Aaron M. Socha, PhD: Founder and CEO
Aaron was trained in natural product isolation, characterization and synthesis, and served as an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director of Sustainable Energy at the City University of New York for 7 years. As a Research Affiliate of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, he co-founded Illium Technologies, and has pioneered the conversion of naturally-occuring compounds into ionic liquid solvents. Aaron leads product development at Illium Labs in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds degrees from Fordham University (BS) and the University of Rhode Island (PhD).
Aaron was trained in natural product isolation, characterization and synthesis, and served as an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director of Sustainable Energy at the City University of New York for 7 years. As a Research Affiliate of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, he co-founded Illium Technologies, and has pioneered the conversion of naturally-occuring compounds into ionic liquid solvents. Aaron leads product development at Illium Labs in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds degrees from Fordham University (BS) and the University of Rhode Island (PhD).
Roland Kalb, PhD: Business Partner
Roland is the Founder and Scientific Director at Proionic, GmbH. He is an entrepreneur in technical applications of ionic liquids and has produced ionic liquids at the commercial scale for over 15 years. He has worked in the fields total synthesis of natural products at the University of Vienna and the Echem Center of Excellence for Applied Electrochemistry. In 2003 he invented an industrial process for the halide free production of ionic liquids, today known as the CBILS-process. Proionic is one of the five leading companies in research, development and manufacture of ionic liquids and technical processes worldwide and Roland holds over 170 international patents based on 25 inventions. He holds a PhD degree in Chemistry (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Rostock.
Roland is the Founder and Scientific Director at Proionic, GmbH. He is an entrepreneur in technical applications of ionic liquids and has produced ionic liquids at the commercial scale for over 15 years. He has worked in the fields total synthesis of natural products at the University of Vienna and the Echem Center of Excellence for Applied Electrochemistry. In 2003 he invented an industrial process for the halide free production of ionic liquids, today known as the CBILS-process. Proionic is one of the five leading companies in research, development and manufacture of ionic liquids and technical processes worldwide and Roland holds over 170 international patents based on 25 inventions. He holds a PhD degree in Chemistry (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Rostock.