Michael Otley, PhD

Education:

MBA, Arizona State University (Currently Working On)
Postdoctoral Fellow: Northwestern University, 2015-2017
PhD, Organic Chemistry, The University of Connecticut, 2015
BS, Chemistry/Biology, University of Hartford

Work History:

Bio Huma Netics (2020)
BASF (2017)
Alphachromics, Inc. (2015)

About:

My love for chemistry began as an undergraduate at University of Hartford during my first hands-on experiment in general chemistry lab, and from that moment I was hooked. I went on to perform organic chemistry research under Jim Shattuck and cell biology research under Aimee Levesque while completing my bachelor’s degree in 2 years.

In graduate school at the University of Connecticut I continued to climb the chemistry ladder and concentrated my studies on organic and polymer chemistry. During my graduate career, I was privileged to be recognized with a national award from the American Chemical Society for the Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Award in 2015. My graduate work was the foundation for two start-up companies including Alphachromics, Inc., which collaborated with Oakley to make next generation “active” sunglasses (electrochromic). I also collaborated with Nike, New Balance, and Under Armor in a variety of projects ranging from OLEDs to “smart” clothing. The outcome of this research led to numerous publications including several in Advanced Materials (impact factor: 31), and a textbook chapter in Electrochromic Materials and Devices. I also wrote several proposals to receive funding for my graduate work and the start-up companies.

After completing my doctorate, I desired to continue to grow as a scientist and decided to become a Postdoctoral Fellow under the guidance of Sir J. Fraser Stoddart in 2015 at Northwestern University to study macromolecular chemistry. The following year our group won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for its work with molecular machines. At Northwestern, I served as a Principal Investigator of a $1.5 million grant leading a group of postdocs and graduate students to study the ‘Sequestration of Trace Elements from Seawater’ in the Joint Center of Excellence in Integrated Nanotechnology (JCIN), a collaboration between Northwestern and KACST. During my time at Northwestern, I published in numerous journals including a revolutionary paper “Rechargeable Aluminum Organic Batteries” in one of the top journals in the world, Nature Energy (impact factor: 61). Due to the success of my postdoctoral career, I received several professorship offers, both domestic and abroad, but I chose to work in industry due to the team atmosphere.

At Northwestern I was recruited by BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, where I served as an R&D Scientist for 3.5 years. During my tenure at BASF, I worked in a hybrid business/technical role and focused on cutting costs on raw materials and processes. I was fortunate to participate in numerous BASF courses, including several business courses, root cause analysis, and Lean Six Sigma (Yellow and Green Belt). As an R&D Scientist, I was the project manager of several global R&D projects that were proposed from my own ideas and was involved with launching products into new markets.

Currently, I am leading the development and analytical lab at Bio Huma Netics. I am tasked with developing the next generation of fertilizer products for BHN during the day, and in the evening, I am pursuing an MBA from Arizona State University.