Fifty Years' Impact.Tech seminars are designed to give a quick overview of the state of science, costs of scaling, and players already in the field -- institutions, startups, investors, and corporates.

The Chemical industry supports 25% of U.S. GDP but, simultaneously, it's responsible for 40% of U.S. industrial waste. Clean chemicals, also known as green chemicals, promise to keep the same products on the market while dramatically lowering the environmental impact and decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels. Drawing from recent learnings of biochemistry and synthetic biology such as CRISPR, new companies attempt to change the industry where leading players have not changed since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Clean Chemicals seminar will start with a brief overview of the forces shaping the chemical industry at large and a review of the 12 principles of green chemistry, especially the atom economy. We will then focus on the aspect of competitiveness, and how to use technological innovation and economy of scale to survive on the commodity-based market full of multibillion-dollar incumbents. You will leave the seminar knowing: What are clean chemicals? What has shaped and defined the chemical industry at large? Can the chemical industry, where the main players have not changed since World War II, be actually disrupted? Why now may be a good time? Which companies are challenging the status quo right now? How can you get involved in clean chemicals as an investor or an entrepreneur?

The seminar will be taught by Wojciech Osowiecki, who holds a PhD in chemistry from UC Berkeley, and currently is a process engineer at Lam Research, a $30B+ market cap semiconductor fabrication equipment manufacturer. Wojciech researched the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels as a method of renewable energy storage and emission-neutral clean chemical production. He’s the 2018 Siebel Scholar in Energy Science and participated in the “Cleantech to Market” program at Berkeley HAAS Business School. He holds a joint Bachelor and Master's degree in chemistry from Yale University.

Space for Impact.Tech seminars is extremely limited. We give access to those who demonstrate a real interest in the subject and the ability to make an impact in the near-term. Please fill in as much information as you think is relevant for us to make the best attendee choices!