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Rich Stromback, CEO Ecology Coatings, USA
 1) Briefly tell us what it is about your company/project that makes it so special?
Nearly every product manufactured needs a protective coating, a step in the manufacturing process that is traditionally time, space and energy intensive and emits toxic air pollutants. In our quest to achieve a better coating, the team at Ecology Coatings has developed coatings that address these issues with a clean, quick-cure technology. Requiring only a few seconds of UV exposure to form a durable barrier, the toxic solvent-free proprietary coatings are currently being applied via conventional techniques to plastics, metals, electronics, composites, paper and more.
2) What country best facilitates starting a tech company? What single thing can a government do to encourage Technology Pioneers?
Launching a technology company requires several things: a good idea with an addressable market, scientific expertise, significant capital, experienced management, solid IP protection, an entrepreneurial culture, and market freedom. These attributes can be found in many countries around the world, and are expanding as market forces create new opportunities for emerging economies. Governments have traditionally been good about supporting basic research, but less supportive of early stage commercialization. The single thing government can do to encourage Technology Pioneers is to create an environment for commercialization. By encouraging not just the development of science, but the development of competitive commercial markets, government can help Technology Pioneers become Industrial Incumbents.
3) What makes an innovator?
An innovator engages scientific progress to take advantage of asymmetrical marketplace dynamics. This intersection of scientific expertise and commercial acumen creates the opportunity for disruption, and disruption creates the opportunity for growth. Successful innovators, therefore, are able to strategically see the disruptive potential of science and match it to market opportunities ignored or overlooked by incumbents. As Clayton Christensen has said in Seeing What’s Next, “incumbents tend to respond to potential disruptive incursions in one of three ways: they either cede a market, attempt growth-driven co-option, or attempt defensive co-option.” Innovators take advantage of these responsive strategies.
4) How does your company directly contribute to improving the state of the world?
We're making it easy and attractive for manufacturers to clean up the finishing process. Beyond pioneering an economically viable coating technology that drives 99 percent reductions in time, 80 percent energy efficiency and enables entirely new coatings applications, Ecology Coatings’ technology stayed true to the founders' initial aim of environmental sustainability. Unlike traditional paints, Ecology Coatings products contain no polluting solvents or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), reducing regulatory burdens and making the company’s nanocoatings an innovation that is as good for the environment as it is for business.
5) What value do you hope to gain from being a Technology Pioneer?
At Ecology Coatings we hope that our visibility as a Technology Pioneer will help bring attention to the responsible, environmentally friendly products and possibilities of nanotechnology. Too often, a label, like nanotechnology (which actually represents an extremely broad range of enabling technologies, not a single species) becomes monolithic. Ecology Coatings proves that, not only can a nanotechnology product be environmentally safe to produce, it can offer opportunities to make traditional industries more environmentally friendly as well.
6) What do you think the role of technology should be in society?
History shows us that a wise investment in research today could save a far greater cost in the future. Nearly a century ago, lead was added to gasoline because it boosted the power and performance of cars. Asbestos was installed in millions of homes, businesses, and schools because it was an effective fire retardant. But in both cases, the suffering, environmental damage, and financial cost have been unnecessarily significant because not enough investment was made in anticipating, understanding, and addressing downstream impacts. Indeed, while the chemical revolution of the past century has brought thousands of valuable products to market, there have been significant environmental and human costs.
Technology, therefore, should provide responsible means to address the world’s biggest challenges. From energy, water processing, and personal and national security to medicine, electronics, advanced materials and consumer products, technology can be a catalyst for progress and change. In this, industrialized countries have a responsibility to support and extend technology solutions to developing nations.
7) What is the right balance in society between scientific interest and ethical concerns?
There is no progress without risk, and therefore responsible science always acknowledges, engages, and deliberates upon ethical concerns. It is important, though, to keep in mind the implications policy may have on the global economic climate for technical innovation. As we develop policies, we must attempt to not overburden innovators, researchers and corporations that are involved in technological progress. Inhibiting scientific development because of cost of compliance issues would mean we would forego the environmental protection advances, human health, job creation, and economic benefits of our investment in technology.
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