Jarad Mason will work to de-risk promising ideas, with the aim of eventually launching startups, thanks to funding announced today from the University’s Grid Accelerator.

Virtually every refrigerator and air conditioner in use today relies on volatile fluorocarbon refrigerants, extremely potent greenhouse gases. Their release into the atmosphere is responsible for 3 percent of all global warming, a number that is rapidly increasing. A project led by Jarad Mason, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, promises a greener solution by replacing conventional volatile refrigerants with nonvolatile solid refrigerants which have zero direct emissions. The chemistry his team has developed for solid refrigerants would have significant advantages in system efficiency, cost, and safety. With funding from the Harvard Grid Accelerator, the researchers will validate the feasibility, efficiency, and robustness of the solid refrigerants in a prototype device.

Projects emerging from this year’s competitive selection process represent a cross section of interdisciplinary science and engineering innovation. They include technologies and approaches with the potential to yield transformative improvements in health and medicine, climate, and manufacturing.

In addition to funding, the researchers will have access to physical space, educational programming, and connections to alumni, investors, and the regional startup ecosystem to drive projects towards startup formation.

Harvard launched The Grid in September 2022 with the goal of smoothing the path of innovations from university labs into commercially viable products and services that address global challenges. The Grid’s programs include training, outreach, and resources to enable entrepreneurially minded Harvard researchers and students to translate their research into startups.

The Grid is a collaboration between the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD).

The funding announced today from the Grid Accelerator builds on a track record of success. Since 2013, projects in the physical sciences and engineering advanced by OTD accelerator support have culminated in 15 new startups that have collectively raised $172 million, as well as technology licenses to established companies and sponsored-research agreements.

via SEAS News.