July 17, 2024

On July 1, Activate (activate.org) announced that Greg Schwenk, a postdoctoral researcher in Drexel’s College of Engineering, is one of 62 fellows selected to receive the prestigious Activate Fellowship in 2024 to turn scientific breakthroughs into high impact businesses. Schwenk was chosen from a very competitive field of over 1,000 applicants.

Schwenk (Drexel ’22, PhD in Inorganic Chemistry), a postdoctoral researcher in the Layered Solids Group headed by Distinguished Professor Michel Barsoum, will pursue commercialization of hydroxides-derived nanostructures (“HDNs”) as co-founder CEO of the startup 1DNano. HDNs are one-dimensional nanofilaments discovered by Barsoum and Hussein Badr in 2021. Barsoum will be a co-founder and Technical Advisor to 1DNano.

Through the Activate Fellowship, 1DNano will receive more than $500K over two years in non-dilutive funding to launch 1DNano; Schwenk’s salary, research expenses, fully paid health benefits and travel allowance will be provided by the Fellowship. Activate will provide additional funding, technical resources and unparalleled support from a network of scientists, engineers, investors, commercial partners and fellow scientist entrepreneurs. Since 2015, Activate has awarded 188 fellowships resulting in 147 startup companies raising over $2 billion in follow-on funding. In 2023, NSF recognized Activate as the “gold standard for entrepreneurial fellowships for scientists” and creating societal impact based on scientific research through translation and startups. 

“On behalf of the college, I extend our sincere congratulations to Dr. Schwenk on this fellowship,” says Sharon Walker, PhD, Dean of Drexel’s College of Engineering and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. “Such entrepreneurial endeavors by our faculty and graduate students evidence essential connections among research and societal impact, which runs to the core of our mission at Drexel Engineering. Engineers today can take many pathways, and this innovative entrepreneurial direction is one we are seeing grow and of which we are particularly proud” says Walker. 

“The Office of Research & Innovation is proud to support Dr. Schwenk and Dr. Barsoum on their exciting journey to commercialize a new material discovered at Drexel,” says Aleister Saunders, PhD, Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation. “This is a great example of our researchers expanding the impact of research, one of our six strategic imperatives in the Drexel 2030 Strategic Plan” says Saunders.

For any questions about Activate (activate.org), contact Shintaro Kaido, Vice Provost for Innovation and Executive Director, Drexel Applied Innovation at sk3434@drexel.edu.