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>>According to the EPA, Americans throw away about 28 billion plastic bottles and jars
every year. Imagine taking a 20 oz. plastic bottle from a landfill and turning it into
seven, 12 oz. coffee cups. Krishna Nadella and MicroGREEN are doing just that, working
to make plastic throwaways a thing of the past. While a graduate student at UW, Krishna
saw the potential to commercialize a patented microcellular plastics technology developed
in Professor Vipin Kumar's lab. In 2002, he co-founded MicroGREEN and now serves as Chief
Technology Officer. As he pursued his PhD, he took a leadership role in the company,
moving it from a startup to a local business. Krishna grew MicroGREEN's partnerships, patented
the Ad-air technology, and secured investment funding.
>>Vipin Kumar: He left the UW just two and a half years ago. Even before he graduated
he had created for himself a well-paying job. And I don't know of anybody else that has
done that. >>John Reagh: He has covered such a great
distance since he left the university. He's advanced the technology that he learned here
in Professor Kumar's lab. He's made it into a production line process.
>>Vipin: He also has, you know, entrepreneurial drive and we don't see that kind of combination,
you know, too often. >>John: He was able to commit that 110% while,
in his "spare time," completing his PhD at the University of Washington.
>>Vipin: Half a dozen places around the world were studying microcellular polymers and we
were all very excited about the potential -- the commercial potential -- and the applications
in so many different industries. But nobody had a manufacturing process and that is a
breakthrough we achieved in my lab here. The most important aspect of our technology is
its green aspect. The process we have is very benign.
>>Thomas Malone: MicroGREEN has a technology that we call the Ad-air process. And the Ad-air
process at its very core injects bubbles into center of a sheet of plastic and those bubbles
expand the material and it makes the material lighter weight. Since plastic is sold by the
pound, lighter weight means it's less expensive. >>John: When Krishna first brought the MicroGREEN
plan to us in 2003, it was pretty rough, but the fundamental elements of value were all
there. >>Thomas: We realized that there's a whole
lot of work that needed to be done to take plastic expanding in a lab at University of
Washington to running at three or five hundred feet per minute in a production line.
>>John: He sent us some pictures of some of their early cups that were pretty ugly. They
had big wrinkles in them, they weren't very large and they weren't very deep. But they
showed the fundamental concept that could be achieved using thermal forming with this
new kind of material. Later on we were getting some samples that we can hold in our hands.
I was impressed by the shiny surface on this and the light weight and the fact that there
is a nice insulating layer in the middle. It's a beautiful material.
>>Vipin: And MicroGREEN has sort of matured the manufacturing technology in just the right
time because they are getting a lot of traction. >>Thomas: About 40 billion pounds of plastic
get used by our target markets for doing all kinds of things like making signage for printing
substrates for outdoor signs or in-store signage. Plastic that's used to thermoform shapes like
cups for the dairy isle, macaroni and cheese cups, many different applications that are
food packaging as well as packaging products that are simply gonna protect a product when
it's in transit or sitting on a shelf. It takes real courage to have the determination
to not only dream of a good idea -- anybody can do that -- but to actually commit yourself
to that idea and remain diligent in focusing on all the details it takes to move that idea
from a concept all the way to a product on the market.
>>John: Krishna, congratulations! This award is well-earned and I suspect that among all
the people I know that know you, you may be the only one surprised that you are getting
this award. >>Vipin: I think you really have earned this
award and this recognition and I hope there will be many more occasions for the university
to recognize you in the future for your even greater achievements. So well done, you have
brought a lot of pleasure and honor to our lab and to this university. So, keep that
up. >>Thomas: You're a visionary, you're innovative,
but mostly, you're determined and you're persistent. And it's a real pleasure to work with you.
I'm looking forward to many years together. Congratulations.
>>We honor Krishna Nadella with the 2011 Early Career Diamond Award.