At the time, Blake was working as a senior design engineer at Caterpillar Inc., but he became interested in the NCI approach to new materials. Birdwell and the existing management recognized his talent, and before long, Blake joined the team.

The bumps continued, however, and after another year, it became apparent that a business model solely focused on coconuts wasn’t sustainable. Blake and the other engineers approached Birdwell and decided that it was time for a clean slate. Birdwell took over the company’s leadership, and the group reformed as a new venture called Essentium—a play on the words essential materials.

Today, Birdwell is still invested and active as Essentium’s CEO. “The kinetic energy and potential of the ‘coconut kids’ is what impressed me the most,” he said. “Without them, I would’ve taken the assets, sold them off and walked away.”

The social mission that first emerged in the Whole Tree days underpins all of Essentium’s work, but the team is always striving to find new ways to push the limit and explore materials from others angles. They now collaborate with Texas A&M’s College of Engineering and Mays Business School, seeking to cement Essentium’s position in multiple technical markets.

Blake describes their approach as a focus on the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. This is the driving force behind Essentium.

Branching Out

For Blake, the transition to Essentium also meant an opportunity to continue his education. In addition to leading the company, he is now a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M. As his CV states, he is “pursuing hi-sustainability, functionalized fillers for polymer nanocomposites.” But Blake possesses a unique gift—he can share his passion with the world by distilling CV language into contagious enthusiasm.

“Essentium,” he explained, “is focused on taking waste products and transforming them into resources, wherever possible.”

These days, Essentium still works with coconuts, but the team has transitioned into several other areas (see sidebar below). They now conduct research on thermoplastic composites (made from materials like cellulose) and metal-based energy materials. And they recently started working with cosmetics.

“We’re somewhere between chefs and scientists,” Blake explained, as he motioned toward a giant injection molder. “We can do different colors, different pigments, conductive polymers, mechanically strong polymers, or soft and flexible elastomeric polymers. After we make the materials, we test them to see if they are better or, as is sometimes the case, worse.”

In the conference room, Blake and Elisa pulled out small glass jars in the shape of lightbulbs, each filled with a different pelletized plastic. Then they laid out sheets of various materials molded together. The samples represent the steady stream of work Essentium produces. The company’s growing project list is a sign that their research and capability is in heavy demand.

“We are focused on making great materials,” Elisa said. “But we also want to produce disruptive technologies that can enter a marketplace and offer not only strong physical properties and meaningful environmental improvements, but be cost-competitive as well.”

For Blake, all of their research avenues are unified by a common thread. “What we are trying to do as engineers is tackle grand challenges. We look outside of our four walls, and we see challenges like poverty, pollution and the environment. These are the grand challenges that face the global society.

“We’re a small company, but we have big visions and dreams. We want to make a difference for people and the planet.”

Applications

Essentium Materials’ line of natural and recycled composites can be used in a variety of applications and industries such as:

Cellulose Composites

With tackling “grand challenges” in mind, the Essentium team applies what they learned through early coconut exploits to combine cellulose with plastic. This foray also ties in with Blake’s doctoral studies.

As the predominant compound found in grasses, wood and other plants, cellulose is, according to Blake, “a brilliant material at the nanoscale.” It’s also a major waste product in North America.

A prime example is paper mills, which create large amounts of pulp as a waste byproduct. This waste can be converted into cellulosic nanomaterials and, through Essentium’s innovative processing technology, transformed into new uses. According to Blake, this win-win strategy provides a “renaissance” in an industry that is otherwise struggling.

“It’s really important for individuals to do everything they can to minimize their own carbon footprint,” Blake said. “This is fairly accessible common knowledge. Essentium is trying to minimize the carbon footprint of industry on the million-pound scales using life-cycle analysis.”

Essentium’s cellulose work has received grants from the National Science Foundation and Ford Motor Co. “Automakers are calling for this material, and Essentium is a moving quickly to meet this need,” he said.

3-D Printing

The same companies that use injection-molded plastics for production often rely on 3-D printing for its flexibility and the high degree of customization that other manufacturing methods can’t reproduce. Essentium is working with inventors in Texas A&M’s Department of Chemical Engineering to develop cutting-edge 3-D printing plastics, scaling up to produce new materials for this growing industry.

“We’re trying to replace synthetic products with biologically-derived products wherever we can,” Blake explained. “Large companies buy plastic for production applications as well as for prototyping. We’re trying to gain access into both markets.”

Cosmetics

Blake and his colleagues are exploring how to process coconuts for products like cosmetics and super-refined oils. One potential use for coarse coconut powder is as a replacement for exfoliant microbeads in cosmetics, which some studies have found can pass through water treatment systems and be harmful to fish.