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Ethan Novek

Founder and CEO

Ethan’s primary focuses are capturing and converting carbon dioxide and harnessing untapped, sustainable energy resources. Ethan is a Chemical Engineering student at Yale University. He has seven patents, including two issued utility patents regarding his renewable energy and CO2 capture technologies. He is a prestigious award winner, including an ongoing semi-finalist in the $20 million Carbon XPRIZE and top 10 winner in the Science Talent Search (STS). He is leading the construction of Innovator Energy’s CO2 capture pilot plant at the Southwest Research Institute. In the past two years, Ethan was a keynote speaker at the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering (CASE), a lead panelist at the Princeton University Environmental Technology Startup Panel and spoke at GreenBiz, the Tallisen West Walton Sustainability Solutions Festival, and on CBS. Recently, Ethan was featured in National Geographic and Yale Engineering Magazine.

Menachem Elimelech

Chief Advisor

Professor Elimelech received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. In his first appointment, Elimelech served as professor and vice chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA. Upon coming to Yale in 1998, he founded Yale's Environmental Engineering Program, of which he continues to serve as director. Professor Elimelech’s research is in the general area of the water-energy nexus. Specifically, the research in his group involves: (i) membrane-based processes, (ii) sustainable production of water and energy generation, (iii) environmental applications and implications of nanomaterials, and (iv) water and sanitation in developing countries. Professor Elimelech has received major awards in recognition of his research. Notable among these are the Eni Award for Protection of the Environment in 2015, election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and the Clarke Prize for excellence in water research in 2005. Professor Elimelech has authored more than 320 refereed journal publications, including invited review articles in Science and Nature, and is a co-author of the book Particle Deposition and Aggregation (1995). He is a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in two categories: Environment/Ecology and Chemistry. Professor Elimelech has advised 33 Ph.D. students and 24 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom hold leading positions in academia and industry. In recognition of his excellence and dedication in teaching and mentoring, he received the W.M. Keck Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence Award in 1994, the Yale University Graduate Mentoring Award in 2004, and the Yale University Postdoctoral Mentoring Prize in 2012.

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