems that have been established to help the entrepreneur overcome these challenges. Time is of the essence when bringing a technology to market, and harnessing these ecosystems effectively is key. These ecosystems also present a variety of employment opportunities that are just as important to solving industrial challenges and offer the potential of a rich career beyond the laboratory.

Andrew Pasternak has over 24 years of experience directing early-stage technology commercialization and product development activities in a wide variety of fields including chemistry, biotechnology, medical devices, drug discovery, and instrumentation. He has broad experience working with both academics and industry personnel, managing intellectual property, establishing collaborations, and advancing early-stage companies to the point where they can raise significant external capital. Dr. Pasternak is currently Executive Director of GreenCentre Canada, a not-for-profit organization delivering chemistry development services to innovative companies. There he has managed multi-million dollar federal and provincial programs that assist entrepreneurs to commercialize their chemistry and material related innovations. Dr. Pasternak is co-editor of "How to Commercialize Chemical Technologies for a Sustainable Future", a book designed to guide the entrepreneur through the commercialization process. He has a Ph.D. and M.S. (Northwestern University) and B.S.E (University of Michigan) in bio-chemical engineering, as well as an MBA from the Rotman School of Business (University of Toronto).