Three MIT engineers have received Kavanaugh Fellowship awards to turn pioneering research in 3D printing, carbon capture, and sustainable farming into successful commercial ventures.
The Kavanaugh Translational Fellows Program gives MIT graduate students and postdocs entrepreneurial training and resources to bring their research from the lab to the market. This year’s recipients are Nicholas Diaco, Giorgio Rizzo, and Brian Roehrich.
Diaco has developed a process that dramatically reduces waste and manual labor typically required in traditional 3D printing. Rizzo invented a low-cost seed coating that boosts plant growth and could reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers. And Roehrich is advancing a low-cost method for trapping and storing planet-warming carbon emissions—long considered too expensive to scale.
The yearlong program gives the scholars time to focus exclusively on business planning and decision-making skills—factors critical to startup success.
“Each of the fellows brings a bold, creative approach to some of today’s most pressing challenges,” said Polina Anikeeva, director of the program and head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE). “They’re developing technologies with the potential to change how we produce goods, protect the environment, and support society—all while building paths toward scalable, venture-ready solutions.”
Founded in 2016 by the Saks-Kavanaugh Foundation, the Kavanaugh program has helped past fellows launch successful startups, including Stratagen Bio, a biotech company specializing in oxygen sensors for cancer care; Sublime Systems, a low-carbon cement maker; and SiTration, which recovers critical materials for clean energy technologies.
The new fellows were announced May 30 at a reception at MIT, attended by six finalists, past fellows, and Betty Saks and Bart Kavanaugh, the couple behind the philanthropic organization.
Through the fellowships, Kavanaugh expressed hope for a pay-it-forward mindset.
“We want to have these young people that have the spirit and the drive to create new businesses and jobs and run the economy. I hope that you’re going to do the same for the next generation behind you,” he said.
Anikeeva noted that the selection process was unusually competitive this year.
“We originally were going to identify one fellow, maybe two—but our candidates were so exceptional that we identified three phenomenal Kavanaugh fellows.”
Diaco, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, builds on vat photopolymerization, a 3D printing method widely used for products like dental appliances and hearing aids. But the process requires temporary support structures that must be printed, removed by hand, and discarded. Diaco’s approach—called selective solubility vat photopolymerization (SSVP)—prints supports that dissolve in safe solvents and can be recycled back into fresh resin, simplifying production and reducing waste.
With Kavanaugh support, Diaco plans to engineer new printable materials, develop water-soluble support materials to further cut costs and complexity, and explore new applications such as drug delivery. He’ll also create a commercialization roadmap to transition SSVP from MIT’s labs to real-world manufacturing.
A postdoctoral associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rizzo is also a recipient of entrepreneurial fellowships from the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps Program and The Engine’s Blueprint program. His project upcycles agricultural biomass—organic matter from crops and livestock waste—into a new seed coating that protects beneficial microbes and strengthens crops in poor soils. The solution could lower fertilizer costs and support sustainable agriculture, especially for farmers in the Global South.
With the fellowship, Rizzo will tailor the seed coating for different soil types, oversee and analyze field trials in several African countries, and chart a regulatory roadmap using interviews with national agencies.
Roehrich, a postdoc in DMSE, is tackling one of the toughest climate challenges: removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. His process combines electrochemistry with naturally occurring minerals to produce carbon-trapping compounds—potentially integrated with industrial processes like cement manufacturing. Early studies suggest it could become cost-effective and even profitable.
As a Kavanaugh fellow, Roehrich plans to test various minerals for carbon removal and begin scaling up the process. He will also conduct a technoeconomic analysis and identify optimal sites with access to minerals, renewable electricity, and supportive infrastructure.
For more on the Kavanaugh Fellowship, visit https://kavfellow.mit.edu/.
