H. Parhizkar
ZOLX Inc.,
United States
Keywords: university spinout, Princeton Materials Institute, MNFC, CSTI voucher, microfluidics, membraneless separation, photolithography, agricultural waste, Azolla, dewatering, scale-up
Summary:
ZOLX began with a clear mission: convert agricultural waste into sustainable products. Our initial strategy leveraged Azolla to capture nutrients from agricultural effluents, followed by extraction of valuable compounds after cultivation. While lab-scale trials validated the core biology, they also exposed a fundamental constraint on scalability: drying energy and solvent demand dominated the mass and cost balance. That realization forced us to look for a step-change rather than incremental process tuning. Two elements enabled that leap. First, we were awarded a voucher grant by Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology of New Jersey Department of Economic Development, and Dr. Alex Norman supported our engagement with the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI). Second, once on site—working within PMI’s MNFC cleanroom and broader instrumentation ecosystem—we encountered a set of fabrication and metrology tools that reframed our problem. Exposure to photolithography and micro-/nanofabrication suggested an alternative path: a membraneless, microfluidic separation approach that exploits surface-dominated transport and engineered interfaces to pre-concentrate and separate without the energy/solvent penalties of conventional drying or pressure-driven membranes. That high-risk idea—born from hands-on access to tools and staff expertise at PMI—became our pivot. Rapid prototyping in the MNFC allowed us to iterate channel architectures, surface textures, and chemistries, moving from concept to functioning cartridges quickly and capital-light. The same platform generalized beyond agricultural slurries to pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutraceutical matrices that face similar fouling and low-titer challenges. Today, we are conducting R&D in PMI’s cleanroom while expanding market engagement with partners across these sectors. This lightning talk shares the practical mechanics of that journey: (i) how shared facilities compress learning cycles, de-risk fabrication choices, and uncover adjacencies; (ii) how to pair vouchers, mentorship, and structured milestones to convert a biological separation concept into a manufacturable microfluidic device; and (iii) how exposure to a university’s integrated materials ecosystem can redefine a company’s trajectory and impact. Our collaboration used standard user/facility frameworks—keeping ZOLX’s IP on a clear path—while still enabling deep technical support and access to advanced tools.