Materium: Using Machine Learning to Create High-Performance, Sustainable Materials

Materium is a participant in cohort 2 of Resurgence, a cleantech accelerator led by the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in partnership with the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

When Scott Daniel, a formerly retired banker with a passion for artificial intelligence, went back to school at the New Jersey Institute of Technology to pursue this passion, he found himself working with a couple of physicists using machine learning for material selection.

One of those physicists, Sheldon, had recently completed master’s degrees in applied physics and data science. The two worked well together and decided to team up and form a startup – Materium – dedicated to using machine learning models to optimize material selection and development for clean energy solutions across industries ranging from solar energy to battery storage.

“We’re kind of a platform company,” Daniel explained. “We can design materials with specific properties to solve specific problems. Our initial research is targeting the thermal management problem of solar panels, but we also think we can improve batteries—make them safer and longer lasting.”

Materium stands out due to its unique approach, which combines the speed and precision of machine learning with a patented nanocomposite technology, enabling the creation of high-quality materials quickly. The materials are also recyclable, which is not always the case for polymer composites.

“Not only does machine learning accelerate R&D, but our medium is a patented nanocomposite technology that can produce very high-quality materials,” said Daniel.

Though still in the early stages, Materium has received encouraging feedback from the industry and is in the process of exploring use cases for its technology.

“The science is well-respected, and we are exploring several markets outside of solar cells and batteries,” Daniel said.

In addition to being a part of Resurgence, Materium will soon participate in the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program. This initiative, along with Resurgence, will help them better understand customer needs and further refine their market focus.

“I hope to have an identified material and application within 12 months,” said Daniel. “And following that, once we have a beachhead in one market, we intend to pursue other applications.”

The journey from lab to market is notoriously challenging, and Daniel is looking forward to having the help of Resurgence along the way.

“There’s a wide gap between laboratory success and commercial success. Having the partners and mentors to help Materium bridge that gap is extremely valuable,” he emphasized.

With a strong team, groundbreaking technology, and support from industry leaders, Materium is poised to make a significant impact. “We’re on the path to redefining what’s possible in material science,” said Daniel, as the company moves closer to bringing its vision of sustainable, high-performance materials to market.

// Resurgence provides full-spectrum support for its cleantech startups focused on four specific areas of the cleantech industry: energy storage and infrastructure, next-generation nuclear solutions, hydrogen and alternative fuels, and materials refinement and process intensification.