Sudoc Wins Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award
Company co-founded by Carnegie Mellon chemists develops environmentally sustainable methods for removing toxins and pollutants
Sudoc, a startup co-founded by Carnegie Mellon University chemists Terrence J. Collins and Ryan C. Sullivan, is a winner of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. Sudoc is developing and commercializing TAML catalysts, a bio-inspired, environmentally friendly molecule that outperforms toxic chemicals in a wide range of applications and can be used to remove pollutants from the natural and built environment.
Collins, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and director of the Institute for Green Science (IGS) at Carnegie Mellon, invented TAMLs and has been developing them for environmentally sustainable and efficient use over the last three decades. This career-spanning work has created a family of catalysts with the remarkable oxidation capabilities needed to remove harmful chemicals from the environment and then, once their work is done, disappear with no harmful impact.
“Given an ever-expanding number of chemicals in use today — over 300,000 — it’s just so important that we change the way we think about and use chemicals. Our planet’s chemical burden threatens life itself,” said Collins. “Sudoc is our contribution to how we answer to that challenge. I could not be more proud and grateful for Fast Company’s recognition.”
Sudoc is in business to put chemistry in balance with nature. Formed in 2020 with operations in Cambridge, MA, Charlottesville, VA, and Pittsburgh, PA, Sudoc is developing a range of products that will, among other applications, treat mold, clean wastewater and mineralize waste pharmaceuticals. By outperforming other technologies that currently perform these functions, Sudoc’s products will help to remove these harmful chemicals from our planet. The company’s first range of products is DotTM (Dilute Oxygenation Technology), products that target difficult cleaning problems. The first product is helping restoration and remediation companies clean mold stains. TAML catalysts used in the product offer a faster and more sustainable way to remove the stains, while using less chemical content than traditional methods.
“Sudoc’s sustainable chemistry platform is the foundation for a series of brands – Dot, Neat, and Umo to start – that promise to change how we think about cleaning products, water treatment solutions, waste pharmaceutical disposal, pesticides, and a range of other applications,” said Roger Berry, CEO and co-founder of Sudoc. “This chemistry truly has the ability to reduce the chemical burden of our planet and every household. We are very proud that Fast Company has recognized the importance of this mission.”
Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas program annually awards organizations, businesses, products, concepts, and policies that are generating innovation for the benefit of society and the planet. In this sixth annual selection, there were several new categories and pioneering ideas highlighted for leading change in the world. Sudoc was selected for Fast Company’s On the Rise category of World Changing Ideas. Winners in other categories include Ford Motor Company, Johnson & Johnson, and Siemens Corporation. Sudoc was recently named one of 10 Startups to watch by Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN).