{"id":11450,"date":"2015-10-05T08:13:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T13:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=11450"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:08:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:08:04","slug":"desimone-kabiller-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=11450","title":{"rendered":"From lab bench to marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joseph<\/a>
Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor\u2019s Eminent Professor of Chemistry, was named the winner of Northwestern University\u2019s inaugural Kabiller Prize for advances in nanotechnology for medicine and biology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between creating a new 3-D manufacturing method and engineering medical cures on the nano-level, it may look like Joseph DeSimone\u2019s interests are all over the map.<\/p>\n

But at the heart of every new innovation made by the Chancellor\u2019s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences<\/a> at Carolina is a toolbox of skill and salesmanship fused by his passion to better lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been nothing more rewarding than to apply our craft to help improve the human condition,\u201d DeSimone said recently. \u201cI\u2019m passionate about improving lives and using our craft \u2014 polymer science \u2014 to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSimone, who is also a William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at NC State University and of Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill, has spent decades searching for answers to problems in fields outside his own wheelhouse. He has relied on a mix of passion, polymer science expertise and salesmanship to bring an idea from the lab to the market.<\/p>\n

This combination has led DeSimone to become a leading innovator. He has found success commercially as the holder of more than 150 patents and in research as a member of all three branches of the U.S. National Academies.<\/p>\n

Just this week, he was named the winner of Northwestern University\u2019s inaugural Kabiller Prize for advances in nanotechnology for medicine and biology, and then a company he co-founded, Liquidia, announced the extension of a collaboration project with GlaxoSmithKline<\/a> to develop and commercialize inhaled therapeutics.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe has seen more than most faculty members have ever seen on his meteoric rise to notoriety,\u201d said Ed Samulski, Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Chemistry, interim chair for Applied Physical Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill and cofounder of Carbon3D. \u201cHe can bring that cutting edge perspective, that national perspective, that industrial perspective to the University.\u201d<\/p>\n

An idea-man<\/strong><\/p>\n

The way chemistry professor Samulski sees it, there are two kinds of people.<\/p>\n

There are the ones who are stuck working inside a canyon, unable to see beyond the walls. And then there are those who can see the lay of the land and ignite ideas across the board to create something new.<\/p>\n

DeSimone, he said, is the latter.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreative people see connections between disparate things and see how to exploit an observation in one area of science to do something in another area,\u201d Samulski said. \u201cIt\u2019s the uncanny ability to see those connections.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source for making those connections, DeSimone said, is simply expanding your social circle beyond those in your field to learn where the problems are.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at the end of the day, we learn the most from those we have the least in common with,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re really trying to maximize learning and maximize the opportunities for you to have an impact, you need to talk to other people that are outside your field so that you can see how your craft and be applied elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning the problems and seeing how a new approach can lead to solutions creates a fertile ground for innovation, DeSimone said.<\/p>\n

For example, talking to a cardiologist was what led DeSimone to create a bioabsorbable, drug-eluting heart stent. And watching how others engineered 3-D printing methods fueled his move into light-powered manufacturing, which started Carbon3D.<\/p>\n

The company, based in Silicon Valley, redefined 3-D printing by using a light source to create an object out of a pool of liquid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not mechanical engineers, and therefore moving into a field that has been dominated by mechanical engineers gives us \u2014 at some levels \u2014 an advantage because we think differently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Coming from the outside of the field, DeSimone and Carbon3D were able to spark innovation in 3-D printing by evolving from the layer-by-layer approach to using light and oxygen to continuously fuse objects together.<\/p>\n

The technology, known as Continuous Liquid Interface Production, or CLIP, could elevate 3-D printing technology from hobbyist status to a new way of manufacturing, DeSimone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are really trying to do is to help major manufacturers to use it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a harder bridge to cross. That\u2019s where we\u2019re focused: real manufacturing, large-volume important commercial goods that are complex that offer real performance enhancements to products\u201d<\/p>\n

With new ideas such as CLIP, the key to successful innovation and creativity is to think about ideas through three lenses \u2014 a concept he embraces from Jim Collins\u2019s book Good to Great. <\/em><\/p>\n

The first is understanding what a person is passionate about and what motivates them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a question of what keeps us up at night or gets us up in the morning,\u201d DeSimone said.<\/p>\n

Then comes understanding an individual\u2019s toolbox. This, DeSimone said, isn\u2019t something the person is simply good at doing \u2013but rather what they aspire to be great at doing.<\/p>\n

The final lens \u2013 one Samulski believes DeSimone has mastered \u2014 is comprehending the financial implications of the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could mean how does one deliver a very sophisticated, complicated vaccine to some to the poorest places on the planet,\u201d DeSimone said. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to be creative if you have no financial constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n

The salesman<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe now, but DeSimone was almost passed up by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With a lack of post-doctoral work after receiving his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 1990, University faculty members hesitated to interview DeSimone.<\/p>\n

At the suggestion of DeSimone\u2019s graduate school advisor, Samulski gave him a shot and invited him to speak at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost beginning, interviewing assistant professors talk about something derivative of their Ph.D.,\u201d Samulski said. \u201cJoe talked about completely new things, in particular that he wanted to make polymers in liquid carbon dioxide \u2014 something that had never been done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time he left here, it was clear that although he had no post-doctoral experience, he was imaginative, creative and a fantastic sales person for his ideas. Everybody wanted to work with Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a professorship at UNC-Chapel Hill to securing $141 million to hone 3-D manufacturing, DeSimone\u2019s ability to sell his ideas\u00a0\u2014 and himself \u2014 has helped him bring so many of his visions to life.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, Samulski said, passion and salesmanship matter more than the science.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a difference between imagining something has commercial potential and really understanding all the steps required to get an idea from lab bench to market place,\u201d Samulski said. \u201dThere are a lot of technical breakthroughs that never see the light of day. Having someone like Joe with the ability to see the commercial pathway and to articulate that commercial pathway [is important] because you have to convince others to give you money for the pursuits.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe is a spectacular salesperson because he believes in the technology. It isn\u2019t a contrived sales pitch. It is a fervent belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Brandon Bieltz, Office of Communications and Public Affairs<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between creating a new 3-D manufacturing method and engineering medical cures on the nano-level, it may look like Joseph DeSimone\u2019s interests are all over the map.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-sciences-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47377,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11450\/revisions\/47377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}