Northwestern University's Querrey InQbation Lab, known as The Q, has announced a partnership with Material Impact, a venture firm based in Boston that specializes in materials science and deep tech innovations. This collaboration aims to accelerate the commercialization of Northwestern's research.

The Q was established in 2021 with funding from the State of Illinois and a donation from Northwestern Trustee Kimberly Querrey. It functions as a hub for entrepreneurship driven by research, offering space, programs, and resources to bring the university's research developments to market.

Material Impact is recognized for addressing large-scale challenges through advanced materials science innovations. According to Clarivate™, Northwestern boasts the most highly cited faculty members in materials science and chemistry among U.S. universities.

Carmichael Roberts, co-founder and managing partner of Material Impact, expressed enthusiasm about Northwestern’s potential: “We are excited about the potential within Northwestern’s research portfolio to address some of society’s most pressing challenges.” He noted their investments in startups like Mattiq and Nanograf, along with Foundation Alloy, which stems from work by Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering dean.

As part of this partnership, Material Impact team members will join advisory committees and mentor entrepreneurial residents from Kellogg School of Management at The Q. They will also offer guidance on transforming academic innovations into startup companies.

Initially focusing on the Trienens-Q Cleantech Accelerator—a joint effort between The Q and Northwestern’s Paula M. Trienens Institute—the collaboration seeks to advance decarbonization and renewable energy technologies from lab to market.

Ted Sargent, executive director of the Trienens Institute, stated: “Integrating Material Impact into the Trienens-Q Cleantech Accelerator amplifies our strategy of channeling the right resources at the right time to our most promising technologies.”

This fall marks the start of this partnership with Ben Schlatka from Material Impact serving as a Q Executive-in-Residence at Northwestern. Schlatka commented: “At Material Impact, we are passionate about translating cutting-edge technologies into real-world solutions... I'm excited to collaborate with the Northwestern team.”