Sustainability Careers Panel

Sustainability Careers Panel Tuesday 7 November 2023, 18.30 - 20.00

Careers Service

www.imperial.ac.uk/careers

Daniel Byrd Imperial alumnus and founder of Agave Networks Daniel Byrd is the co-founder and CEO of Agave Networks. He is an impact-driven serial entrepreneur, passionate about eliminating waste through technology.

He graduated with a Master’s in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management at Imperial College London Business School in 2020 after changing his career and dropping his Master’s in Finance in his home country, Mexico City. During his Master’s studies, and amid the pandemic, he launched an innovation firm focused on helping student entrepreneurs across the globe to collaborate digitally on building the next startups aiming at the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He partnered with global universities across six continents, including Imperial College London, Harvard University, Tsinghua University in China, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Ghana University, and many more.

Before that, he studied Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in the same country while launching his first venture of excess materials distribution in the manufacturing sector.

The startup, born as a university spinout, aims to revolutionize how recyclable materials, including metals and plastics, are shared between businesses worldwide. Through their platform, recyclers, manufacturers and traders worldwide trade recycled materials securely, openly and in a few clicks.

Daniel’s passion for sustainability and technology started when he was young, at 17 years old; during his studies in Industrial and Systems Engineering, he started his first business of distributing surplus manufacturing products across his home country, Mexico City. After a couple of years into the business, he and his brother envisioned a solution where any manufacturer and recycler in the world could share their excess materials, not only helping their business finances but aiming for the reduction of industrial waste, energy utilization and emissions. The startup Agave Networks has a presence in the UK and India, and it’s starting to grow into the Indian and USA markets.

When Daniel is not working on his entrepreneurial projects, you will likely find him training or running with his 10-year-old Husky.

Tim Geller Tim Geller, Co-Founder of Alectro I hold an MPhil in Nuclear Energy from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Chemical Engineering with Business from the University of Melbourne. Currently a co-founder at Alectro, our software platform empowers service-based businesses to calculate, act, and communicate their environmental impact.

Before Alectro, I worked as a consultant at Chartwell Consulting, driving improvements for clients across Europe, saving 30-60% in materials, guiding senior client relationships, and leading crossfunctional teams. I also served as a process refinery engineer at Viva Energy Australia (ex-Shell).

Now, Alectro expands to reach more UK businesses, aiming to democratise climate literacy by providing educational materials. Our mission: empowering businesses to be environmentally conscious and achieve net-zero alignment.

Cato Sandford Imperial alumnus and current Researcher/Consultant at Cerulogy I graduated from Imperial (physics) in 2011 and went on to a PhD at NYU, but then decided to move out of academia for something a bit more applied. For the last couple of years I’ve been a consultant in sustainable transport and alternative fuels -- a surprisingly broad field which for me has encompassed EU biofuel and land use policy; methods of GHG lifecycle analysis; modelling scenarios for the evolution of the USA road transport fleet, and the outcomes of carbon intensity regulations; analysing energy and agriculture datasets for NGO stakeholder reports; and more. Prior to this I worked for two years on solar mini-grid projects in rural north India, focussing on tracking technical performance and stability of electrical systems, energy users’ consumption patterns, and trialling different technologies.

Lucinda Thurmer Sustainability and Communications Manager at Itero Technologies I am a sustainability communications specialist with five years’ experience in sustainability focused organisations across non-profit and start up organisations. Originally from Australia, I began my career in Asia before coming to London and working in marketing before focusing solely on sustainability and circularity. I believe that every job is a sustainability job, and that using your strengths, in my case strategic thinking and communications, can move forward our collective transition to a sustainable future. I am a New Colombo Plan Scholarship Alumna and currently chair the communications working group of industry body Chemical Recycling Europe.