Changing the world ‘one atom at a time’ is a vision and guiding passion which Dr Hugo Perez-Garza, CEO of innovative nanotech company, DENSsolutions, considers the key to unlocking unprecedented research whilst placing his organisation at the forefront of scientific solutions.
When CEOs are asked about the inspiration for their work, there aren’t many who reference a film from the 1960s about a submarine that is shrunken and able to navigate a scientist’s bloodstream. But for Dr. Hugo Perez-Garza, CEO of Delft (Holland) based firm DENSsolutions, this is an abiding memory that inspired an incredibly successful academic and now business career. As he looks to guide the organisation into a new phase of innovation and growth, he is all too aware that DENSsolutions’ suite of in situ transmission electron microscopy tools can help researchers and companies around the world genuinely change the world for the better.
Talented academic or inspiring businessman…. or both?
When Dr. Perez-Garza describes his journey from university in Mexico to CEO of a successful Dutch innovation start up, he makes it sound like a meandering process with unexpected twists and turns. However, when you get to understand the passions that drive him, it becomes clear that each pivot was not random but instead perfectly aligned with his purpose and ambition.
Whether it be one of his three Masters’ degrees from Germany, Sweden and the UK or perhaps one of his two PhD projects, each step has allowed Dr. Perez-Garza to amass a level of academic and practical knowledge about the world of nanotechnology that now places him as unquestionably one of the world’s leading minds in the industry.
One of the characteristics that helps Dr. Perez-Garza stand out is not just his academic prowess, but the fact that throughout all his periods of study he has never lost his desire to take his knowledge and apply it to the business world. Even when he was offered the opportunity to pursue his second PhD project alongside Dr. Urs Staufer – a remarkable scientist who led NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission – Dr. Perez-Garza insisted on studying for his MBA and using the intense academic challenge to help him develop a level of focus and efficiency that made it almost predictable that he would succeed when it came to the challenge of leading DENSsolutions. With the company setting ever more impressive standards when it comes to the innovation of in situ microscopy, Dr. Perez-Garza and his team are genuinely helping redefine how scientific and industrial research are carried out around the world.
Helping researchers analyse the real world with in situ microscopy
In situ transmission electron microscopy has allowed a quantum leap when it comes to research practices across an incredible range of disciplines. The original electron microscope was developed in 1931 and gave scientists the capability to use 400x magnification levels. Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs) went even further and allowed scientists the opportunity to explore samples at the atomic level – literally bringing a whole new world into focus.
But while TEMs are valuable tools in the research process, they come with their own restrictions. DENSsolutions identified that these restrictions were holding back research and development and that a solution would unlock a whole new world of innovation across an incredible range of use cases.
Their development of their in situ transmission electron microscopy products means that researchers are able to study samples in real time while under real world conditions. In order to enable this, they have developed the most advanced Micro/Nano-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS devices), acting as smart sample carriers, which contain integrated nano-sensors and/or nano-actuators to control the sample as a function of several stimuli. In simple words, they introduce a nano-laboratory inside the transmission electron microscopy to manipulate and visualise the molecular structure of the sample, while mimicking its real-life conditions. This allows them to gather far more data, and in turn support greater levels of analysis and valuable insight that can then be drawn from that vast dataset. Being able to replicate real-world environmental conditions such as heating, gas and liquid, is understandably hugely valuable and allows researchers to drive a much faster rate of innovation in their chosen fields.
The range of research fields and potential applications that the DENSsolutions suite of offerings supports is quite incredible. For example, in material science, in situ TEM research can be used to analyse mixtures and colloids, metals, catalysts, batteries, solar cells, electronic devices, corrosion, polymers and semiconductors. While in the life sciences, in situ TEM allows far more insightful exploration of areas such as pharmaceutical development, drug delivery, structural biology, protein interactions, cancer therapies, and particle reconstruction.
Driven by purpose, talent and innovation
While DENSsolutions has an impressive team creating world changing offerings, the crucial starting point is their guiding passion and purpose – changing the world, one atom at a time!
So many of the most innovative companies throughout history have used a vision and clear purpose just like DENSsolutions’ to guide and inspire them. Motivated by this vision, and with Dr. Perez-Garza taking over as CEO, the business is well placed for an exciting future. To date, the business is proud of its reputation in supplying global commercial and scientific institutions such as Samsung, Toyota, Kyocera, Huawei, Johnson Matthey, National Research Institutes – Max Plank Institutes, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rosalind Franklin Institute, NIST, Brookhaven, Argonne, The Chinese Academy of Science, as well as the top universities in the world – Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Stanford, TU-Delft, ETH Zurich, Seoul National University and Tsinghua University – and aims to continue to build on this noteworthy success.
DENSsolutions embraces innovation in all aspects of its business – not just in product development. This means that the company has been able to develop a culture of experimentation, consistent learning and a focus on being crystal clear about the problem they are trying to solve so that any solution is more likely to succeed.
Dr. Perez-Garza’s background of business combined with academic excellence puts him in a strong position to lead the organisation. In a recent interview, he explained that his background was going to be valuable as DENSsolutions looks to “achieve a better match between our technical vision and our business ambition.
Global impact is nothing to do with size
This focus on being able to make better informed decisions, quickly, is a key attribute that has allowed Dr. Perez-Garza and DENSsolutions not only grow their team and product range, but also their impact around the world.
The whole concept of in situ TEM solutions is that by being able to understand the atomic dynamics of a sample, researchers are able to help drive powerful change across not just industrial areas but topics that will genuinely impact the lives and well-being of millions, if not billions of people, globally. Again Dr. Perez-Garza’s background and breadth of experience allows him to appreciate the importance of both driving forward the company’s technological expertise, and its ability to grow as an effective business.
At the heart of this is the value proposition that DENSsolutions takes to the market, as Dr Perez-Garza himself states: “Since technological innovation (and thus the RnD department) is not the only crucial aspect of our business, I also intend to set in motion new ideas for marketing, sales and operations. The roadmap is already in motion, and we are fully committed to delivering increasing value to our customers.”
This ability to focus equally on the technical capabilities of the company as well as the ability of the company to take those technologies to market in a profitable manner sets Dr. Perez-Garza apart from many CEOs, and also helps to explain why so many people are excited about the future of DENSsolutions.
DENSsolutions specialises in in-situ electron microscopy tools, developing and delivering state of the art solutions, based on Micro/Nano-devices, for sample manipulation as a function of heating, biasing, gas and liquids. Its dedicated technology, software and service supports the journey through sample management to data analysis, promising reliability and accuracy every time.
For in depth information on the products and services carried out by this innovative nanotechnology organisation, please visit: https://denssolutions.com/
