Forbes Lists Have Indiana Connections
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSeveral people with Indiana connections are being recognized by Forbes magazine. The “30 Under 30” lists feature people with careers in areas like manufacturing and industry, finance and healthcare. You can see the full lists by clicking here.
Two people on the list have ties to Purdue University. The school says College of Engineering Assistant Professor Rebecca Kramer and College of Science graduate student Ian Klein were selected.
January 9, 2015
News Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Two Purdue University innovators have been selected by Forbes magazine for its annual “30 Under 30” list of outstanding young researchers who are younger than 30.
Rebecca Kramer, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering's School of Mechanical Engineering, and Ian Klein, a graduate student in the College of Science's Department of Chemistry, were selected for the honor. Kramer and Klein were both chosen for the award’s Manufacturing & Industry category and honored for “modernizing the way things are made in a greener, tech-savvy world.”
The magazine describes the recipients as “today's greatest gathering of young game changers, movers and makers” and includes “600 millennials in 20 fields.” This is the fourth year that Forbes has published the list.
Ian Klein, a graduate student in the Purdue College of Science's Department of Chemistry, was recognized by Forbes magazine for his work with a team of Purdue researchers who founded Spero Energy Inc., a company that is commercializing technology that creates high-value, renewable chemicals used in the flavor and fragrance industry. (Purdue Research Foundation photo)
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Kramer is working on technologies related to “soft machines” made of elastic materials for potential applications in robotics, medical devices and consumer electronics. Last year she was among seven researchers selected by NASA for Early Career Faculty awards to pursue new concepts for space exploration, and more recently she was awarded an Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation, one of the most prestigious NSF honors for outstanding young researchers.
Klein is part of a team of Purdue researchers who founded Spero Energy Inc., a company commercializing a technology that creates high-value, renewable chemicals from wood lignin and used in the flavor and fragrance industry and that could make biofuel production more efficient. Spero raised $150,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy, a $150,000 Phase I SBIR grant from the NSF and a matching $50,000 from Elevate Ventures. The company also won the 2014 Midwest Clean Energy Challenge Biofuel Prize.
Source: Purdue University, Forbes