MSE Alumnus Named a Breakthrough Energy Innovator Fellow

Daniel Kopp, who earned BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the School of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) has been selected as a Breakthrough Energy Innovator Fellow, which is part of the Breakthrough Energy (BE) network founded by Bill Gates in 2015 to accelerate the clean energy transition and help the world reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  

With support from the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program, Kopp joins a global cohort of innovators and early-stage entrepreneurs that is developing and commercializing new  technologies needed to reach net-zero emissions goals by 2050.  The Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program supports Kopp with R&D funding, educational resources, and access to the BE network. 

“I am humbled to be selected as a fellow in this year’s cohort and feel empowered to take this giant leap in my career to help tackle one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century,” says Kopp, who is the CEO, CTO and co-founder of Queens Carbon, a climate-tech start-up. 

For Kopp, who was a full-time MSE research associate until September when he began his BE fellowship, the funding and mentorship provided by the program will help him and his Queens Carbon Team continue their efforts to bring low-cost CO2 capture solutions and carbon-neutral cement production to market. 

Working to Avoid a Climate Disaster 

As a Ph.D. student, post-doc, and MSE research associate in distinguished professor Richard Riman’s laboratory, Kopp reports making several material synthesis breakthroughs that enable low-energy and low-temperature processing of carbonate minerals. 

“We believe that this technology will unlock two climate breakthroughs: (1) cost-effective atmospheric carbon capture and (2) carbon-neutral and carbon-negative cement and concrete production, , which is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions – a scale similar to all passenger cars combined,” he explains. “Both are needed for gigatonne-scale CO2 mitigation and removal and thus will play a critical role in helping avoid a climate disaster.” 

According to Kopp, the funding, network, and exposure from Breakthrough Energy Fellows will allow Queens Carbon – which takes its name from Queens College, the original name of Rutgers – to build an ecosystem of engineering, science, and business talent to tackle this challenge.  

“I’m thrilled for this support in taking our next major step in realizing the full potential of our unique next-gen processing technology and bringing our new company to life,” Kopp adds.