A start-up company co-founded by MSI PI Paul Dauenhauer (professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science; Center for Sustainable Polymers) and Dr. Andrew Jones won the grand prize at the MN Cup startup competition. The start-up, Carba, was founded in 2021 and is working on a solution to remove CO2 from the atmosphere by converting plant waste into solid carbon. Carba was selected from a group of nine finalists for the grand prize of $50,000. A story about this award appears on the website of Twin Cities Business magazine: MN Cup Grand Prize Goes to Carba.
Professor Dauenhauer uses MSI for calculations involved in catalytic conversion of sugars and other biomass-derived compounds. Research by the Dauenhauer Lab was recently featured on the MSI website: A New Catalysis Method to Create Sustainable Materials.