Beyond the Lab

Agi Brand-Talbot
Imperial College London, UK

Agi Brand-Talbot is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Materials Chemistry at Imperial College London. Her research advances bio-derived materials and chemicals from sustainable biomass. She received the President’s Award of Excellence for Outstanding Early Career Researcher and the Sir William Wakeham Award. As co-founder of Lixea, she commercializes sustainable processes for refining wood waste and biomass.

Fergal Coleman
Ionic Technologies, UK

Fergal Coleman leads technology development at Ionic Technologies following his PhD from Queen’s University Belfast. His expertise spans R&D, scale-up, and commercialization of chemical processes. Through Ionic Technologies, he advances rare earth element separation and refining using ionic liquids.

Mark Shiflett
University of Kansas, USA

Mark Shiflett is Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and Co-Founder & CSO at Icorium Engineering Company. He directs the Wonderful Institute for Sustainable Engineering and the new NSF Engineering Research Center – Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH). He is the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Ionic Liquids. His research examines sustainable processes using ionic liquids, porous materials, and membranes. He is inventor on 49 patents in ionic liquids and fluorochemicals.

Kalin Baca
Icorium Engineering Company, USA

Kalin Baca is Co-Founder & CEO at Icorium Engineering following her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kansas. Her research examines phase equilibria and diffusivities of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in ionic liquids. Through Icorium Engineering Company, she develops scalable processes for refrigerant separation and reclamation, advancing circular economy solutions. Her work earned him the Frank Bowdish Outstanding PhD Award in 2023.

Nitin Joshi
CAGE Bio Inc., USA

Nitin Joshi serves as CEO of CAGE Bio Inc., bringing over 20 years of drug development experience through US and EU approvals. His career spans senior positions at Elan, Alkermes, and ALZA (J&J). At CAGE Bio, a Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS resident company, he advances deep eutectic ionic liquid platforms for dermatology, inflammation, and immunology applications, focusing on localized treatments that minimize systemic exposure.

Caleb Hill
Wyonics LLC and University of Wyoming, USA

Caleb Hill is an Associate Professor of Chemistry, J.E. Warren Professor of Energy and the Environment, Nielson Faculty Fellow, and co-Director of the Nuclear Energy Research Center at the University of Wyoming with research areas in electrochemistry, separations, and single molecule spectroscopy. As Co-Founder of Wyonics LLC, he develops sustainable technology solutions based on his fundamental research advances.

Kristin R. Di Bona
Wyonics LLC and University of Wyoming, USA

Kristin R. Di Bona is CEO and Co-Founder of Wyonics LLC, a scientific start-up with the mission to develop and implement sustainable solutions to economic and environmental problems. Her research spans ionic liquids, biochemistry, and nanomaterials, with emphasis on separations, materials development, and instrumentation. Through Wyonics, she advances sustainable technologies, securing DOE funding for rare earth element separation, development of new materials, and advanced instrumentation platforms for nano and microanalysis. In addition to her roles at Wyonics, Dr. Di Bona serves as chair-elect of the Division of Small Chemical Business (SCHB) of the American Chemical Society, is an officer of the Wyoming Local Section, and holds an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry position at the University of Wyoming.

Luke Haverhals
Natural Fiber Welding and Bradley University, USA

Luke Haverhals is CEO and Founder of Natural Fiber Welding and a Research Professor at Bradley University specializing in ionic liquid-based processing of biomaterials. His research translates to industry through Natural Fiber Welding, which commercializes sustainable manufacturing processes for high-value materials from biomass.

Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO
RMIT University, Australia

Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation at RMIT University. His research spans advanced materials, energy storage and biomedical products. A former CSIRO Group Executive managing 1300 researchers and $250 million annual budget, he previously served as inaugural Vice President Research at CAP-XX, which develops supercapacitors for consumer electronics and listed on London AIM in 2006.

Coralie Jehanno
Polykey Polymers, Spain

Coralie Jehanno co-founded and serves as CSO of Polykey Polymers, translating her polymer chemistry expertise into commercial solutions. The company develops bio-based building blocks, molecules from recycling, and materials for batteries and bioelectronics. Their technology produces polyether polyols from biomass and high-purity building blocks from recycled polymers, while advancing performance materials for next-generation batteries and bioelectronic devices.

Blake Simmons
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Joint Bio Energy Institute, USA

Blake Simmons is Division Director of Biological Systems & Engineering at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and leads research in bioenergy, biotechnology and biomanufacturing. His work centres on developing ionic liquid technologies for biomass deconstruction and creating enzymes that function effectively in these environments. He commercialized these innovations through his startups Illium Technologies, which develops novel biotechnology solutions, and Erg Bio, which focuses on sustainable bioenergy production.