Who We Are
How We Got Here
Since 2010, our team has been developing the core technology underpinning Cypris' structural color technology and combines decades of experience and core expertise in synthetic polymer chemistry, catalysis, and materials science. In 2019 Dr. Raymond Weitekamp, Dr. Ryan Pearson, Dr. Matthew Ryan, Nobel Laureate Prof. Robert Grubbs and Prof. Garret Miyake co-founded Cypris Materials Inc. to commercialize structural color coatings.
The Cypris Materials Team
Ryan Pearson
Co-Founder & CEO
Through leveraging his background in polymer chemistry, Ryan has led the team in the development and market application(s) of Cypris’ structural color coatings spanning specialty and high-performance markets. Pearson’s entrepreneurial drive is rooted in his commitment to green chemistry and desire to translate fundamental research into commercial technologies. In 2018, he presented a TEDx talk on Cypris’ paintable reflective coatings and was recognized on the Forbes' 30 under 30 list in 2020.
Before co-founding Cypris, Ryan conducted research at the interface of organic synthesis, catalysis, and polymer chemistry while pursuing his bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from Colorado State University.
Matthew Ryan
Co-Founder & CTO
Matthew leads the technical development and productization of Cypris’ structural color platform. His broad expertise spanning materials science, synthetic polymer chemistry, and catalysis has enabled Cypris’ rapid ideation-to-product cycle. Over the last six years he has driven innovation around the synthesis, formulation, and deposition of Cypris’ materials. Matthew was a 2019 Activate Fellow, awarded the Forbes 30 under 30 in 2020, and has been recently recognized by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as one of the Rising Stars in Industry. Matthew holds a PhD in Chemistry from Colorado State University, and a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Julie Hostetter
Associate Scientist
Julie holds a MS in Polymers and Coatings Science from California Polytechnic State University and has a background in chemistry, formulation, and testing of materials. Julie is focused on process improvements and scaling Cypris' chemistry.
John Book
Vice President of Business Development
John has over 20 years of experience with the technical development, productization, and commercialization of structural color. He has a demonstrated history in sales, strategic planning, sales management, and global marketing strategies for business growth and new customer acquisition.
Gisella Esparza
Formulation Associate Scientist
Gisella graduated from UC Berkeley with her B.S. in Materials Science Engineering. She currently works on new formulation strategies to improve and tune the color and coating properties to customer specification.
Logan Dugas
Senior Polymer Chemist
Dr. Dugas holds a PhD in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi. Logan has been part of multi-institutional collaborations to scale industrial polymer chemistries for packaging and coating materials. Logan focuses on new chemistry development and scaling up chemistry with 3rd party manufacturers.
Robert Grubbs
Co-Founder
Dr. Grubbs was the 2005 Nobel laureate in chemistry for his development of the olefin metathesis reaction in organic synthesis, which has been used for myriad of applications including precision polymer synthesis via ring opening metathesis polymerization. In 2009, his research group discovered the first rapidly self-assembling brush block copolymer based photonics crystals which provided the foundation to Cypris' technology. Amongst other commercialization efforts, his scientific contributions led to the founding of Materia, Inc. which initially commercialized the ruthenium based "Grubbs" catalyst used to produce Cypris' materials.
Raymond Weitekamp
Co-Founder
Dr. Weitekamp is an experienced entrepreneur, founding polySpectra and co-founding Cypris Materials. He received his PhD in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 2015, where he developed new materials chemistry and simulated the reflective properties of photonic crystals. He brings his knowledge of photonic crystals and translating academic discoveries into commercial products to the team.
Garret Miyake
Co-Founder
Dr. Miyake holds a PhD in Chemistry from Colorado State University and later moved to the California Institute of Technology to perform his post-doctoral studies under Prof. Robert Grubbs. During his post-doc he worked extensively on developing the core science that enables Cypris’s technology. He started his independent career as an assistant professor in 2014. In 2015, he received funding as the lead PI on the ARPA-E grant “Paintable Heat-Reflective Coatings for Low-Cost Energy Efficient Windows”.
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