nano-ceramic
(2)
Benjamin Cook
Benjamin Cook is the founder, CEO and board chairman of Zirconia Inc., a Tukwila, Washington advanced-materials company building water-borne ceramic coatings that chemically bond to concrete and steel at room temperature - effectively turning aging infrastructure into something close to liquid granite. A self-described green technologist with three decades of cleantech ventures behind him, Cook trades on a single conviction: the cheapest and greenest building is the one you never have to tear down. Before Zirconia he founded GeoTree Technologies, an underground-pipe restoration firm sold for a 5x investor return, and earlier still he traded a planned career in pediatric medicine for a life spent removing toxins from the built environment.
Mark Sommer
Mark Sommer is the founder and CEO of Gamma Alloys, a Santa Clarita-based materials company that 'decorates' metal powders with ceramic nanoparticles to make aluminum strong enough to 3D print into aerospace and automotive parts. He simultaneously leads Del West Engineering, the Formula 1 world's go-to maker of titanium valves and lightweight valvetrain components. Backed by Boeing HorizonX, his bet is that of the roughly 5,500 industrial alloys in use, only a few dozen work with 3D printers today, and Gamma's nano-ceramic process can unlock the rest.