Meet the 46 New Activate Fellows Whose Innovations Can Decarbonize Industries and Build a Cleaner, Safer Society
Following a record number of applications, we are thrilled to introduce the largest cohort in our almost 10-year history.
These 46 science entrepreneurs are turning their breakthroughs into businesses that could help industries, including manufacturing, energy, chemicals, computing, and agriculture, meet decarbonization and resiliency goals.
"The Activate Fellows in Cohort 2023 represent our largest cohort so far,” says Activate’s interim CEO, Todd Johnson. “When we look at the breadth and scope of these brilliant scientific minds, engaging to find solutions in energy, sustainability, chemistry, computing, and more, we can’t help but be encouraged and optimistic about the future. And our announcement to launch Activate Houston this year continues our momentum toward helping scientists commercialize their people-positive and planet-positive science while increasing our capacity to support top science innovators in the energy transition capital of the United States.”
Activate Anywhere
The Activate Anywhere Community recognizes that every U.S. region is home to scientists and engineers with a vision for solving big problems and that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. The 12 new fellows in this community are located in eight U.S. cities, including Graham, NC, West Lafayette, IN, and Los Alamos, NM. They are commercializing breakthrough research in everything from a carbon dioxide removal system powered by light to computer vision and machine learning algorithms to understand cattle personalities to AI methods for complex remote sensing data that enable organizations to measure their environmental footprint at scale and automatically.
Activate New York
The Activate New York Community, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) through the Carbontech Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program, has 10 new scientific entrepreneurial fellows pursuing innovations that include carbon capture and storage, developing long-range wireless power transmission, and creating technology to protect crops against spring frost. Through resources and training, these technologies can scale quickly to help meet New York State’s climate and clean energy goals.
Activate Boston
Joining the Activate Boston Community are 13 fellows advancing the fields of computing, carbon capture and sequestration, and synthetic biology, among others. Their applications include AI training solutions to enable advanced AI applications far beyond our current reach, an innovative cladding technology that will triple the lifetime of conventional steel products, and Li-ion batteries that use critical metals-free, organic cathodes.
Activate Berkeley
Welcoming its ninth cohort and with support from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Activate Berkeley Community continues its legacy of hosting fellows pushing the boundaries across a wide range of technology areas, with most of them embedding at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Cyclotron Road program—where Activate’s entrepreneurial fellowship model originated. These 11 incoming fellows are advancing innovations such as developing safe, effective, and orally available treatments for heavy metal poisoning, eliminating the need for refrigerants using liquid and salt-based cooling and heat pumping technology, and a one-step, acid-free microbial process that recovers and separates rare earth elements.
"I’m proud of the breadth, depth, and diversity represented in this new cohort, which includes 37 percent women and 43 percent founders of color,” says Aimee Rose, Activate’s executive managing director. “In welcoming our largest cohort ever, I continue to be amazed at the number and quality of talented, accomplished scientists with world-changing technologies that Activate attracts. With these emerging leaders heading the charge, I am filled with optimism for the future of the climate and our country."
Our dedicated, forward-thinking network of sponsors and partners makes the fellowship possible through direct funding and donations of time, equipment, and services. In addition to generous philanthropic partners, we are supported by the National Science Foundation; the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, including the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, and the Buildings Technologies Office; the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; the California Energy Commission; the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center; and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Without these collaborations, Activate could not provide fellows such comprehensive financial, community, technical, and career support.