HyperSciences is a Spokane, Washington deep-tech company that commercializes the ram accelerator - an in-tube hypersonic engine licensed from the University of Washington - to fire projectiles through rock at up to nine times the speed of sound. Its platform technology, the HyperCore, powers products for tunneling and mining (HyperDrill, Hyperbreaker), geothermal and energy drilling, and aerospace launch (HyperLaunch). The pitch: break rock and reach orbit faster and cheaper by replacing slow mechanical drill bits and first-stage rockets with repeatable hypervelocity impact.
Mark Russell is the founder and CEO of HyperSciences, a Spokane, Washington company turning a piece of aerospace exotica - the ram accelerator - into a tool that drills through rock up to ten times faster than a conventional rig. A former Blue Origin lead engineer on the crew capsule and a self-described third-generation miner, Russell fires projectiles at hypersonic speed every few seconds to crack rock for geothermal energy, mining and tunneling, and to lob payloads toward space through his sister venture Pipeline2Space. He raised roughly $9.6 million from thousands of small investors and won early backing from NASA and Shell.
John T. Ehrbar is a career YMCA leader who, starting January 26, 2026, takes the helm as President and CEO of the YMCA of Silicon Valley after six years running YMCA Buffalo Niagara. He has spent over two decades inside the Y movement, climbing from a high school Leaders Club kid in northeast Ohio to running an 80-million-dollar nonprofit serving 2,300 staff across the Bay Area.