đź’§ The Rise of Midwest Hydrogen

AND The History of Biotech at UChicago

Author

Landon Campbell
January 22, 2024

Hey Friends! 🚙 👋🏽

Welcome to the 42nd edition of the Driver’s Seat

đź“Ť Today’s Lineup:

đź’§ The Rise of Midwest Hydrogen

🔬 Biotech Discoveries at UChicago

đź—ş Events Around the City

🔙 Previous Issues of the Driver’s Seat

đź’§ The Rise of Midwest Hydrogen

Towards the end of 2023, the Department of Energy announced a $7B investment to launch seven regional clean hydrogen hubs to reduce industrial emissions and cut 25M metric tons of carbon-based fuels each year. The seven hubs will receive between $400M and $1.2B of federal funding.

Notably, the Midwest will be home to two of these hydrogen hubs:

Midwest Hydrogen Hub

  • Includes Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan

  • Set to receive $1B to produce hydrogen by leveraging the region’s diverse and abundant energy sources, including renewable energy, natural gas, and low-cost nuclear energy.

  • The region aims to use hydrogen for steel and glass production, power generation, refining, heavy-duty transportation, and sustainable aviation fuel.

Heartland Hydrogen Hub

  • Includes Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota

  • Set to receive up to $925M to leverage the region’s abundant energy resources to help decarbonize the agricultural sector’s production of fertilizer, decrease the regional cost of clean hydrogen, and use clean hydrogen for power generation.

Why This Matters

As the global / national energy landscapes evolve, regions need to adapt to stay competitive and meet new environmental standards. The development of hydrogen infrastructure positions the Midwest to be at the forefront of this transition.

🔬 Biotech Discoveries at UChicago

The University of Chicago has been known for many achievements in science and technology. In fact, they were one of the first institutions to morph the study of both to create Biotech.

Today, UChicago’s Biological Sciences Division is their largest academic division, with 10 basic science and 14 clinical departments.

Let’s dive into a few of their notable discoveries:

Health Innovations

  • In 1925, Nathaniel Kleitman, known as the father of sleep research, established the first sleep laboratory at UChicago, which was pivotal in his later discovery of REM sleep.

  • Oswald Robertson developed and pioneered the idea of blood banks.

  • Leon O. Jacobson's work on red blood cell production and radiation effects led to the first successful bone marrow transplant.

  • In 1967, Donald F. Steiner discovered that human insulin was produced as a single chain, which he termed pro-insulinm (the precursor of insulin)

Biological Studies

  • Botanist Henry Chandler Cowles developed the study of ecology at UChicago.

  • Ernest Everett Just's PhD research led to a key finding: in a marine worm, the initial cell division is influenced by where the sperm enters the egg.

  • Paul Sereno's work in discovering new dinosaur species in the 1990s significantly enhanced our understanding of the dinosaur family tree.

Technological Advancements

  • In 2013, Robert Grossman created the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, a pioneering cloud computing system for cancer genetics research.

  • In 1979, pharmacologist Leon Goldberg created Methylnaltrexone, which is mainly used today for treating opioid-induced illnesses.

🗺️ Events Around The City

Chicago AI Tinkerers 2024 Kickoff

  • Hosted by Drive Capital

  • Tuesday Jan 23

  • RSVP

Chicago Climate Tech Happy Hour

  • Hosted by Dipalo Ventures X gener8tor

  • Wednesday Jan 24

  • RSVP

Chicago EdTech coffee meetup

  • Hosted by Pete Pillizzari

  • Wednesday Jan 24

  • RSVP

Coffee, Capital & Conversations

  • Hosted by Trinet

  • Thursday Jan 25

  • RSVP

Chicago VIP Startup Mixer

  • Hosted by Founder Institute 

  • Thursday Jan 25

  • RSVP

The Windy City Venture Crawl

  • Hosted by GENESIS

  • Friday Jan 26

  • RSVP

đź‘‹ See you next week!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for even more Chicago startup news and photos of my favorite restaurants in the city.

🗞 Previous Issues of the Driver’s Seat