Global Business with Jesse McDougall Jesse McDougall

On today's podcast we meet Don Scott, Chief Commercial Officer of Power Roll, a highly innovative flexible solar panel engineering and manufacturing firm. Don describes a career shift from information technology towards a focus on innovating in the energy transition. Power Roll are on the cusp of scale commercialization of their extremely light, flexible, thin film, highly customizable solar power technology. Lightweight flexible solutions for solar open up an exciting array of transportation, agricultural, car park, and commercial/industrial applications. Intended for ultra local manufacturing globally, Power Roll cites greenfield production facility costs of less than 1/10th of that of silicon panel production, driving the lowest levelized cost of energy in solar solutions globally.

Tim Brownstone, CEO and Founder of Kymira, a 10 year old breakthrough technological textiles firm. Kymira developed performance enhancing athletic apparel and are building out a line of biometric-tracking wearables for space, defence, professional athletic, and medical applications. Tim competed at international and national levels in a number of sports including 200m, tetrathlon, shooting, and rowing. He later dropped out of a Biochemistry PhD to pursue the development of biometric apparel for athletes. Kymira's technologies have since been used by astronauts at the European Space Agency and by a large number of professional sports teams including Rugby League, NFL, NBA, and top European football leagues. We learn from the mistakes of other high profile wearables technology firms such as Apple Watch, through to how Kymira aims to remotely monitor and prevent cardiac illness. 

Ankita Dwivedi, Founder of Firstplanit is interviewed around her newest tool to simplify the complexity amongst materials and systems decisions in the design and construction industry. Ankita led architecture, design, and sustainability teams for top Fortune 100 firm projects across the globe for 20 years. She worked on high profile building projects in Berlin, New York, Kuwait, and London, working for top global brands including Apple, Ferrari, Selfridges, Citi and JP Morgan. Throughout, she believed more could be done to accelerate the adoption of truly sustainable building decisions, leading to the founding of Firstplanit. With decades of research on environmental, social, and sustainability factors to help the construction industry drive better decision-making from home renovations through to industrial and infrastructure projects. Ankita believes we have the power to redefine what luxury is in the built environment. 

Christopher Templeton is the Founder of the UK Media firm Significant Void. Chris creates content across multiple channels including YouTube and Netflix. He is a documentary filmmaker and an activist. Significant Void creates materials for education purposes, and to share the benefits of emerging technologies, in addition to feature length filmmaking. Chris worked for the BBC, and was the Creative Director for London's 2012 Olympics. Chris produced a Documentary, The Art of Living, which led to the release from death row of Manuel Salazar, a falsely accused cop-killer, as well as the dissolution of the State of Illinois' use of the death penalty. We touch on societies where men are "impossible but necessary", and I learned a fantastic new word: marianismo. Chris describes how focusing on projects that put a fire in your belly creates a virtuous circle drawing in similarly-minded people, projects, and stories. Significant Void's projects are truly global, spanning across Canada, the Middle East, Australia, Mexico, the US, Iran, and Tunisia. 

Jamie Burrows, Founder & CEO of Vertical Future talks us through the economics, energy implications, and higher yields from local production with vertical farming technology. Jamie spent 5 years in the US Air Force, before completing his PhD in Health Economics. In the nascent and enormous potential market for vertical farming, Vertical Future started its life 5 years ago growing crops in Central London. Vertical Future now has a team of 45 people focused on hardware, software, high tech monitoring systems, and plant R&D for a huge range of farming applications. 

What plants work best for vertical farming? How important are your energy sources for economic production? What are the optimal conditions for an attractive return on capital for farmers? Is vertical produce a "premium" product or a longer-term solution for a much healthier, cheaper, locally grown food supply chain? How much greater yields can you achieve farming vertically? Jamie talks us through these questions as well as his firm's impressive growth profile and capital raising success to expand the future of farming. 

Stephen McQueenie, CEO of SG Modular, a manufacturer of modular building solutions talks about a range of projects from humanitarian housing for Syrian refugees, the world class orphanage they built in Turkey, to tiny houses in Canada. The New York Times described SG Modular as the builders of the "perfect refugee camp". With housing shortages, housing bubbles, and climate resiliency at the top of minds worldwide, SG Modular is at the front of an industry in transformation. Stephen's firm builds large factories through to small family homes with an emphasis on extended lifespans, passive, net zero, sustainability, and comfort and affordability for end-users. Modular building techniques are ripe for disrupting the construction industry, which is already under pressure from supply chains, environmental practices, and underinvestment in skilled tradespeople to staff building and construction projects. Stephen walks us through addressing humanitarian crises, hurricane-proof housing you can build like a lego set with your family, and the global shortage of fit for purpose housing.