Birgitt Boschitsch in 2017 with Tak-Sing Wong and his team in the Millennium Science Complex with a toilet bowl covered in a non-stick coating they developed. (Submitted by Tak-Sing Wong)
Birgitt Boschitsch is the co-founder and CEO of spotLESS Materials, an advanced materials company and Penn State spinoff commercializing highly repellent anti-fouling coatings.
In this episode, Birgitt shares how her passion for helping others through research led to her co-founding spotLESS Materials. She discusses her formative experiences, academic challenges, and the pivotal moments that shaped her career path, including her time at Princeton and her decision to pursue graduate studies at Penn State.
She discusses the original inspiration behind the idea for a toilet coating that repels sticky waste, as well as the challenges of transitioning from lab work to startup life. She shares the importance of community support and the impact of media exposure on sales.
Towards the end of the episode, Viswanathan Ganesh, a current Ph.D. candidate in the department of architectural engineering at Penn State, joins the conversation. He is the entrepreneurial lead for NexDCCool, a Penn State research-based startup that aims to revolutionize data center efficiency with AI-driven solutions that optimize IT expansion, enhance thermal management, and reduce energy consumption. The startup team recently participated in both the Invent Penn State regional NSF I-Corps short course and the NSF I-Corps National Teams program. Viswanathan and Birgitt reflect on the customer discovery process, and Birgitt offers advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
This episode is brought to you by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern PA.
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