A Casual Chat with Deckard Sorensen, President and Co-Founder of NDB Nano

Deckard Sorensen was fascinated by biomimicry during college.  He and his co-founders, Miguel Galvez and Andy McTeague, who all met in a freshman year high school biology class, were captivated by the idea of looking to nature as a source of inspiration for ingenious sustainable technology solutions.  Who would have guessed the trio would contribute their own kind of biomimicry to the world of clean tech, with a wildly successful nano-materials company, inspired by a unique beetle endemic to a desert worlds away.

The Namib Desert Beetle is a resourceful insect, able to harvest water in the African desert using hydrophobic waxes and hydrophilic regions on its back to collect water from vapor in the atmosphere. By employing unique surface features, this insect is able to thrive in one of the most arid regions of the world. This beetle lives in an area of the world that only gets a half inch of rainfall every year, yet it sticks its back up to the wind to drink 12% of its weight in water each day. The nature of the Namib Desert Beetle’s specific exoskeletal surface was the subject of a project Deckard researched while in college, and ultimately became the inspiration for the company’s surface wetting modification technologies. We sat down with founder and President, Deckard Sorensen, to learn what drives his company and how he does his best work.

Rapid Fire

Favorite music to listen to while working:  Zeds Dead or Dubstep, which blocks out all the external noises when its time to focus.

In 5 words or less, tell your future kids about why you started your own company:  The world needs water, NOW. 

Craziest thing I’ve ever done: Turning down a job offer in CA for bioinformatics after college to start a company based off a desert beetle.  This is also one of my proudest moments.

Favorite thought leader?  Elon Musk: Electric cars and space are cool, but water technologies need to be the focus next, let’s partner up!

Favorite Food: Deep Dish Sausage Pizza ONLY from Chicago (Uno’s doesn’t count).

 

What do you do?

I’m the President and one of three Co-Founders of NBD Nanotechnologies.  We develop nano-materials with specific chemical properties to enhance condensation, capture fog, or repel moisture entirely. I discovered the Namib Beetle during a project in college. Biomimicry and sustainable technologies have always been particular interests of mine, and I thought that if this beetle’s exo-skeletal surface features could be applied to power plants, machinery, and heavy appliances to improve the rates of heat transfer and condensation, it could significantly increase efficiency. 

By how much would you argue that NBD Nano’s surface materials can improve efficiency?

Our estimates indicate that a 1% system level efficiency improvement in power plants can lead to $10,000,000 in additional revenues for a single power plant per year, and can reduce CO₂ emissions dramatically. This is because less energy input generates the same water output, since the nanomaterial coating serves to improve condensation rates of the machinery involved.  Our enhanced condensation coating improves the condensation heat transfer rate by 200%.

What is top of mind for your company right now?

We just secured significant Series A financing through a materials-focused venture capital partner, and now we are setting sights on initiating a pilot project for our condensation technology. Currently at Greentown, we are able to test our condensation coatings, but we have not been able to demonstrate full efficiency gains for the overall system, such as a large condenser found in a power plant.

What are you working on right now?

We received a phase 1 grant from the US Department of Agriculture to explore fog capture in California as an alternative water sourcing mechanism. This links directly back to the Namib Beetle’s specifically structured exoskeleton—harvesting fog in an enhanced manner just as the beetle does in the Namib Desert. Presently we are conducting a pilot for fog capture, and in initial passive trials we are seeing efficiency improvements of 5-9X compared to uncoated materials.

As an entrepreneur, what motivates you?

I like to look at old technologies and think about improving them, making them more efficient. I like looking to nature as a source for inspiration for sustainable solutions, known as biomimicry. I like that something as simple as a dip or spray coating on a power plant condenser could have tremendous effects in terms of improved efficiency when applied across an entire industry.  The water crisis is looming in the United States, and at NBD we are trying to make everyone aware of water usage especially at the water-energy nexus.

What does a typical day look like?

I tend to go between our wet lab space at Boston University and our prototyping space at Greentown Labs. I juggle my time between reading scientific papers, pursuing customer discovery and development, budgeting, financials and interaction with customers via conference calls. We prefer to undergo material exchanges with our customers so they can experience the product, and allow the technology to speak for itself. Beyond those daily activities, we’re currently very busy searching for a corporate partner with scaled heat exchangers to help pilot our condensation technology, which is prime and ready to launch.

What brought you and your company to Greentown Labs?

Back in 2012, we had just secured our first round of seed funding and were looking to start prototyping, but we lacked the space and machine shop access. We started MassChallenge down in the Seaport District and at the time Greentown was located in South Boston, just a few blocks away. It seemed like a clear choice, once we rounded up enough funding to expand our team and take full advantage of prototyping space.

What has surprised you most about working at Greentown Labs? 

The collaboration. Everyone reaches out and asks each other questions. Companies share equipment and past experiences so that others can figure things out without the lag time. I mean, right now we’re borrowing Altaeros’ vacuum pump. It’s convenient not to have to make a large capital investment in something like when you only need it for a few hours, every once in a while. 

What three words would you use to describe Greentown Labs?

Sustainable. Collaborative. Growing.

What advice would you give a hardware entrepreneur?

Don’t let yourself get discouraged from traditional venture capital; clean tech can utilize strategic partners and make a huge impact in the world, you just need to prove it and find the proper way to do so. Once you do, everyone will be coming to you attempting to throw their money at you.