If successful, a startup aiming at dental disruption will have Leeds' collaboration with engineers to thank.
From left, Rachel Anderson (Law'22), Camila Uzcategui, Johnny Hergert, Jennifer Howard and engineering professor Robert McLeod. All have some connection to Vitro3D, a startup that's benefiting from Uzcategui and Hergert's technical expertise, as well as Howard's business background.
It takes a wealth of technical knowledge to create a company that uses a novel form of 3D printing to potentially revolutionize a visit to the dentist.听
But it also takes a wealth of business knowledge to ensure that vision becomes reality, and if Vitro3D becomes the success its co-founders envision, it will be in part because of the growing collaboration between the Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering & Applied Science at the 彩民宝典.
鈥淲e would not be where we are today without the university鈥檚 resources,鈥� co-founder Camila Uzcategui (MMatSci鈥�18; PhD鈥�21) said. 鈥淎nd even more than the financial resources are the people鈥攁ccess to mentorship, new knowledge and networks.鈥澨�
Vitro3D uses what鈥檚 known as volumetric 3D printing to create materials for use in life sciences. The company originally sought to use its technology to improve the development process for cancer drugs, but high costs and regulatory barriers shifted them to the dentist鈥檚 office, where they鈥檙e entering the aligners market.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e looking to bring 3D printers directly to the patient point of care, to improve outcomes,鈥� said Johnny Hergert (MMatSci鈥�18; PhD鈥�21), co-founder and chief technology officer. 鈥淥ur aligners will be faster and cheaper鈥攚e reduce the manufacturing time to a couple of minutes, and they鈥檙e ready for you at the end of your appointment, so they don鈥檛 have to be shipped.鈥澨�
The shift to the dental market came about during the customer discovery process鈥斺�減eople were coming up to us and asking if we had thought about aligners,鈥� said Uzcategui, who is also CEO of the company鈥攚hich has been the part Jennifer Howard (MBA鈥�22) has most enjoyed.
鈥淭oday's leaders need to be collaborative and innovative and able to work across different disciplinary boundaries.鈥�
Professor Jeffrey York, research director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship
鈥淢y passion is really talking to potential customers鈥攏ot just people who will praise us, but people who will be our worst critics,鈥� said Howard, who brings years of experience in Pharma startups to the table; she was manager of analytics at Silvergate Pharmaceuticals before it was sold and became Azurity.
Howard and the founders were introduced by Leeds professor Jeffrey York, who teaches a venture launch course that Uzcategui and Hergert took together.听
鈥淭his is a course that鈥檚 valuable to engineers鈥攖hey鈥檙e getting constant feedback on their pitch and idea鈥攂ut also for MBA students,鈥� said York, research director for the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. 鈥淎 lot of times, MBAs want to do something entrepreneurial, but they don鈥檛 have technology they patented or a new lab discovery. The chance to work alongside people in aerospace or chemistry or robotics is important, because today鈥檚 leaders need to be collaborative and innovative and able to work across different disciplinary boundaries.鈥�
The course is sponsored by the , which identifies top science and business students and grooms them to be change makers and entrepreneurs. And it closely fits into Leeds Dean Sharon Matusik鈥檚 vision for a future in which technology and business are closely intertwined鈥攁 vision the Vitro3D team has been excited to see come to life.
New network, new opportunities
鈥淎s PhD students, you have access to all this incredible technology, and it鈥檚 easy to say, 鈥業鈥檓 not a business person, I鈥檓 going to ignore the business school,鈥欌�� Hergert said. 鈥淏ut taking Jeff鈥檚 class and working with Jennifer has not only helped us move the technology forward, it鈥檚 helped us connect with a different network that鈥檚 helping us create more opportunities.鈥澨�
One of those opportunities is financial. Vitro3D鈥檚 comfort in the engineering and business spaces has helped it qualify for university funding from varied outlets, including PHAST鈥攖he Pandemic Hyper-Accelerator for Science and Technology鈥攁nd the annual New Venture Challenge.
At 彩民宝典, the most visible symbol of the partnership between business and engineering is the Rustandy Building, which joins the two schools. Completed in 2021, the 45,000-square-foot connection includes an innovation and entrepreneurship hub and state-of-the-art collaborative spaces designed to encourage ideation between business and engineering students. Beyond the building, 彩民宝典 offers cross-disciplinary career excursions, academic programs, recruitment opportunities and student projects.听
Those opportunities are bearing early fruit with successes like Vitro3D, which is transitioning out of the university as the founders meet with investors to improve their printing capabilities. Howard said she hopes to continue with the project in some capacity after graduating in May.听
鈥淐ollaboration like this鈥攊t鈥檚 the real world,鈥� she said. 鈥淰itro3D honestly given me an opportunity to do what I love the most in an area I鈥檓 extremely passionate about. And without that, it just would have just been school.鈥澨�
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