Holden oversees the product development and scale up efforts at Osmoses. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford, and his B.A. in chemistry and physics and B.Mus. in performance from Oberlin. Holden is an alumnus of the Activate Fellowship.

Francesco Benedetti is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer at Osmoses. He earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, and worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Benedetti received a 2021 Activate Fellowship, a 2019/2020 MIT Energy Fellowship, and was an NSF I-Corps Entrepreneurial Lead in 2021. In his free time, he enjoys playing rock music on his keyboard, singing, playing basketball, and building communities. He also serves as the President of FAIL! – Inspiring Resilience.

Katherine Mizrahi Rodriguez is a Co-founder and the Chief Implementation Officer at Osmoses. She is also a Kavanaugh Postdoctoral Fellow for translational innovation. Katherine earned her Ph.D. at MIT in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) through the program in Polymers and Soft Matter and received her B.S. also from MIT MSE. She has been recognized with several fellowships and awards including the NSF Graduate Research fellowship, the Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral fellowship, the MIT Ida M. Green fellowship, and the GEM Consortium fellowship.

Zachary P. Smith is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the molecular-level design, synthesis, and characterization of polymers and inorganic materials for applications in membrane and adsorption-based separations. Prof. Smith has co-authored over 45 peer-reviewed papers and has been recognized with several awards, including the DoE Early Career Award, AIChE 35 Under 35 Award, and the North American Membrane Society Young Membrane Scientist Award, and the DoE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship. He served as a committee member in writing the 2019 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on A Research Agenda for Transforming Separation Science. Prof. Smith serves on the Board of Directors for the North American Membrane Society and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Polymer.

Bob serves as the Chief Commercial Officer at Osmoses, where he brings over 12 years of specialized experience in gas separation membranes, spanning both technical and commercial domains. Holding a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from SUNY Buffalo and an MBA from the University of Houston, his expertise informs strategic decision-making processes, driving sustainable growth and fostering impactful collaborations within our industry. With a keen focus on customer needs and a solutions-oriented mindset, Bob is dedicated to delivering value to our clients through innovative approaches and tailored solutions.

Dr. Edgar (Ed) S. Sanders, Jr. is the Head of Corporate Development, a strategic cross-functional organizational role, closely advising and supporting the Product, Implementation, Government, and Commercial functions within the Osmoses team, and being a key player informing Osmoses’ strategic direction and decision-making. Over four decades, Dr. Sanders has provided technical leadership and growth to the membrane community. These efforts are documented in over 50 patents and a nearly equal number of reviewed technical publications. Dr. Sanders’ specific expertise in membrane separations is broad, spanning polymer design, membrane development/manufacture, membrane product/ separation process conception, development, and system design. Multiple commercial products, operating separation systems and ongoing membrane companies result from these efforts. Ed is a North American Membrane Society Fellow and an Air Liquide Fellow. He has received multiple industrial awards and special recognition from Air Liquide, Cynara Membrane,and The Dow Chemical Company and Air Liquide. He holds BS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Kristen O’Hara is the Head of HR at Osmoses. She is  an accomplished, results oriented people operations professional with more than a decade of experience providing strategic leadership and hands-on execution ushering companies through phases of start-up, growth, and organizational change. Kristen is a successful culture ambassador with demonstrated expertise in cultivating highly collaborative teams, building best-in-class HR infrastructures, developing relationships cross functionally and driving people-forward initiatives to meet business objectives and help teams and organizations thrive. Kristen has earned her SHRM-SCP certification from Society of Human Resources Management and is an avid networker and serial learner. She never turns down a good podcast and enjoys spending time outdoors whether hiking, walking, skiing, beaching or her new (so far unsuccessful) pursuit to master tennis, pickleball and golf. Family is her true passion and she takes every opportunity to spend time with her husband and 2 boys.

Kim Vanderbeck works alongside Francesco and the Executive Team at Osmoses. She has over 10 years of experience in executive support across the nonprofit, software, and biotech industries.
Kim is passionate about building relationships and making a positive cultural impact. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, playing games (both video and board) with friends, and refinishing furniture she rescues from flea markets.

Swapan Rahman is an experienced leader achieving revenue, profit, and growth objectives, utilizing certified Six Sigma Black Belt skills and Lean expertise in manufacturing and financial industries. With experience at Praxair, Air Liquide, Bank of America, and Liberty Mutual, he is a transformational leader at developing breakthrough strategies and integrated business plans for growth and game changing innovation. He leads organizations through extraordinary change; determining optimal organizational structure to achieve maximum financial performance, reduce operating expenses, improve quality, improve on-time delivery, and increase employee satisfaction to achieve organizational goals. He has a B.S in Chemical Engineering and MBA, both from Northeastern. In his free time he enjoys cooking, sightseeing and traveling.

A native of Boston, Jim has worked exclusively in the hollow fiber membrane business for 48 years. He holds a BS from Boston College and an MS from Tufts University, both in Organic Chemistry. His initial position was at Rohm and Haas (Romicon) where he developed many commercial HF devices for filtration of milk and juice products, pharmaceuticals, industrial paints, and wastewater. At his next assignment at Union Carbide/Praxair (Innovative Membrane Systems), he invented novel HF spinning methods and equipment used to produce gas separation fibers for the recovery of hydrogen, VOC’s, and the enrichment of nitrogen from air, including OBIGGS equipment in the aerospace industry.
His next venture was as a founding member of PoroGen where he developed a process for spinning hollow fibers from PEEK and their subsequent processing into novel solvent resistant membranes for challenging gas recovery applications. Following the sale of this company to Air Liquide, Jim continued in his role as Technology Director. He is an author or co-author of 12 US Patents in the field of membrane technology. Products that he has developed and implemented for commercial offerings are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
Jim will strive to bring Osmoses technology from the laboratory to similar commercial success while training the next generation of membrane scientists and engineers how to bring new products to market.

Abaynesh Y. Gebreyohannes is a Senior Membrane Scientist at Osmoses. She has more than a decade-long research experience in developing membranes from material to full-scale prototypes across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

She has received numerous grants and awards including Excellence in Membrane Engineering by EFCE, Best Exploitation of Research-Technology & Knowledge Transfer by KU Leuven, EMJD by EU, FWO Research Grant, etc. She is the Executive Committee for AMSiC and Chair for AMSIC4 and an active member of EMS and WA-MS.

She uniquely combines fundamental research in membrane science with process engineering, including large-scale membrane fabrication, characterization, module preparation, process integration, and performance evaluation for broad-scope liquid and gas separation. She also worked on understanding and resolving tight emulsions resulting from petroleum recovery in collaboration with Saudi ARAMCO, one of the largest oil companies.

Outside of business, she is a proud mother and is highly involved in community outreach efforts throughout Africa, through building wet-labs and providing hands-on trainings.

Nick Bruno is an R&D scientist with Osmoses. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2015 in the lab of Steve Buchwald and worked with M.G. Finn as a postdoctoral associate and research scientist from 2015 – to 2022 developing new materials for membrane applications in collaboration with Ryan Lively. Outside of lab, he’s passionate about woodworking, working on cars, flea markets, and rooting for the ever-terrible Washington Football Team.

Sam Cox is a member of the chemistry team at Osmoses. He received a B.S. in Chemistry and Philosophy from Northeastern University, with a concentration in Religious Studies. His passions include sustainable infrastructure development, including clean energy. While at Northeastern, Sam gained a variety of experiences in materials chemistry, specifically for green applications. His research interests include polymer synthesis and analytical method development; he is also excited by the growing field of green chemistry. Beyond research, Sam also leads laboratory operations to support research endeavors at Osmoses. In his spare time, Sam enjoys exploring Boston’s vibrant restaurant scene, biking across the city, and expanding his collection of house plants.

Dr. Marina Petsi received her Ph.D. title from the Department of Chemistry (Organic Chemistry Laboratory) in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, in 2021. Mrs. Petsi’s up to now academic career as a Ph.D. candidate in Synthetic Organic Chemistry combined with previous work experience as Analytical Chemist has given her the opportunity to broaden her cognitive field and develop new skills. Her main interests include the total synthesis of naturally complex molecular structures like pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids and its extension and application in the field of green chemistry and organocatalysis.

Hannah is a recent graduate of Tufts University with a B.S. in Biochemistry. At Tufts, Hannah did research analyzing chemical differences in coffee that was grown under different environmental conditions. Her interests include sustainability, environmental research, and clean energy. Outside of the lab, she enjoys doing yoga and making Spotify playlists.

Aaron Gould is a Process Engineer at Osmoses, with a focus on membrane separations and techno-economic modeling. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University, where he also minored in Computer Science and Economics. Aaron is passionate about the intersection of engineering, technology, and business, with a strong commitment to clean technology. Beyond the spreadsheets, he enjoys running, hiking and playing the guitar.

Will is a Senior Process Engineer at Osmoses. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Osmoses, Will spent four years at Honeywell UOP working on process development, design, and modeling of hydrogen recovery, carbon capture, natural gas dehydration, and FCC systems. He is a co-author on three granted US patents and two pending patents.

Roman Madaus is a business operations manager at Osmoses. He received his B.A. from Tufts University and his M.A. from Australian National University and has a background in project management and climate innovation consulting. In his free time, Roman enjoys kiteboarding, trail running, and permaculture gardening.

Guilherme is a Chemical Engineer with a vast experience in the Oil and Gas Industry. He has assisted several refineries and oil processing rigs during commissioning and startup of new hydrocracking, catalytic reforming and gas processing units. He also has experience with process simulation and advanced process control. Recently, Guilherme was certified as a Process Kaizen Engineer, having led successful projects to reduce waste in a paper mill. In his free time, he enjoys running, playing games and spending time with his family.

Daniel Harrigan is a Senior Application Test Engineer at Osmoses, bringing with him several years experience in membrane testing across oil/gas and biopharma industries. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in polymer science and a minor in Mathematics from Tufts University. Throughout his career, Daniel has designed, operated, and managed test equipment and lab spaces to characterize membranes and filters at all stages of the product lifecycle. He is a proven leader and science communicator, and he is trained in lean innovation tools such as Six Sigma, Problem Solving Process, and Visual Project Management. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys rock climbing, playing board games, and convincing his cat that it’s not time to eat yet.

Seraphin Castelino is a member of the membrane research team at Osmoses. She received a B.S. in chemical engineering from MIT. While at MIT, Seraphin conducted a wide variety of research including chemically modifying siRNA for improved therapeutic applications as well as using mathematical and computational modeling to simulate graphene polymers through turbulent flow. Outside of lab, her interests include tennis, hiking, baking, exploring different foods, and playing board games with friends.

Neil Shah is a Senior Research Associate at Osmoses. His experience at Filtration Solutions Inc. is a testament to his work in the entire lifecycle of membrane filtration equipment. Beyond the initial stages of research, design, and development, Neil has actively contributed from concept to prototype to quality validation of the membrane filter cartridge. His blend of development and hands-on testing reflects a well-rounded understanding of the intricacies involved in creating effective filtration systems for both liquid and gas separation applications. Beyond his primary role in cartridge development, Neil’s experience extends to conducting market research to identify industry demands and trends. Additionally, Neil plays a vital role in the meticulous testing of membranes, ensuring they meet the quality standards, encompassing both functional and physical properties. In his spare time, Neil enjoys playing cricket, singing and hiking.

Brooke Arnold is a fifth-year Biochemistry major at Northeastern University. She is currently completing her third co-op focused on organic chemistry research at Osmoses. At Northeastern, she acts as a member of Mural Club and the TriBeta Biological Honor Society Eboard. She loves bringing chemistry outside of the lab by cooking or baking, and is currently tinkering with a Capstone project based in film development. In her spare time, she likes to read, spend time in nature, photograph, and host art/collage nights with her friends using repurposed materials.

Cindy is a Mechanical Engineering Intern at Osmoses and a rising fourth year undergraduate student at Boston University studying Mechanical Engineering. Her interests lie in Computer Aided Design, prototyping, and manufacturing.
She is currently an undergraduate Research Assistant at the Morphable Biorobotics Laboratory where she aids graduate students with manufacturing and testing soft actuators.
Outside of school, she enjoys cooking, working out, and watching CDramas.

Brecker Ferguson is a Business Development Co-op at Osmoses and a third-year undergraduate at Northeastern University. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in Business/Finance
with a minor in Sustainable Business Practices and a B.S. Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. Brecker currently serves as VP of Consulting with Global Research and Consulting Group, Northeastern University, where he leads 20+ student consultants on pro-bono engagements with nonprofits around the world. He also works as a freelance tutor and educational advisor. Brecker’s past experiences include wildlife conservation researcher in South Africa, wedding coordinator, architectural compliance manager, digital marketing associate, and nonprofit program director in Ecuador. In 2023, Brecker was a visiting engineering student at University College Dublin and attended the World Trade Organization Public Forum on sustainable trade. In his free time, Brecker enjoys playing the cello, writing, spending time outdoors, traveling, SCUBA diving, watching movies, spending time with his many pets, and studying Spanish, French, and (recently) Portuguese.

Julienne Teich is a Chemistry Co-op in her second year studying chemistry at Northeastern University. She is an active member of the Northeastern University chapter of the American Chemical Society and loves to bring chemistry outside the lab to work on developing a pre-workout gummy supplement. Outside the lab, she enjoys cooking, playing her guitar, and painting.

Yousif A. Hamdon is a process engineering consultant at Osmoses, with extensive industrial experience in the field of conventional natural gas facilities’ EPC. At Osmoses, he supports work on membrane units’ process design, simulation and techno-commercial analysis. Yousif earned his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. In his free time, Yousif enjoys beach volleyball.

Kate Lai is an independent CPA supporting Osmoses’ bookkeeping, tax, and rapidly growing budget. She earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley, and MBA from University of California, Davis. After working in various accounting and finance functions at both startups and fortune 500 companies, she founded KECL Controller, a CPA practice serving high growth startups. When Kate is not doing accounting, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with her husband and two rambunctious children.