July 7, 2023 • 43 mins
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has several programs and opportunities to help student entrepreneurs go from idea to invention. The Graduate Research Innovation District (The Grid) is a one-stop-shop for anything related to entrepreneurial and innovation education and is located in the Health Sciences and Human Services Library.
Jenny Owens, ScD, MS, associate dean, University of Maryland Graduate School, and executive director, The Grid, and Taylor DeBoer, MA, assistant director, The Grid, discuss how the innovation space is making a real impact on students and the Baltimore startup scene.
We also hear from UMB alumna Kelsey Abernathy, PhD, and University of Maryland, College Park alumnus Dan Fucich, PhD, who leveraged The Grid’s resources to launch their company AlgenAir. The AlgenAir co-founders share their journey of going from an idea to a full-fledged company with products that use algae to convert carbon into oxygen in occupied spaces.
Listen to The UMB Pulse on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you like to listen. The UMB Pulse is also now on YouTube.
Visit our website at umaryland.edu/pulse or email us at umbpulse@umaryland.edu.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Charles Schelle (00:00):
Dana, how good are you with plants?
Do you manage to keep themalive?
Dana Rampolla (00:03):
I actually am pretty good at taking care of
plants.
I have a lot of house plants.
I have a lot of yard plants.
The problem now is I have some,Florida style plants that I've
raised since they were babiesthat I was able to keep indoors
and I put them outside and nowthey're so huge.
I don't know if we're gonna getthem back inside.
How about you, Charles?
Charles Schelle (00:23):
Yeah.
I was gifted my first plant inyears.
And I was like, okay, we'regoing to attempt this again.
It was something easy.
I honestly don't remember whatit was.
It was, it was some sort of likecreeping moss with purple
flowers or whatever.
It died within a week.
I don't have a green thumb,whatever the opposite of a green
thumb is.
I, it's that.
but I would love to like, haveplants inside my apartment to
(00:46):
just, freshen up have that,little bit of more oxygen.
Dana Rampolla (00:49):
Right.
I was gonna say, it's kind of anatural filter too.
Charles Schelle (00:52):
Well, there's this really cool product that U
M B alum and, a classmate ofhers, through a
multidisciplinary programinvented right here at U M B
with the help of the Grid.
And it's called AlgenAir.
And it's actually, an algaelamp.
And it sounds cooler than what Ijust described it.
(01:14):
Trust me.
It, it lights up green, it's onyour desk and it actually will
use photosynthesis, take thatcarbon out and exchange it for
oxygen with the power of whatwe're told, 25 house plants.
And I can tell you now I havezero room for 25 house plants in
my apartment.
Dana Rampolla (01:33):
Well, you might be able to get one of these
then, and it'll do all the workof, your poor plant that died,
plus a few others.
Well, I'm interested because.
I've worked here for a number ofyears.
I'm familiar with what the Gridis, but I don't really know a
whole lot about the Grid and howit actually works for students.
So I would love to engage in aconversation to learn more.
Charles Schelle (01:54):
Yeah, and so the, the Grid is a great
resource for students who mighthave like an idea for an
invention, or maybe they wannaimprove something, start a
company or business, and to talkabout what the Grid is.
We have on hand this episode,Jenny Owens.
She's the assistant dean of theGraduate School.
She's also executive director ofthe Grid.
(02:15):
Taylor Debore, he is theassistant director of the Grid,
and then our inventors ofAlgenAir.
There's Dan Fucich, he's theco-founder and chief Scientific
officer.
He is a graduate of theUniversity of Maryland College
Park and Kelsey Abernathy is theother co-founder.
She is a 2021 graduate of U M Bwith a PhD in environmental
(02:39):
molecular biology.
So, I'm looking forward tofinding out how these two even
came up with the idea of usingalgae for your apartment.
Jena Frick (02:54):
You are listening to the heartbeat of the University
of Maryland, Baltimore, the U MB Pulse.
Dana Rampolla (03:07):
We've got a full house today.
Welcome to Jenny, Taylor, Danand Kelsey.
So let's start out Jenny orTaylor.
Tell me what is the Grid?
How did it start?
Jenny Owens (03:20):
I'm Jenny Owens.
I'm executive director of theGrid and Associate Dean in the
Graduate School.
The Grid, if you're new to thiswork.
Just a moment to orient you.
It's celebrated its fifthbirthday this year which is
really exciting.
It's a, it's a hub ofentrepreneurial resources for
students, faculty and staff.
And it's a place for them togather and collaborate, to
(03:41):
learn, and hopefully also toempower and create.
Dana Rampolla (03:46):
And if I'm a student, how do I find out more?
How do I, how do I becomeinvolved?
Jenny Owens (03:53):
Yeah, I mean there are so many workshops that we
offer throughout the year, andthese range from intellectual
property, inclusive leadership,design thinking, customer
discovery, these are open to anymember of the U M B community
and beyond.
So if you have a spouse, afriend who's also interested in
working on a project with you,they're more than welcome to
(04:13):
come.
So that's one area that you canget involved.
We also have a series ofmentors, so if you, if you have
an idea and you're interested ingetting additional advice,
that's another opportunity.
And we also have Grid pitch.
So this can feel intimidating ifyou're like, whoa, this seems
like a, a big thing to getinvolved with.
But you have mentoring forseveral weeks.
(04:34):
You can come in with an idea,you can come in with a
prototype.
You can come in any place youare and get support for, for
your needs.
Charles Schelle (04:43):
Going back to the origins of the Grid, now,
the Grid's actually an acronym.
Explain what it stands for.
And do you still use the, thefull name or, or reference the,
entire name of the Grid
Jenny Owens (04:52):
So the whole name is Graduate Research Innovation
District.
It took, there were manymeetings to try to figure out
like what to call this whatwould be distinct, what would be
unique.
And we actually ended up a groupof, there were students, there
was folks from, UM Ventures,there's people from the Graduate
School, and we ended up oneafternoon at Mount Vernon
(05:13):
Marketplace up the street and wehad note cards and we were just
brainstorming.
And as universities, we love ouracronyms.
We wanted it to be pronounceableand memorable.
And also symbolically, you havea bunch of things woven
together.
You have interconnectivity.
We thought the name wasreflective of our different
disciplines on campus and wherewe can intersect and build and
(05:35):
creates.
So that's the, the origin storyof the name.
But it was it was.
Way too long.
It felt like, it was like naminga child.
Yeah.
Charles Schelle (05:44):
Well, it makes sense because as you mentioned,
everything's woven into this andwe have our different
professional schools from, fromthe different disciplines.
Right.
So you have potential frommedicine and nursing and
pharmacy and law and socialwork.
And then you have, folks likeDan and Kelsey who will hear
from later, coming in from, fromanother arena.
(06:07):
But the heart of this isentrepreneurship and why is the
word entrepreneur scary for somestudents?
And, and why shouldn't it be?
Jenny Owens (06:16):
It can be a scary word.
It can be perceived as a scaryword and, and some of the
reasons why might be risk anduncertainty.
This idea that you're tryingsomething new, this idea that
you can fail in it.
For us that are conditioned tovalue stability.
Going out on your own andtrusting in your ideas can be a
big leap.
So I think there's some of thepsychology there.
(06:38):
That can be something toovercome.
I think there's financialconcerns, like our students
often are going and taking outloans or going into debt for
their education, and so theywant stability to repay them.
Or is this gonna cost me extramoney to, to figure this out?
So I think there are financialconcerns about, why maybe
entrepreneurship feelsintimidating.
(07:00):
Lack of experience.
Our students are trained in acertain discipline.
Who am I to build this?
Like, what skillset do I have?
So I think that could be theretoo, and, and a lot of our PhD
students in particular and manyother students, you're trained
for a path.
You're trained to be a nurse,you're trained for, to be a
scientist and to step off apath.
(07:20):
When you're charting out yourlife, and you may have selected
this for a reason, can feel likeLike a deviation, from what is
expected of you.
So I think there's reasons whyit can be intimidating to
students, but I think it's alsoimportant to note that the fear
associated with the term, ifthere is fear, isn't necessarily
justified.
There's a lot of reasons whyyou'd wanna get involved.
(07:41):
I think there's an opportunityfor innovation and opportunity
to make your mark in a uniqueway and take your unique lens,
like all of us are individualsand see the world in a certain
way.
Taking that lens and applying itto a problem that you see, or an
opportunity, I think is reallyexciting.
And these students often possessknowledge.
I'm excited that Dan and Kelseyare here because they're a prime
(08:03):
example of students who tookwhat they were working on and
found a really novel use for it.
I think with entrepreneurshipthere's flexibility and
autonomy, and who doesn't wantthat?
You know, this idea that you candesign something around your
values, you can design it aroundhow you see yourself working.
Instead of picking anorganization where you think
(08:23):
you'd be a good fit, buildingthat organization to fit around
your values, that's, that's aamazing and powerful thing.
I think skill development,there's opportunities to learn
whole new skill sets, andlearning things as you go can be
really empowering, personal andprofessional growth I think are
also opportunities of, engagingin this can be a
(08:45):
transformational journey for alot of people and build
different confidence anddifferent skillset.
And then last, I just wanna saypotential for impact.
We know what jobs are out there,and there's many, many more.
We have AI that's emerging evenstronger.
There's so many jobs thathaven't been created yet.
And I think as these jobs arebeing created, being alongside
(09:06):
of that change to make your markwith your innovation is, is a, a
way to build somethingdifferent, a way to build
something that's evolving as theworld is evolving.
So I think it's an excitingterm, but I could see why
there's a pros and cons.
Charles Schelle (09:22):
You mentioned a lot about the potential for
students what they can do, butthen the other part of this
equation is the businesscommunity.
Explain that link between thestudents and the business
community, how the two meetthrough the Grid.
Jenny Owens (09:35):
So I really think Baltimore is an amazing place
for students to get started ontheir journey, cuz it's one of
the best kept secrets in thenation's innovation scene, I
think.
And also more approachable.
You're not paying the high rentsthat you'd pay in Boston or
Silicon Valley.
There's adequate venture capitalthat's continuing to grow.
It's one of the 20 hottestcities in tech.
It's ranked third in FastCompany's List of Innovation
(09:57):
States, Maryland as a state.
It's fourth in the number ofstartups per million residents.
Like there's really a lot ofmovement and momentum here.
And not to mention Baltimoreitself as a destination.
We have Philly, we havePittsburgh, we have D.C., we
have New York.
Everyone's a train ride away.
And so when you're looking forcollaborators, you have the FDA,
you just have these tremendousresources here so that students
(10:21):
can connect.
And we also have a, a big listof mentors.
So when students have an idea,we really try to be deliberate
about finding the right peoplefor them to connect with.
Is it more of a social venture?
Is it more bio like, Is it moremanufacturing like we have
people to connect students withto really customize that path.
And I would be remiss too if Ididn't talk about the BioPark.
(10:43):
The BioPark is a fantasticresource for students.
There are so many companies thatare doing incredibly innovative
things right here on our campus.
There's even a, a, an eventtomorrow Science in the City,
which is hosted pretty regularlywhere leaders in startup,
leaders at U M B, students willgo and mingle.
And I think those, those aregreat opportunities for students
(11:04):
to continue to lean in, toopportunities to bridge into the
business.
Charles Schelle (11:08):
Right.
And.
Talking about that, that techscene and, and hub scene.
There are a lot of professionalgroups in the city too.
Right.
And I'll see in the thenewsletters about, hey, there's
a women in Science meetup atCheckerspot Brewery happening
this week.
Actually, there's probably abrewery for, for every
association to have their eventin, in town at this point.
(11:28):
Right.
So let's get to, the Grid pitch.
You mentioned that earlier.
Go more in depth about the Gridpitch what students get through
that mentorship, the, the leadup to it.
Taylor DeBoer (11:41):
I'm Taylor DeBoer, assistant director of
the Grid.
So yeah, the Grid pitch.
It's really about innovation anddiscovery, I think, for our
students.
I think that's, that's the key.
And we've, we've now had five ofthem and it's grown and evolved
quite a bit.
One thing that's reallyinteresting about Grid pitch is,
Two things.
First, it's not a competitionlike many of the pitch showcases
(12:04):
across the state and across theUnited States are it is a
showcase.
It's not a competition.
And we have a two-tiered systemwith Grid pitch where we accept
students who just have an idea,and that's called our vision
category.
So, most pitch competitions orshowcases Feature students who
are a little further along intheir entrepreneurial journey,
and we have that as well as partof our venture category.
(12:25):
But we want to make sure thatstudents who just have an idea
who maybe want to dip their toein the entrepreneurial pond Can
and can experience thatmentorship, that pitch
development.
It's, it's six weeks of what wepair the students with mentors.
If they get accepted and theyhave six weeks to work with
them, develop that pitch decklearn about concepts like
(12:46):
customer discovery, marketviability all of those great
things.
And then at the end of that sixweeks, they get to pitch in
front of startup leaders in thestartup community,
entrepreneurs, universityleadership, fellow colleagues,
students, friends, family.
So it's a really greatopportunity for them to kind of
(13:06):
learn about the entrepreneurshipin general and also learn about
pitch development and kind ofget started along that journey.
So I think also another thingthat it really helps with is
public speaking.
I think it's a great opportunityto get in front of a group and
learn how to talk about yourcool idea in a way that's going
(13:28):
to be engaging for the audience.
And I think that's also a bigpart of it.
And then, The networking thathappens, the networking that
happens after the event, at theevent, throughout the process,
the connections that get forgedwith other students who are
participating in Grid pitch.
I think all of that is all ofthat is part of it, but I think
that networking piece is alsoreally, really important and we
(13:48):
continue that relationship withthose students.
After the showcase in April.
I'm still in touch with themregularly this summer.
I meet with them, answerquestions, try to continue to
support them in ways, in anyways we can.
A lot of them continue to haveconversations with their mentors
and work with their mentors,which is great after Grid pitch,
so it doesn't just end in April.
(14:08):
It usually continues throughoutthe summer and the rest of the
year.
So, and Dan and Kelseyparticipated in our first two.
Dan and Kelsey of AlgenAir we'reso happy to have them here.
Participated in our first twoGrid pitches, 2018 and 19.
They can talk a little bit moreabout that experience, but they
started as participants.
They've since graduated and orhave had, had great success and
(14:32):
have come back as mentors.
And at our most recent Gridpitch, they spoke and shared
some, some wisdom and knowledgewith our, with our fellow
students.
So, they've remained very closeto the Grid pitch showcase
event.
Dana Rampolla (14:45):
So that leads us to Kelsey and Dan.
That would be the next logicalstep.
Why don't the two of you hop inand tell us a little bit.
First, tell us a little bit,paint a picture for us, what is
AlgenAir?
Kelsey Abernathy (14:55):
Thank you so much for having us.
My name's Kelsey.
I'm one of the co-founders ofAlgenAir alongside Dan.
And AlgenAir develops livingtechnology to improve the health
and wellbeing of buildingoccupants and our products
combined biology, engineeringand design to address these
problems caused by our modernbuilt environment.
(15:17):
And our first product is theaerium.
It's a modern house plant thatharnesses the photosynthetic
power of having 25 plants in asingle room in terms of how much
carbon dioxide it can removefrom the air and oxygen it's
producing.
We also last fall launched thefirst commercial size unit,
which is a hundred gallon systemthat's using algae in the
(15:40):
Pittsburgh International Airportto remove as much CO2 as about
having 5,000 plants in a singlespace.
Charles Schelle (15:48):
Wow.
That that is amazing.
That, that sounds like a wholegreenhouse.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (15:54):
That is amazing.
And is this something that youboth conceived of as students?
Tell us a little bit about howyou connected and then how the
Grid became a piece of yourjourney.
Kelsey Abernathy (16:05):
So Dan and I met in 2015.
We were both in the samegraduate program the MEES
program, Marine EstuaryEnvironmental Sciences, located
at, IMET in the Inner HarborDan, it was actually University
of Maryland College Park.
I'm University of Maryland,Baltimore.
But we were in the same spacedoing different lab researches,
(16:25):
but we had similar classes.
And we went through this programknown as the Reef Program.
I feel like there's a lot ofacronyms, and the Reef program
is the Radcliffe EnvironmentalEntrepreneurial Fellowship
Program, and this was designedto teach scientists the business
side of science andentrepreneurship.
We both went through thisprogram independently and it
(16:49):
just was something that spoke toboth of us in the sense that it
was the first time someone wastelling us that we could.
Use our science degree to dosomething other than research.
We could actually apply it todevelop products that could help
people and build business, buildbusinesses with them.
And so when we.
(17:10):
We're going through the program.
The program director NickHammond, said there's this new
event through U M B called the UM B Grid pitch.
And if you guys are interested,I think you should apply.
And we did not have a businessidea at the time.
We had projects that we wereworking on for the program, both
independently but we wanted todo something different.
(17:31):
And so I think I went to Dan andI was like, would you wanna do
this?
Let's come up with some ideasand we sat down for a solid half
of an afternoon and justwhiteboarded out a whole bunch
of ideas.
And that led to the idea that wepitched at the first Grid pitch
which was called Urban Algae.
(17:51):
And Dan, if you wanna explainUrban Algae and how that ended
up becoming what is todayAlgenAir.
Dan Fucich (17:59):
Yeah, that was a boy that was, seems like a long time
ago, but it's, it, it's part ofthe journey how we got there.
I like to say that we wereinterested in the Grid pitch.
We, we loved the energy inpitching and so we whiteboarded
a bunch of ideas and we took thethree that were the least bad.
And that started urban algae.
We were trying to solve theproblem of, toxic contamination
(18:21):
of cyanotoxins in dietarysupplements.
That you can go and buy.
It's called Bluegreen algae onthe shelf at Whole Foods.
People are taking this every dayand they're thinking it's
improving their health butthey're actually ingesting a
toxin that is slowly damagingtheir liver.
And about like 75% of the offthe shelf products labeled
Klamath Lake or Bluegreen algaeproducts contain these
(18:43):
cytotoxins.
So we wanted a dietarysupplement that we could control
the strain and not havecontamination from these
cyanotoxins.
We wanted to build extremelylarge photo bioreactors in
underutilized urban areas onbasically rooftops and.
That was our first idea and partof that pitching in 2018, then
(19:04):
2019, and being paired withgreat mentors through Grid and,
and having those recurringmeetings, the six weeks before
your actual pitch, the feedbackfrom the judges and that
continue mentorship over time,that led us to talk to
individuals that were a lotsmarter than ourselves.
Poke holes in the idea that.
That, that we had initially.
(19:26):
And then we took what we reallyliked about the core of that
idea in utilizing carbon dioxidefrom indoor areas and actually
bioremediating that withmicro-algae.
And so we were able to hone inour idea.
Develop a consumer product tosolve the single room solution
for elevated indoor CO2.
And then we're looking toincrease the scale as we grow
(19:49):
and develop the company.
Dana Rampolla (19:51):
That's incredible.
So neither of you really feltlike you had a lot of business
experience coming into this.
Like you feel like that's whereyou've gotten all of your
business acumen, that's helpingyou grow this into an actual
business.
Dan Fucich (20:06):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
I think, in the past, I, I, inhigh school, I really liked
Shark Tank and I worked odd jobsand stuff like that, but nothing
to prepare you for actuallystarting your own business.
It wasn't a thought.
I thought that I was gonna be a,a professor with, the pads on
the sleeves and I was running alab and teaching and yeah, as,
(20:27):
as Jenny said, like learning onthe fly as you grow and find
your core competencies and, andlearning more about business as
you do it was, was a reallyrewarding process.
And Kelsey, if you wanna add tothat.
Kelsey Abernathy (20:41):
Yeah, definitely.
I started grad school thinking Iwas gonna be a research
scientist for NOAA and I thinkhaving gone through everything
in the past five years now, Icouldn't imagine working in a
research lab swung to thecomplete other side and we've
gone through programs like theReef program and accelerator
programs as we've been on thisjourney.
(21:02):
But I think the most valuableexperience has come from just
actually building the businessitself and being hands-on and
you kind of learn as things comeat you.
And that's been a really coolexperience.
Charles Schelle (21:16):
Was there like an aha moment as you were
learning through the differentstrategies, the different things
you had to do to, to make thisa, a product, get it on the
market where everything startedto click after you were
initially, underwater?
Dan Fucich (21:31):
I, I think, and Kelsey, if you have other
thoughts, the, the moment that'ssticking out in, in my mind is
when we, so when you're tryingto grow microalgae, you're
creating a photo bioreactor.
You need your nutrient sources.
And I think the aha moment waswhen I was searching for a
carbon dioxide source for theactual photo bioreactor, and I
think the aha moment was, well,the building exhaust has very
(21:55):
high concentrations of CO2 thatwe're breathing out and then
that aha moment of.
Yeah, we can use that CO2 sourcerun it through the photo
bioreactor, and it can be anorganism alongside the humans in
our built environment.
So we're giving it carbondioxide and it's giving us
oxygen.
And just that, that completecycle of symbiosis was really
(22:18):
pivotal in the, in the directionof the company.
Charles Schelle (22:21):
If someone buys one, puts it in their, their
office or or bedroom, what dothey have to do?
How, how does it work exactly.
Jenny Owens (22:28):
I have one.
I love it.
Of course, I would have one,right.
But essentially there's asubscription model and Kelsey
and Dan, you can always jump inand correct me, but you just,
you get a little, a new thingevery two months and you kind
of, it's a tube essentially, andit's a base.
It looks nice.
I have a lot of plants, like I'mreally into plants, like more so
(22:49):
than I want to be.
I do.
I.
That's kind of a joke, but Ihave 59 plants in my home, and I
only know because myseven-year-old counted them this
weekend.
He was like, you have 59 plants,mom.
I said, thank you son, so, but Ialso have this awesome aerium
and essentially you it, itstarts kind of a lighter color.
It turns darker green over time.
You clean it out every twomonths.
(23:10):
There's a, a very thin filter.
It's very easy to care for.
And what's really nice is aplant enthusiast like me is you
can take the leftovers and itbecomes a fertilizer for your
plants.
And so I dilute it and then feedmy plants.
So it serves kind of a twopurpose for me of I have
healthier plants and I have,better air quality.
So that's my experience as aconsumer of it.
(23:32):
But Dan and Kelsey, you canchime in if I'm missing anything
there.
Dan Fucich (23:36):
That's perfect.
I love directly from, theeveryday user's mouth.
I think that's perfect.
Couldn't have said it bettermyself.
And yeah, we like to think that,I went to school for five years
in phycology to grow algae sothat it's so easy that anybody
can do it and really empowerpeople to grow their own fresh
source of spirulina at theirhouse.
(23:57):
And, have a, have a device thatimproves the indoor air quality
of, of gaseous pollutants, CO2in creating oxygen that any
other air filter that uses aparticulate filter can't do.
So yeah, exactly right.
Charles Schelle (24:12):
I'm so bad at taking care of plants.
I think algae is the only thingI could probably keep alive.
So this sounds like somethingthat's ideal for me, especially
with the benefits.
Since Kelsey and Dan bothmentioned that they're part of
the Marine EstaurineEnvironmental Sciences program
and worked at IMET.
Can you explain to our audiencewhat they are and how they're
(24:32):
connected to U M B?
Kelsey Abernathy (24:34):
The MEES program is a interdisciplinary
graduate school program that isacross all of the University of
Maryland schools.
And so you have College Park, UM B, U M B C and then there's
different labs locatedthroughout Maryland where you
could actually go to do yourresearch.
(24:56):
So IMET is a lab we were at HornPoint is one.
There's Another one down inSouthern Maryland, and I think
there's one at College Parkitself.
And basically wherever yourprofessor is, that they are
doing the research that is whereyou're located.
And so our professors bothhappened to be at the IMET
(25:17):
location, even though they werethrough different University of
Maryland schools.
Charles Schelle (25:22):
So Taylor and Jenny, because of the,
multi-campus, aspect of thatprogram, is that how you're able
to connect or are those programstudents all invited to, to be
part of the Grid?
Jenny Owens (25:33):
So the Grid pitch, you can have, as long as there's
a UMB student, you can haveother members.
We've had a lot of different,partnerships that occur.
But we do ask that one person isa U M B student and a lot of our
programs open to anyone and inCollege Park too is very
inclusive with them openingtheir programs to us as well.
And we often feature them in ournewsletter, but we do have a
(25:55):
newsletter that goes outperiodically.
There's a website with moreinformation.
Taylor's present at all of theorientations on campus.
And then we're located in thelibrary as well, on the H S H S
L, so we have a central locationthere on the third floor.
Dan is, he's like honorary U M Bgrad.
I, I think.
But I do think that's like areally unique and awesome
(26:15):
collaboration to have whereessentially your mentor school
determines, where you'regraduating from.
And I think.
Like having relationships likethis where you meet other
students with similar orintersectional kind of
interests, I think is a powerfultestament to like being a part
of an, a great system like the US M.
Kelsey Abernathy (26:35):
Being in the program, and I think Dan and I
actually learned a lot about howthe university systems work
while we were building thisbusiness.
Because since we were both fromdifferent universities, we had
to go through the process of theconflict of interest process for
each of the universities andkind of figuring out how
everything connected to eachother to ensure that what we
(26:57):
were building for AlgenAir wasseparate from the research that
we were doing in the lab for ourthesis work.
Charles Schelle (27:04):
So then touching on that, what either
resource or process that youlearned from the Grid did you
use, or what you think was likevital to making those
connections, making it kind ofget off the ground?
Kelsey Abernathy (27:18):
I'd say from my end it was, I think initially
just being connected to peoplein the ecosystem.
So when we signed up for thatfirst Grid pitch our mentor was
fantastic and actually helped usconnect to a bunch of different
people to talk to before weactually did the pitch.
(27:39):
So during that kind of six weeklead up period, and through
those connections started a lotof conversations around what it
was that we were building andwhy, and I think.
That was very important becausefor both of us initially, this
was just kind of a fun pitchcompetition experience to go
through.
(27:59):
Like we didn't enter this withthe full intent of this is going
to become a business.
But in talking to people, we gotenough encouragement and start
enough different conversationsthat when the pitch ended, both
of us were like, we, we wannacontinue doing this.
We wanna see where this can go,and.
It would take another, I think,close to six months between the
(28:22):
Grid pitch finishing and usactually forming AlgenAir as a
legal entity.
And it, during that time is kindof when we went through the
process of pivoting on what wewere gonna be changing the name,
and started applying todifferent accelerator programs
and grants in order to find thefunding to build those first
(28:42):
prototypes.
Dana Rampolla (28:44):
When it sounds like you've built the
prototypes, you're making sales.
Obviously Jenny is a, is a goodcustomer and maybe the rest of
us will be joining in aftereverything we've heard today.
But what are your what are yournext steps?
What are your growth plans?
So you mentioned the airport inPittsburgh.
That sounds like a hugeundertaking, a growth on, your,
your in-home conceived idea.
(29:05):
So what's next?
Dan Fucich (29:06):
Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
Right now we are stabilizing andscaling the consumer product.
So our tabletop unit, the aeriumthat's the equivalent of 25
house plants, in a single room.
We're stabilizing that consumerproduct.
Then scaling up in volume andactual, larger photo bioreactors
(29:26):
to commercial installs.
I think green walls thatincorporate micro algae and
enclosed ecosystems that cangrow their own fertilizer for
the terrestrial plants that youmay have.
So yeah, right now we're, we'reincreasing marketing and scaling
the hardware sales and thensupporting the customers with
our refill units.
And then going to commercialsales for larger scale.
(29:50):
Like the PittsburghInternational Airport.
It's a hundred gallon system.
That was a really fun productsprint.
Essentially we set the deadlinepretty aggressively where we
went from a product sketch on awhiteboard to a hundred gallons
active in the airport, growingin like 40 days.
We had a great team that helpedus locally here in Pittsburgh
(30:11):
Valley Design.
They were integral.
And then we just worked reallywell with them, and we, we
exceeded expectations in the, inthe words of the Pittsburgh
International Airport.
So that was a really fun system.
And then at scale, the businessmodels actually can feed
themselves.
When you do have the largerscale units, you can distribute
(30:31):
that biomass locally tocustomers.
In this case near Pittsburgh.
You can imagine one in New York,one in los Angeles our, our
customers are concentrated inurban and highly high population
density areas.
So the large scale versions, youcan use that biomass to then
support the small consumerproduct area customers and next
(30:53):
steps on the the next largescale.
I have trouble saying no.
So even though I told myself I'mgonna.
Focus on the consumer product.
We were approached by an artistLisa Morin.
She is a Baltimore artist andformer colleague at, IMET the
Institute of Marine andEnvironmental Technology.
(31:13):
She has an ongoing installationcalled What Is The Shape of
Water and she's telling thestory of bioluminescent
dinoflagellates which is anotherfancy word for micro algae that
light up when you shake themlack of a better term.
So her installation showcasesbiological illumination.
(31:34):
So we're telling the story goingfrom fire candlelight into that
electric light, the classicEdison bulb.
And then now what the futurelooks of 50, a hundred years
down the line looks like wherewe could actually be using
organisms to light our indoorspaces, which ties exactly in
with AlgenAir's livingtechnology where you can imagine
(31:57):
using biological organisms tolight up the world in indoors in
our built environment.
So that is going in in Novemberin the Peel Art Museum.
So it's.
Nice to have a little bit moreof a runway than 40 days.
But yeah, that project is comingalong well and it's gonna be
really beautiful.
So if people are interested inthe artistic side we'd, we'd
(32:20):
love to show you that
Charles Schelle (32:22):
Was one of her pieces of works displayed at
Light City Baltimore a few yearsago by chance.
Yeah, cuz I think I rememberseeing that and, and walking in
there.
I was just, blown away by it.
Dan Fucich (32:32):
Yes.
Yeah.
It's, it's captivating,mesmerizing like the, the, the
vocabulary list goes on.
And we're really honored to be apart a small part of the story
she's telling.
Dana Rampolla (32:44):
That's incredible.
And then from the Grid side, doyou, you both are young
entrepreneurs, do you give backin any way to the Grid?
Do you circle back with studentswho are currently going through
the program and Grid pitch?
Kelsey Abernathy (33:01):
Absolutely.
We've tried to stay as involvedas we can.
I've been a mentor for the pasttwo Grid pitches working with
students, kind of helping thembefore their pitch, and that's
something that is such a, like,cool honor to be able to do
because.
Our mentors have been soimportant in getting us to where
(33:23):
we are and where AlgenAir istoday.
So to kind of be on the otherside and provide mentorship and
give back to students juststarting on their journey has
been a really neat experience.
And I always try to approach itfrom the idea of like, what,
what do I wish I knew at thatstage?
What do I wish someone had toldme or shared with me?
And how can, how can I help themwhere they wanna go.
(33:44):
And then since we're located inPittsburgh now we aren't as
involved on the like, I guessday to day, but whenever we're
in town, we always try to visitthe Grid and if they're having
any events as well.
Taylor DeBoer (33:58):
Kelsey and Dan are really like the gold
standard of, of.
What we're trying to build herewith the Grid.
And so, their success thatthey've had, is, is a big part
of that, but it's also thementorship that they give back
to our students.
I could go on and on the amountof times that they've supported
our events led programs for us,worked with students mentored
(34:19):
They're truly, truly valuablementors to our students.
And that's really what we'retrying to build with the Grid
is, is, is guide and mentorstudents on their journey.
We hope and wish them success,and when they do have success,
we hope that they're willing tocome back and support our
students.
The way that Kelsey and Dan havewell
Charles Schelle (34:39):
Earlier you said, you have trouble saying
no.
I was wondering if Mark Cubanwould call if he would say no.
Dan Fucich (34:47):
It would certainly be instrumental in accelerating
our process.
But yeah, that would, that wouldbe a, a pretty fun, experience
yeah.
Going on Shark Tank would be, Iguess that's the show, right?
Like that's the ultimate, that'sthe highest level.
Ultimately, Taylor, you're,you're too kind.
Yeah.
We're happy to support Gridanyway that we can, because
(35:07):
frankly, we wouldn't be herewithout both of the Grid pitches
and all the mentors and thesupport that we received.
So just trying to help otherstudents go along the same path
that, that we did, and learnfrom the mistakes, the many
mistakes that we made.
So yeah, happy to help.
Dana Rampolla (35:25):
It's so interesting how you were
traveling down this path,thinking you knew where you were
headed, and now look where youare.
It's really an exciting story.
I appreciate you guys sharing somuch with us.
Charles Schelle (35:36):
There are different resources throughout U
M B that are pulled into theGrid.
And one that comes to mind isthe intellectual, property,
clinic.
Taylor and Jenny, talk a littlebit about those different
resources and, and how they,help students preparing with
their pitches and their ideas.
Taylor DeBoer (35:55):
Big part of what we do is collaboration, right?
We're interdisciplinary.
We work with entities acrosscampus with the different
schools.
Law clinic is a great example.
We've worked with them since thebeginning of the Grid.
They used to meet clients inperson.
So that clinic, for those whodon't know, provides pro bono
legal counsel.
It's a student run clinic andthey work with attorneys and
(36:15):
professors in the school of law.
They work with clients pro bonoaround issues, IP issues.
Kelsey and Dan have actuallyworked with them in the past.
So they used to meet withclients in our old space, in
person.
Now they meet mostly virtually,but we send so many individuals,
both students and non-students.
A lot of people reach out to mewith questions about IP.
(36:36):
We send so many people to themand we have a close relationship
with them.
Their director, Patty Campbelland a bunch of the other
professors who work with the lawclinic lead a lot of our IP
related programming.
Usually three or four programsevery year led by intellectual
property clinics.
So we have a great relationshipwith them and we collaborate
with the Office ofSustainability on events.
(36:58):
We work very closely with O R D.
They're great partners of ours,continue to be great partners of
ours and we've.
We've collaborated, and ledevents with them.
We've worked with the Center forGlobal Engagement on
programming.
We've co-hosted events withWomen in Bio.
School of Pharmacy hascontributed and award money for
our Grid pitch students.
(37:18):
So they're close collaboratorsand we've worked with them.
So yeah, we've worked with a lotof.
Different entities aroundcampus.
So it's, it's a big part of, ofour mission is to collaborate
and in fact, our in-personprogramming is almost all
collaborative now these days.
We try to do three to five ofthose per semester.
And we, we make sure that thoseare collaborations, whether it's
(37:40):
with Women in Bio Office ofSustainability, Office of
Research and Development,various different organizations.
Jenny Owens (37:48):
The space that we exist in in the library, like
there's an innovation hub in thelibrary with a 3D printer.
That's amazing.
There's augmented and virtualreality opportunities in the
library as well.
There's so many resources therethat students can use that we
didn't have access to in ourprevious space.
Dan and Kelsey are probably 3Dprinting experts by now due to
(38:10):
their prototyping, that they,that they did as well.
But like that librarypartnership and just the welcome
we felt in, in their space hasbeen really valuable as well.
Charles Schelle (38:21):
Yeah, that's a relatively new space there on
the third floor of the HealthSciences and Human Services
Library.
What else do you have in thereif someone hasn't been inside?
Taylor DeBoer (38:31):
Yeah, so we have about 1200 square feet of
flexible programming and, andcollaborative workspace.
So there are a ton of littletables where students are often
sitting and studying,collaborating, having
conversations, working.
It is a library, so when we'renot having programming, we try
to keep it relatively quiet andrespectful for the rest of the
(38:52):
people who are in the library,but it's a great space for
students to hang out and, and dowork or research, whatever they
they may need.
And then when we have eventsit's completely flexible, so it
gets converted into a 1200square foot space.
There's a large TV screen and AVequipment.
PA system and all of that.
So we can have events of up toabout 80 people is our capacity.
(39:13):
But it's growing because thereare some stacks have removed and
thanks to the continued,generous support of the library,
we're gonna be gaining probablyabout four, 500 additional
square feet of space.
So we'll be able to haveslightly larger events, in the
future.
So that's exciting.
And then, and then my office isalso in the Grid, so.
And I have a conference room, sothere's, there's flex space in
(39:35):
there too, if students orfaculty, staff really anyone
needs to, to have aconversation.
I've had some, some Grid pitchstudents meet with their mentors
in my office in that conferenceroom.
So, so we have kind of amultipurpose space.
Charles Schelle (39:48):
Ideas can strike at any time.
Can students or even folks inthe community reach out to you
anytime during the year or areyou more like on a semester
cycle with, with the differentprogramming?
Taylor DeBoer (39:59):
I encourage students to reach out to me at
any point.
I meet with students fairlyregularly and it sometimes it's,
they're interested in learningmore about what we have to
offer.
They're interested, they have anidea, but they're not sure if
it's a good fit for Grid pitch.
We also do career services outof the Grid, which is something
I haven't mentioned yet.
And that's a collaboration thatstarted with Student Affairs.
(40:22):
So we, we do a lot of careerservices as well.
So I even meet with students andhelp them with, with career
services, sometimes one-on-one.
So, definitely do not wait forthe Grid pitch application cycle
to come out.
If you're a student and you'reinterested in this world of
entrepreneurship in any capacitywe have so many things to offer
and I'd love to just have aconversation over Zoom or in
(40:44):
person or get a coffee and talkabout what you may want to do,
what you're trying to build,what skills you want to gain
and, and I can then kind ofguide you to one of the many
different things that we offer,or multiple things that we offer
that kind of fits that student'sneeds.
So that's, yeah, just email me.
That's what I, just shoot me anemail, send me a text, let's
(41:07):
have a conversation.
Jenny Owens (41:09):
We work in the Graduate School, Taylor and I,
but it's for all students.
So it's not just for graduateschool students.
We have social work students, wehave pharmacy students.
Like, we just want to make sureeveryone feels welcome in the
space and that it's not just agraduate school thing.
We were also deliberate aboutlike the location of making it
in the space too.
That was kind of neutral toschool.
So I just wanna emphasize that.
(41:29):
If you're not sure if it's foryou, it it is for you.
It's for any student.
Taylor DeBoer (41:34):
I wanna add too that I think entrepreneurship is
as much a mindset and aphilosophy as it is a career
path.
So I think you, you don't haveto be an as aspiring
entrepreneur by definition togain knowledge or skills or to,
to engage with our programming.
(41:55):
I think that's really important.
To highlight that maybe you needhelp with career services.
Maybe you're just interested insomething we have to offer.
Maybe you're not sure why, butyou wanna, you want to engage.
So reach out to us, come to ourLunch and learns.
I don't think it's just forstudents who are launching an
app or creating a medical deviceor wanna start a company.
(42:16):
I think it's for all students ofU M B and we have programming
and services to support allstudents.
Charles Schelle (42:24):
Fantastic.
Thank you again to Jenny,Taylor, Dan and Kelsey, and to
learn more about both the Gridand AlgenAir, you can visit the
links in our show notes.
Jena Frick (42:40):
The U M B Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana
Rampolla is a U M B Office ofCommunications and Public
Affairs production.
Edited by Charles SchelleMarketing by Dana Rampolla.
Dana, how good are you with plants?
Do you manage to keep themalive?
Dana Rampolla (00:03):
I actually am pretty good at taking care of
plants.
I have a lot of house plants.
I have a lot of yard plants.
The problem now is I have some,Florida style plants that I've
raised since they were babiesthat I was able to keep indoors
and I put them outside and nowthey're so huge.
I don't know if we're gonna getthem back inside.
How about you, Charles?
Charles Schelle (00:23):
Yeah.
I was gifted my first plant inyears.
And I was like, okay, we'regoing to attempt this again.
It was something easy.
I honestly don't remember whatit was.
It was, it was some sort of likecreeping moss with purple
flowers or whatever.
It died within a week.
I don't have a green thumb,whatever the opposite of a green
thumb is.
I, it's that.
but I would love to like, haveplants inside my apartment to
(00:46):
just, freshen up have that,little bit of more oxygen.
Dana Rampolla (00:49):
Right.
I was gonna say, it's kind of anatural filter too.
Charles Schelle (00:52):
Well, there's this really cool product that U
M B alum and, a classmate ofhers, through a
multidisciplinary programinvented right here at U M B
with the help of the Grid.
And it's called AlgenAir.
And it's actually, an algaelamp.
And it sounds cooler than what Ijust described it.
(01:14):
Trust me.
It, it lights up green, it's onyour desk and it actually will
use photosynthesis, take thatcarbon out and exchange it for
oxygen with the power of whatwe're told, 25 house plants.
And I can tell you now I havezero room for 25 house plants in
my apartment.
Dana Rampolla (01:33):
Well, you might be able to get one of these
then, and it'll do all the workof, your poor plant that died,
plus a few others.
Well, I'm interested because.
I've worked here for a number ofyears.
I'm familiar with what the Gridis, but I don't really know a
whole lot about the Grid and howit actually works for students.
So I would love to engage in aconversation to learn more.
Charles Schelle (01:54):
Yeah, and so the, the Grid is a great
resource for students who mighthave like an idea for an
invention, or maybe they wannaimprove something, start a
company or business, and to talkabout what the Grid is.
We have on hand this episode,Jenny Owens.
She's the assistant dean of theGraduate School.
She's also executive director ofthe Grid.
(02:15):
Taylor Debore, he is theassistant director of the Grid,
and then our inventors ofAlgenAir.
There's Dan Fucich, he's theco-founder and chief Scientific
officer.
He is a graduate of theUniversity of Maryland College
Park and Kelsey Abernathy is theother co-founder.
She is a 2021 graduate of U M Bwith a PhD in environmental
(02:39):
molecular biology.
So, I'm looking forward tofinding out how these two even
came up with the idea of usingalgae for your apartment.
Jena Frick (02:54):
You are listening to the heartbeat of the University
of Maryland, Baltimore, the U MB Pulse.
Dana Rampolla (03:07):
We've got a full house today.
Welcome to Jenny, Taylor, Danand Kelsey.
So let's start out Jenny orTaylor.
Tell me what is the Grid?
How did it start?
Jenny Owens (03:20):
I'm Jenny Owens.
I'm executive director of theGrid and Associate Dean in the
Graduate School.
The Grid, if you're new to thiswork.
Just a moment to orient you.
It's celebrated its fifthbirthday this year which is
really exciting.
It's a, it's a hub ofentrepreneurial resources for
students, faculty and staff.
And it's a place for them togather and collaborate, to
(03:41):
learn, and hopefully also toempower and create.
Dana Rampolla (03:46):
And if I'm a student, how do I find out more?
How do I, how do I becomeinvolved?
Jenny Owens (03:53):
Yeah, I mean there are so many workshops that we
offer throughout the year, andthese range from intellectual
property, inclusive leadership,design thinking, customer
discovery, these are open to anymember of the U M B community
and beyond.
So if you have a spouse, afriend who's also interested in
working on a project with you,they're more than welcome to
(04:13):
come.
So that's one area that you canget involved.
We also have a series ofmentors, so if you, if you have
an idea and you're interested ingetting additional advice,
that's another opportunity.
And we also have Grid pitch.
So this can feel intimidating ifyou're like, whoa, this seems
like a, a big thing to getinvolved with.
But you have mentoring forseveral weeks.
(04:34):
You can come in with an idea,you can come in with a
prototype.
You can come in any place youare and get support for, for
your needs.
Charles Schelle (04:43):
Going back to the origins of the Grid, now,
the Grid's actually an acronym.
Explain what it stands for.
And do you still use the, thefull name or, or reference the,
entire name of the Grid
Jenny Owens (04:52):
So the whole name is Graduate Research Innovation
District.
It took, there were manymeetings to try to figure out
like what to call this whatwould be distinct, what would be
unique.
And we actually ended up a groupof, there were students, there
was folks from, UM Ventures,there's people from the Graduate
School, and we ended up oneafternoon at Mount Vernon
(05:13):
Marketplace up the street and wehad note cards and we were just
brainstorming.
And as universities, we love ouracronyms.
We wanted it to be pronounceableand memorable.
And also symbolically, you havea bunch of things woven
together.
You have interconnectivity.
We thought the name wasreflective of our different
disciplines on campus and wherewe can intersect and build and
(05:35):
creates.
So that's the, the origin storyof the name.
But it was it was.
Way too long.
It felt like, it was like naminga child.
Yeah.
Charles Schelle (05:44):
Well, it makes sense because as you mentioned,
everything's woven into this andwe have our different
professional schools from, fromthe different disciplines.
Right.
So you have potential frommedicine and nursing and
pharmacy and law and socialwork.
And then you have, folks likeDan and Kelsey who will hear
from later, coming in from, fromanother arena.
(06:07):
But the heart of this isentrepreneurship and why is the
word entrepreneur scary for somestudents?
And, and why shouldn't it be?
Jenny Owens (06:16):
It can be a scary word.
It can be perceived as a scaryword and, and some of the
reasons why might be risk anduncertainty.
This idea that you're tryingsomething new, this idea that
you can fail in it.
For us that are conditioned tovalue stability.
Going out on your own andtrusting in your ideas can be a
big leap.
So I think there's some of thepsychology there.
(06:38):
That can be something toovercome.
I think there's financialconcerns, like our students
often are going and taking outloans or going into debt for
their education, and so theywant stability to repay them.
Or is this gonna cost me extramoney to, to figure this out?
So I think there are financialconcerns about, why maybe
entrepreneurship feelsintimidating.
(07:00):
Lack of experience.
Our students are trained in acertain discipline.
Who am I to build this?
Like, what skillset do I have?
So I think that could be theretoo, and, and a lot of our PhD
students in particular and manyother students, you're trained
for a path.
You're trained to be a nurse,you're trained for, to be a
scientist and to step off apath.
(07:20):
When you're charting out yourlife, and you may have selected
this for a reason, can feel likeLike a deviation, from what is
expected of you.
So I think there's reasons whyit can be intimidating to
students, but I think it's alsoimportant to note that the fear
associated with the term, ifthere is fear, isn't necessarily
justified.
There's a lot of reasons whyyou'd wanna get involved.
(07:41):
I think there's an opportunityfor innovation and opportunity
to make your mark in a uniqueway and take your unique lens,
like all of us are individualsand see the world in a certain
way.
Taking that lens and applying itto a problem that you see, or an
opportunity, I think is reallyexciting.
And these students often possessknowledge.
I'm excited that Dan and Kelseyare here because they're a prime
(08:03):
example of students who tookwhat they were working on and
found a really novel use for it.
I think with entrepreneurshipthere's flexibility and
autonomy, and who doesn't wantthat?
You know, this idea that you candesign something around your
values, you can design it aroundhow you see yourself working.
Instead of picking anorganization where you think
(08:23):
you'd be a good fit, buildingthat organization to fit around
your values, that's, that's aamazing and powerful thing.
I think skill development,there's opportunities to learn
whole new skill sets, andlearning things as you go can be
really empowering, personal andprofessional growth I think are
also opportunities of, engagingin this can be a
(08:45):
transformational journey for alot of people and build
different confidence anddifferent skillset.
And then last, I just wanna saypotential for impact.
We know what jobs are out there,and there's many, many more.
We have AI that's emerging evenstronger.
There's so many jobs thathaven't been created yet.
And I think as these jobs arebeing created, being alongside
(09:06):
of that change to make your markwith your innovation is, is a, a
way to build somethingdifferent, a way to build
something that's evolving as theworld is evolving.
So I think it's an excitingterm, but I could see why
there's a pros and cons.
Charles Schelle (09:22):
You mentioned a lot about the potential for
students what they can do, butthen the other part of this
equation is the businesscommunity.
Explain that link between thestudents and the business
community, how the two meetthrough the Grid.
Jenny Owens (09:35):
So I really think Baltimore is an amazing place
for students to get started ontheir journey, cuz it's one of
the best kept secrets in thenation's innovation scene, I
think.
And also more approachable.
You're not paying the high rentsthat you'd pay in Boston or
Silicon Valley.
There's adequate venture capitalthat's continuing to grow.
It's one of the 20 hottestcities in tech.
It's ranked third in FastCompany's List of Innovation
(09:57):
States, Maryland as a state.
It's fourth in the number ofstartups per million residents.
Like there's really a lot ofmovement and momentum here.
And not to mention Baltimoreitself as a destination.
We have Philly, we havePittsburgh, we have D.C., we
have New York.
Everyone's a train ride away.
And so when you're looking forcollaborators, you have the FDA,
you just have these tremendousresources here so that students
(10:21):
can connect.
And we also have a, a big listof mentors.
So when students have an idea,we really try to be deliberate
about finding the right peoplefor them to connect with.
Is it more of a social venture?
Is it more bio like, Is it moremanufacturing like we have
people to connect students withto really customize that path.
And I would be remiss too if Ididn't talk about the BioPark.
(10:43):
The BioPark is a fantasticresource for students.
There are so many companies thatare doing incredibly innovative
things right here on our campus.
There's even a, a, an eventtomorrow Science in the City,
which is hosted pretty regularlywhere leaders in startup,
leaders at U M B, students willgo and mingle.
And I think those, those aregreat opportunities for students
(11:04):
to continue to lean in, toopportunities to bridge into the
business.
Charles Schelle (11:08):
Right.
And.
Talking about that, that techscene and, and hub scene.
There are a lot of professionalgroups in the city too.
Right.
And I'll see in the thenewsletters about, hey, there's
a women in Science meetup atCheckerspot Brewery happening
this week.
Actually, there's probably abrewery for, for every
association to have their eventin, in town at this point.
(11:28):
Right.
So let's get to, the Grid pitch.
You mentioned that earlier.
Go more in depth about the Gridpitch what students get through
that mentorship, the, the leadup to it.
Taylor DeBoer (11:41):
I'm Taylor DeBoer, assistant director of
the Grid.
So yeah, the Grid pitch.
It's really about innovation anddiscovery, I think, for our
students.
I think that's, that's the key.
And we've, we've now had five ofthem and it's grown and evolved
quite a bit.
One thing that's reallyinteresting about Grid pitch is,
Two things.
First, it's not a competitionlike many of the pitch showcases
(12:04):
across the state and across theUnited States are it is a
showcase.
It's not a competition.
And we have a two-tiered systemwith Grid pitch where we accept
students who just have an idea,and that's called our vision
category.
So, most pitch competitions orshowcases Feature students who
are a little further along intheir entrepreneurial journey,
and we have that as well as partof our venture category.
(12:25):
But we want to make sure thatstudents who just have an idea
who maybe want to dip their toein the entrepreneurial pond Can
and can experience thatmentorship, that pitch
development.
It's, it's six weeks of what wepair the students with mentors.
If they get accepted and theyhave six weeks to work with
them, develop that pitch decklearn about concepts like
(12:46):
customer discovery, marketviability all of those great
things.
And then at the end of that sixweeks, they get to pitch in
front of startup leaders in thestartup community,
entrepreneurs, universityleadership, fellow colleagues,
students, friends, family.
So it's a really greatopportunity for them to kind of
(13:06):
learn about the entrepreneurshipin general and also learn about
pitch development and kind ofget started along that journey.
So I think also another thingthat it really helps with is
public speaking.
I think it's a great opportunityto get in front of a group and
learn how to talk about yourcool idea in a way that's going
(13:28):
to be engaging for the audience.
And I think that's also a bigpart of it.
And then, The networking thathappens, the networking that
happens after the event, at theevent, throughout the process,
the connections that get forgedwith other students who are
participating in Grid pitch.
I think all of that is all ofthat is part of it, but I think
that networking piece is alsoreally, really important and we
(13:48):
continue that relationship withthose students.
After the showcase in April.
I'm still in touch with themregularly this summer.
I meet with them, answerquestions, try to continue to
support them in ways, in anyways we can.
A lot of them continue to haveconversations with their mentors
and work with their mentors,which is great after Grid pitch,
so it doesn't just end in April.
(14:08):
It usually continues throughoutthe summer and the rest of the
year.
So, and Dan and Kelseyparticipated in our first two.
Dan and Kelsey of AlgenAir we'reso happy to have them here.
Participated in our first twoGrid pitches, 2018 and 19.
They can talk a little bit moreabout that experience, but they
started as participants.
They've since graduated and orhave had, had great success and
(14:32):
have come back as mentors.
And at our most recent Gridpitch, they spoke and shared
some, some wisdom and knowledgewith our, with our fellow
students.
So, they've remained very closeto the Grid pitch showcase
event.
Dana Rampolla (14:45):
So that leads us to Kelsey and Dan.
That would be the next logicalstep.
Why don't the two of you hop inand tell us a little bit.
First, tell us a little bit,paint a picture for us, what is
AlgenAir?
Kelsey Abernathy (14:55):
Thank you so much for having us.
My name's Kelsey.
I'm one of the co-founders ofAlgenAir alongside Dan.
And AlgenAir develops livingtechnology to improve the health
and wellbeing of buildingoccupants and our products
combined biology, engineeringand design to address these
problems caused by our modernbuilt environment.
(15:17):
And our first product is theaerium.
It's a modern house plant thatharnesses the photosynthetic
power of having 25 plants in asingle room in terms of how much
carbon dioxide it can removefrom the air and oxygen it's
producing.
We also last fall launched thefirst commercial size unit,
which is a hundred gallon systemthat's using algae in the
(15:40):
Pittsburgh International Airportto remove as much CO2 as about
having 5,000 plants in a singlespace.
Charles Schelle (15:48):
Wow.
That that is amazing.
That, that sounds like a wholegreenhouse.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (15:54):
That is amazing.
And is this something that youboth conceived of as students?
Tell us a little bit about howyou connected and then how the
Grid became a piece of yourjourney.
Kelsey Abernathy (16:05):
So Dan and I met in 2015.
We were both in the samegraduate program the MEES
program, Marine EstuaryEnvironmental Sciences, located
at, IMET in the Inner HarborDan, it was actually University
of Maryland College Park.
I'm University of Maryland,Baltimore.
But we were in the same spacedoing different lab researches,
(16:25):
but we had similar classes.
And we went through this programknown as the Reef Program.
I feel like there's a lot ofacronyms, and the Reef program
is the Radcliffe EnvironmentalEntrepreneurial Fellowship
Program, and this was designedto teach scientists the business
side of science andentrepreneurship.
We both went through thisprogram independently and it
(16:49):
just was something that spoke toboth of us in the sense that it
was the first time someone wastelling us that we could.
Use our science degree to dosomething other than research.
We could actually apply it todevelop products that could help
people and build business, buildbusinesses with them.
And so when we.
(17:10):
We're going through the program.
The program director NickHammond, said there's this new
event through U M B called the UM B Grid pitch.
And if you guys are interested,I think you should apply.
And we did not have a businessidea at the time.
We had projects that we wereworking on for the program, both
independently but we wanted todo something different.
(17:31):
And so I think I went to Dan andI was like, would you wanna do
this?
Let's come up with some ideasand we sat down for a solid half
of an afternoon and justwhiteboarded out a whole bunch
of ideas.
And that led to the idea that wepitched at the first Grid pitch
which was called Urban Algae.
(17:51):
And Dan, if you wanna explainUrban Algae and how that ended
up becoming what is todayAlgenAir.
Dan Fucich (17:59):
Yeah, that was a boy that was, seems like a long time
ago, but it's, it, it's part ofthe journey how we got there.
I like to say that we wereinterested in the Grid pitch.
We, we loved the energy inpitching and so we whiteboarded
a bunch of ideas and we took thethree that were the least bad.
And that started urban algae.
We were trying to solve theproblem of, toxic contamination
(18:21):
of cyanotoxins in dietarysupplements.
That you can go and buy.
It's called Bluegreen algae onthe shelf at Whole Foods.
People are taking this every dayand they're thinking it's
improving their health butthey're actually ingesting a
toxin that is slowly damagingtheir liver.
And about like 75% of the offthe shelf products labeled
Klamath Lake or Bluegreen algaeproducts contain these
(18:43):
cytotoxins.
So we wanted a dietarysupplement that we could control
the strain and not havecontamination from these
cyanotoxins.
We wanted to build extremelylarge photo bioreactors in
underutilized urban areas onbasically rooftops and.
That was our first idea and partof that pitching in 2018, then
(19:04):
2019, and being paired withgreat mentors through Grid and,
and having those recurringmeetings, the six weeks before
your actual pitch, the feedbackfrom the judges and that
continue mentorship over time,that led us to talk to
individuals that were a lotsmarter than ourselves.
Poke holes in the idea that.
That, that we had initially.
(19:26):
And then we took what we reallyliked about the core of that
idea in utilizing carbon dioxidefrom indoor areas and actually
bioremediating that withmicro-algae.
And so we were able to hone inour idea.
Develop a consumer product tosolve the single room solution
for elevated indoor CO2.
And then we're looking toincrease the scale as we grow
(19:49):
and develop the company.
Dana Rampolla (19:51):
That's incredible.
So neither of you really feltlike you had a lot of business
experience coming into this.
Like you feel like that's whereyou've gotten all of your
business acumen, that's helpingyou grow this into an actual
business.
Dan Fucich (20:06):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
I think, in the past, I, I, inhigh school, I really liked
Shark Tank and I worked odd jobsand stuff like that, but nothing
to prepare you for actuallystarting your own business.
It wasn't a thought.
I thought that I was gonna be a,a professor with, the pads on
the sleeves and I was running alab and teaching and yeah, as,
(20:27):
as Jenny said, like learning onthe fly as you grow and find
your core competencies and, andlearning more about business as
you do it was, was a reallyrewarding process.
And Kelsey, if you wanna add tothat.
Kelsey Abernathy (20:41):
Yeah, definitely.
I started grad school thinking Iwas gonna be a research
scientist for NOAA and I thinkhaving gone through everything
in the past five years now, Icouldn't imagine working in a
research lab swung to thecomplete other side and we've
gone through programs like theReef program and accelerator
programs as we've been on thisjourney.
(21:02):
But I think the most valuableexperience has come from just
actually building the businessitself and being hands-on and
you kind of learn as things comeat you.
And that's been a really coolexperience.
Charles Schelle (21:16):
Was there like an aha moment as you were
learning through the differentstrategies, the different things
you had to do to, to make thisa, a product, get it on the
market where everything startedto click after you were
initially, underwater?
Dan Fucich (21:31):
I, I think, and Kelsey, if you have other
thoughts, the, the moment that'ssticking out in, in my mind is
when we, so when you're tryingto grow microalgae, you're
creating a photo bioreactor.
You need your nutrient sources.
And I think the aha moment waswhen I was searching for a
carbon dioxide source for theactual photo bioreactor, and I
think the aha moment was, well,the building exhaust has very
(21:55):
high concentrations of CO2 thatwe're breathing out and then
that aha moment of.
Yeah, we can use that CO2 sourcerun it through the photo
bioreactor, and it can be anorganism alongside the humans in
our built environment.
So we're giving it carbondioxide and it's giving us
oxygen.
And just that, that completecycle of symbiosis was really
(22:18):
pivotal in the, in the directionof the company.
Charles Schelle (22:21):
If someone buys one, puts it in their, their
office or or bedroom, what dothey have to do?
How, how does it work exactly.
Jenny Owens (22:28):
I have one.
I love it.
Of course, I would have one,right.
But essentially there's asubscription model and Kelsey
and Dan, you can always jump inand correct me, but you just,
you get a little, a new thingevery two months and you kind
of, it's a tube essentially, andit's a base.
It looks nice.
I have a lot of plants, like I'mreally into plants, like more so
(22:49):
than I want to be.
I do.
I.
That's kind of a joke, but Ihave 59 plants in my home, and I
only know because myseven-year-old counted them this
weekend.
He was like, you have 59 plants,mom.
I said, thank you son, so, but Ialso have this awesome aerium
and essentially you it, itstarts kind of a lighter color.
It turns darker green over time.
You clean it out every twomonths.
(23:10):
There's a, a very thin filter.
It's very easy to care for.
And what's really nice is aplant enthusiast like me is you
can take the leftovers and itbecomes a fertilizer for your
plants.
And so I dilute it and then feedmy plants.
So it serves kind of a twopurpose for me of I have
healthier plants and I have,better air quality.
So that's my experience as aconsumer of it.
(23:32):
But Dan and Kelsey, you canchime in if I'm missing anything
there.
Dan Fucich (23:36):
That's perfect.
I love directly from, theeveryday user's mouth.
I think that's perfect.
Couldn't have said it bettermyself.
And yeah, we like to think that,I went to school for five years
in phycology to grow algae sothat it's so easy that anybody
can do it and really empowerpeople to grow their own fresh
source of spirulina at theirhouse.
(23:57):
And, have a, have a device thatimproves the indoor air quality
of, of gaseous pollutants, CO2in creating oxygen that any
other air filter that uses aparticulate filter can't do.
So yeah, exactly right.
Charles Schelle (24:12):
I'm so bad at taking care of plants.
I think algae is the only thingI could probably keep alive.
So this sounds like somethingthat's ideal for me, especially
with the benefits.
Since Kelsey and Dan bothmentioned that they're part of
the Marine EstaurineEnvironmental Sciences program
and worked at IMET.
Can you explain to our audiencewhat they are and how they're
(24:32):
connected to U M B?
Kelsey Abernathy (24:34):
The MEES program is a interdisciplinary
graduate school program that isacross all of the University of
Maryland schools.
And so you have College Park, UM B, U M B C and then there's
different labs locatedthroughout Maryland where you
could actually go to do yourresearch.
(24:56):
So IMET is a lab we were at HornPoint is one.
There's Another one down inSouthern Maryland, and I think
there's one at College Parkitself.
And basically wherever yourprofessor is, that they are
doing the research that is whereyou're located.
And so our professors bothhappened to be at the IMET
(25:17):
location, even though they werethrough different University of
Maryland schools.
Charles Schelle (25:22):
So Taylor and Jenny, because of the,
multi-campus, aspect of thatprogram, is that how you're able
to connect or are those programstudents all invited to, to be
part of the Grid?
Jenny Owens (25:33):
So the Grid pitch, you can have, as long as there's
a UMB student, you can haveother members.
We've had a lot of different,partnerships that occur.
But we do ask that one person isa U M B student and a lot of our
programs open to anyone and inCollege Park too is very
inclusive with them openingtheir programs to us as well.
And we often feature them in ournewsletter, but we do have a
(25:55):
newsletter that goes outperiodically.
There's a website with moreinformation.
Taylor's present at all of theorientations on campus.
And then we're located in thelibrary as well, on the H S H S
L, so we have a central locationthere on the third floor.
Dan is, he's like honorary U M Bgrad.
I, I think.
But I do think that's like areally unique and awesome
(26:15):
collaboration to have whereessentially your mentor school
determines, where you'regraduating from.
And I think.
Like having relationships likethis where you meet other
students with similar orintersectional kind of
interests, I think is a powerfultestament to like being a part
of an, a great system like the US M.
Kelsey Abernathy (26:35):
Being in the program, and I think Dan and I
actually learned a lot about howthe university systems work
while we were building thisbusiness.
Because since we were both fromdifferent universities, we had
to go through the process of theconflict of interest process for
each of the universities andkind of figuring out how
everything connected to eachother to ensure that what we
(26:57):
were building for AlgenAir wasseparate from the research that
we were doing in the lab for ourthesis work.
Charles Schelle (27:04):
So then touching on that, what either
resource or process that youlearned from the Grid did you
use, or what you think was likevital to making those
connections, making it kind ofget off the ground?
Kelsey Abernathy (27:18):
I'd say from my end it was, I think initially
just being connected to peoplein the ecosystem.
So when we signed up for thatfirst Grid pitch our mentor was
fantastic and actually helped usconnect to a bunch of different
people to talk to before weactually did the pitch.
(27:39):
So during that kind of six weeklead up period, and through
those connections started a lotof conversations around what it
was that we were building andwhy, and I think.
That was very important becausefor both of us initially, this
was just kind of a fun pitchcompetition experience to go
through.
(27:59):
Like we didn't enter this withthe full intent of this is going
to become a business.
But in talking to people, we gotenough encouragement and start
enough different conversationsthat when the pitch ended, both
of us were like, we, we wannacontinue doing this.
We wanna see where this can go,and.
It would take another, I think,close to six months between the
(28:22):
Grid pitch finishing and usactually forming AlgenAir as a
legal entity.
And it, during that time is kindof when we went through the
process of pivoting on what wewere gonna be changing the name,
and started applying todifferent accelerator programs
and grants in order to find thefunding to build those first
(28:42):
prototypes.
Dana Rampolla (28:44):
When it sounds like you've built the
prototypes, you're making sales.
Obviously Jenny is a, is a goodcustomer and maybe the rest of
us will be joining in aftereverything we've heard today.
But what are your what are yournext steps?
What are your growth plans?
So you mentioned the airport inPittsburgh.
That sounds like a hugeundertaking, a growth on, your,
your in-home conceived idea.
(29:05):
So what's next?
Dan Fucich (29:06):
Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
Right now we are stabilizing andscaling the consumer product.
So our tabletop unit, the aeriumthat's the equivalent of 25
house plants, in a single room.
We're stabilizing that consumerproduct.
Then scaling up in volume andactual, larger photo bioreactors
(29:26):
to commercial installs.
I think green walls thatincorporate micro algae and
enclosed ecosystems that cangrow their own fertilizer for
the terrestrial plants that youmay have.
So yeah, right now we're, we'reincreasing marketing and scaling
the hardware sales and thensupporting the customers with
our refill units.
And then going to commercialsales for larger scale.
(29:50):
Like the PittsburghInternational Airport.
It's a hundred gallon system.
That was a really fun productsprint.
Essentially we set the deadlinepretty aggressively where we
went from a product sketch on awhiteboard to a hundred gallons
active in the airport, growingin like 40 days.
We had a great team that helpedus locally here in Pittsburgh
(30:11):
Valley Design.
They were integral.
And then we just worked reallywell with them, and we, we
exceeded expectations in the, inthe words of the Pittsburgh
International Airport.
So that was a really fun system.
And then at scale, the businessmodels actually can feed
themselves.
When you do have the largerscale units, you can distribute
(30:31):
that biomass locally tocustomers.
In this case near Pittsburgh.
You can imagine one in New York,one in los Angeles our, our
customers are concentrated inurban and highly high population
density areas.
So the large scale versions, youcan use that biomass to then
support the small consumerproduct area customers and next
(30:53):
steps on the the next largescale.
I have trouble saying no.
So even though I told myself I'mgonna.
Focus on the consumer product.
We were approached by an artistLisa Morin.
She is a Baltimore artist andformer colleague at, IMET the
Institute of Marine andEnvironmental Technology.
(31:13):
She has an ongoing installationcalled What Is The Shape of
Water and she's telling thestory of bioluminescent
dinoflagellates which is anotherfancy word for micro algae that
light up when you shake themlack of a better term.
So her installation showcasesbiological illumination.
(31:34):
So we're telling the story goingfrom fire candlelight into that
electric light, the classicEdison bulb.
And then now what the futurelooks of 50, a hundred years
down the line looks like wherewe could actually be using
organisms to light our indoorspaces, which ties exactly in
with AlgenAir's livingtechnology where you can imagine
(31:57):
using biological organisms tolight up the world in indoors in
our built environment.
So that is going in in Novemberin the Peel Art Museum.
So it's.
Nice to have a little bit moreof a runway than 40 days.
But yeah, that project is comingalong well and it's gonna be
really beautiful.
So if people are interested inthe artistic side we'd, we'd
(32:20):
love to show you that
Charles Schelle (32:22):
Was one of her pieces of works displayed at
Light City Baltimore a few yearsago by chance.
Yeah, cuz I think I rememberseeing that and, and walking in
there.
I was just, blown away by it.
Dan Fucich (32:32):
Yes.
Yeah.
It's, it's captivating,mesmerizing like the, the, the
vocabulary list goes on.
And we're really honored to be apart a small part of the story
she's telling.
Dana Rampolla (32:44):
That's incredible.
And then from the Grid side, doyou, you both are young
entrepreneurs, do you give backin any way to the Grid?
Do you circle back with studentswho are currently going through
the program and Grid pitch?
Kelsey Abernathy (33:01):
Absolutely.
We've tried to stay as involvedas we can.
I've been a mentor for the pasttwo Grid pitches working with
students, kind of helping thembefore their pitch, and that's
something that is such a, like,cool honor to be able to do
because.
Our mentors have been soimportant in getting us to where
(33:23):
we are and where AlgenAir istoday.
So to kind of be on the otherside and provide mentorship and
give back to students juststarting on their journey has
been a really neat experience.
And I always try to approach itfrom the idea of like, what,
what do I wish I knew at thatstage?
What do I wish someone had toldme or shared with me?
And how can, how can I help themwhere they wanna go.
(33:44):
And then since we're located inPittsburgh now we aren't as
involved on the like, I guessday to day, but whenever we're
in town, we always try to visitthe Grid and if they're having
any events as well.
Taylor DeBoer (33:58):
Kelsey and Dan are really like the gold
standard of, of.
What we're trying to build herewith the Grid.
And so, their success thatthey've had, is, is a big part
of that, but it's also thementorship that they give back
to our students.
I could go on and on the amountof times that they've supported
our events led programs for us,worked with students mentored
(34:19):
They're truly, truly valuablementors to our students.
And that's really what we'retrying to build with the Grid
is, is, is guide and mentorstudents on their journey.
We hope and wish them success,and when they do have success,
we hope that they're willing tocome back and support our
students.
The way that Kelsey and Dan havewell
Charles Schelle (34:39):
Earlier you said, you have trouble saying
no.
I was wondering if Mark Cubanwould call if he would say no.
Dan Fucich (34:47):
It would certainly be instrumental in accelerating
our process.
But yeah, that would, that wouldbe a, a pretty fun, experience
yeah.
Going on Shark Tank would be, Iguess that's the show, right?
Like that's the ultimate, that'sthe highest level.
Ultimately, Taylor, you're,you're too kind.
Yeah.
We're happy to support Gridanyway that we can, because
(35:07):
frankly, we wouldn't be herewithout both of the Grid pitches
and all the mentors and thesupport that we received.
So just trying to help otherstudents go along the same path
that, that we did, and learnfrom the mistakes, the many
mistakes that we made.
So yeah, happy to help.
Dana Rampolla (35:25):
It's so interesting how you were
traveling down this path,thinking you knew where you were
headed, and now look where youare.
It's really an exciting story.
I appreciate you guys sharing somuch with us.
Charles Schelle (35:36):
There are different resources throughout U
M B that are pulled into theGrid.
And one that comes to mind isthe intellectual, property,
clinic.
Taylor and Jenny, talk a littlebit about those different
resources and, and how they,help students preparing with
their pitches and their ideas.
Taylor DeBoer (35:55):
Big part of what we do is collaboration, right?
We're interdisciplinary.
We work with entities acrosscampus with the different
schools.
Law clinic is a great example.
We've worked with them since thebeginning of the Grid.
They used to meet clients inperson.
So that clinic, for those whodon't know, provides pro bono
legal counsel.
It's a student run clinic andthey work with attorneys and
(36:15):
professors in the school of law.
They work with clients pro bonoaround issues, IP issues.
Kelsey and Dan have actuallyworked with them in the past.
So they used to meet withclients in our old space, in
person.
Now they meet mostly virtually,but we send so many individuals,
both students and non-students.
A lot of people reach out to mewith questions about IP.
(36:36):
We send so many people to themand we have a close relationship
with them.
Their director, Patty Campbelland a bunch of the other
professors who work with the lawclinic lead a lot of our IP
related programming.
Usually three or four programsevery year led by intellectual
property clinics.
So we have a great relationshipwith them and we collaborate
with the Office ofSustainability on events.
(36:58):
We work very closely with O R D.
They're great partners of ours,continue to be great partners of
ours and we've.
We've collaborated, and ledevents with them.
We've worked with the Center forGlobal Engagement on
programming.
We've co-hosted events withWomen in Bio.
School of Pharmacy hascontributed and award money for
our Grid pitch students.
(37:18):
So they're close collaboratorsand we've worked with them.
So yeah, we've worked with a lotof.
Different entities aroundcampus.
So it's, it's a big part of, ofour mission is to collaborate
and in fact, our in-personprogramming is almost all
collaborative now these days.
We try to do three to five ofthose per semester.
And we, we make sure that thoseare collaborations, whether it's
(37:40):
with Women in Bio Office ofSustainability, Office of
Research and Development,various different organizations.
Jenny Owens (37:48):
The space that we exist in in the library, like
there's an innovation hub in thelibrary with a 3D printer.
That's amazing.
There's augmented and virtualreality opportunities in the
library as well.
There's so many resources therethat students can use that we
didn't have access to in ourprevious space.
Dan and Kelsey are probably 3Dprinting experts by now due to
(38:10):
their prototyping, that they,that they did as well.
But like that librarypartnership and just the welcome
we felt in, in their space hasbeen really valuable as well.
Charles Schelle (38:21):
Yeah, that's a relatively new space there on
the third floor of the HealthSciences and Human Services
Library.
What else do you have in thereif someone hasn't been inside?
Taylor DeBoer (38:31):
Yeah, so we have about 1200 square feet of
flexible programming and, andcollaborative workspace.
So there are a ton of littletables where students are often
sitting and studying,collaborating, having
conversations, working.
It is a library, so when we'renot having programming, we try
to keep it relatively quiet andrespectful for the rest of the
(38:52):
people who are in the library,but it's a great space for
students to hang out and, and dowork or research, whatever they
they may need.
And then when we have eventsit's completely flexible, so it
gets converted into a 1200square foot space.
There's a large TV screen and AVequipment.
PA system and all of that.
So we can have events of up toabout 80 people is our capacity.
(39:13):
But it's growing because thereare some stacks have removed and
thanks to the continued,generous support of the library,
we're gonna be gaining probablyabout four, 500 additional
square feet of space.
So we'll be able to haveslightly larger events, in the
future.
So that's exciting.
And then, and then my office isalso in the Grid, so.
And I have a conference room, sothere's, there's flex space in
(39:35):
there too, if students orfaculty, staff really anyone
needs to, to have aconversation.
I've had some, some Grid pitchstudents meet with their mentors
in my office in that conferenceroom.
So, so we have kind of amultipurpose space.
Charles Schelle (39:48):
Ideas can strike at any time.
Can students or even folks inthe community reach out to you
anytime during the year or areyou more like on a semester
cycle with, with the differentprogramming?
Taylor DeBoer (39:59):
I encourage students to reach out to me at
any point.
I meet with students fairlyregularly and it sometimes it's,
they're interested in learningmore about what we have to
offer.
They're interested, they have anidea, but they're not sure if
it's a good fit for Grid pitch.
We also do career services outof the Grid, which is something
I haven't mentioned yet.
And that's a collaboration thatstarted with Student Affairs.
(40:22):
So we, we do a lot of careerservices as well.
So I even meet with students andhelp them with, with career
services, sometimes one-on-one.
So, definitely do not wait forthe Grid pitch application cycle
to come out.
If you're a student and you'reinterested in this world of
entrepreneurship in any capacitywe have so many things to offer
and I'd love to just have aconversation over Zoom or in
(40:44):
person or get a coffee and talkabout what you may want to do,
what you're trying to build,what skills you want to gain
and, and I can then kind ofguide you to one of the many
different things that we offer,or multiple things that we offer
that kind of fits that student'sneeds.
So that's, yeah, just email me.
That's what I, just shoot me anemail, send me a text, let's
(41:07):
have a conversation.
Jenny Owens (41:09):
We work in the Graduate School, Taylor and I,
but it's for all students.
So it's not just for graduateschool students.
We have social work students, wehave pharmacy students.
Like, we just want to make sureeveryone feels welcome in the
space and that it's not just agraduate school thing.
We were also deliberate aboutlike the location of making it
in the space too.
That was kind of neutral toschool.
So I just wanna emphasize that.
(41:29):
If you're not sure if it's foryou, it it is for you.
It's for any student.
Taylor DeBoer (41:34):
I wanna add too that I think entrepreneurship is
as much a mindset and aphilosophy as it is a career
path.
So I think you, you don't haveto be an as aspiring
entrepreneur by definition togain knowledge or skills or to,
to engage with our programming.
(41:55):
I think that's really important.
To highlight that maybe you needhelp with career services.
Maybe you're just interested insomething we have to offer.
Maybe you're not sure why, butyou wanna, you want to engage.
So reach out to us, come to ourLunch and learns.
I don't think it's just forstudents who are launching an
app or creating a medical deviceor wanna start a company.
(42:16):
I think it's for all students ofU M B and we have programming
and services to support allstudents.
Charles Schelle (42:24):
Fantastic.
Thank you again to Jenny,Taylor, Dan and Kelsey, and to
learn more about both the Gridand AlgenAir, you can visit the
links in our show notes.
Jena Frick (42:40):
The U M B Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana
Rampolla is a U M B Office ofCommunications and Public
Affairs production.
Edited by Charles SchelleMarketing by Dana Rampolla.
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