IMX Colloquium & MARVEL distinguished lecture - Translating Breakthroughs: From Scientific Discovery to Human Impact

The time from discovery to impact has long been measured in decades. Yet in a world facing urgent challenges in climate, energy, natural resources, pollution, and health disparities, that pace is no longer sufficient. Publication will always remain a cornerstone of scholarship, but it cannot be the only means of translation. If we are to elevate both science and society, we must prepare graduate students and faculty alike to view translational research—and entrepreneurial action—not as departures from scholarship, but as an essential expansion of it.
I will share three examples from my own path: Fluidic Energy’s rechargeable zinc–air batteries, made possible by an ionic liquid fundamental breakthrough; Source Global’s atmospheric water–harvesting Hydropanel, now delivering renewable drinking water around the world, enabled by a thermodynamic sleight of hand; and a bold but unsuccessful attempt to develop injection-moldable, all-polymer structural batteries.
These stories will illustrate something I hope is becoming more apparent: fundamental science is not apart from applied research, nor apart from downstream technology. When appropriately targeted, it can unlock solutions once thought impossible.
True academic stewardship today requires more than generating insight; it requires guiding discovery to lift humanity and solve our grandest of challenges. If we embrace this broader responsibility, academia will not only advance knowledge but also accelerate its power to transform the world.

Bio: Cody Friesen is a materials scientist who works translationally from research at the bench to solutions in the field. As an academic and an entrepreneur, he is passionate about solving the world's grandest challenges.
Founder of multiple scaled companies, Friesen founded Source Global in 2015 to commercialize the Hydropanel, a technology that makes clean, safe drinking water from the air independent of infrastructure. That technology is now deployed in over 50 countries across more than 500 projects. Friesen is also the founder of Fluidic Energy, the first in the world to prove a high cycle life metal-air battery in the field. He is the Fulton Engineering Professor of Innovation at Arizona State University and is a Senior Sustainability Scientist at the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability.
Friesen was awarded the McNulty Prize by the Aspen Institute in 2022, given to those who are focused on dismantling our world’s toughest problems. He was also honored with the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2019, the largest prize for invention in the USA. Friesen was named by The Aspen Institute as a 2015 Henry Crown Fellow and among the "TR35," by MIT’s Technology Review in 2009.
Friesen has 103 granted US patents and over 400 patent matters globally. He earned a BSE in Materials Science and Engineering from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in the same discipline from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.