Melik Demirel: Squid-inspired Protein Pioneer on Self-healing and Programmable Materials Materially Better

Melik Demirel is the co-founder of Tandem Repeat, a startup working on squid-inspired bioengineered materials, a professor in Biomimetic Materials, as well as the director of the Center for Research on Advanced Fiber Technologies, both at Penn State University.

OUTLINE
(03:23) Demonstrating unique properties of squid-inspired protein
(13:35) How Tandem Repeat's protein and fibers are made
(25:24) Go-to-market strategy and their first product
(29:13) Approach to scaling Tandem Repeat
(38:35) Performance composite biomaterials

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EPISODE LINKS
Tandem Repeat: https://www.tandemrepeat.com/
Center for Research on Advanced Fiber Technologies
Nature paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-020-0736-2
PNAS paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2120021119

PODCAST INFO
A series of conversations about new performance materials and their applications. I believe that new materials will play a big role in unlocking innovation and solving pressing problems and this podcast helps surface insights and learnings from the frontier.
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