Ryan A. Church, MDes

Founder, CEO and CTO

Ryan operates at the intersection of biologically-inspired design, entrepreneurship, engineering, materials and systems.

As the founder of Threshold Theory, he uses a physics-first approach to understand the world and develop a wide range of ideas, concepts and technologies, from new wind turbine technology to new equations that describe fluidic phenomenon. As the inventor of the PowerCone®, Ryan founded Biome Renewables to take break-through research from the lab and commercialize it. At Biome, Ryan is building a team that is skilled and adept at taking these insights and launching them to market. Biome applies symbiotic business models to ensure that everyone involved benefits from the innovations. Biomes are systems in nature that are in dynamic balance, working together to create material throughputs through a myriad of intersecting thresholds. Applied to technology, this fundamental idea can unlock the power of Evolved Design.

Recently, Ryan was nominated as a Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy, and his experiences are spawning books, interviews with publications like the Economist, and a series of talks that he has given to people of all ages, via podcasts, in person, and virtually to groups like Engineers Without Borders.