Optimizing The Materials And Energy Of Tomorrow

This year’s Forbes Under 30 Europe list for Manufacturing & Industry features young people who are innovating in surprising ways.

^{By Helen Popkin, Igor Bosilkovski and Alex Knapp}

The Covid pandemic forced a lot of previously hands-on jobs to go remote. But few jobs are as challenging to do from a distance as those in engineering, construction and manufacturing. Giulia Pedretti, 26, knows that better than most. Her health and safety consultancy, Arteak, works with industry projects around the world. During the pandemic, Pedretti’s U.K.-based company developed augmented reality software that enables her staff to connect with clients in real-time as though they were right there. Projects her company consults on include customers in oil and gas, manufacturers, infrastructure construction, and more.

Pedretti is just one of the standouts of this year’s Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 Manufacturing list, which features young people innovating with new materials, new software paradigms and even new kinds of spacecraft engines.

Isabella Webb, 27, is another innovator who helped keep things as normal as possible during the pandemic. Her company, Home & Maker, connected people on lockdown with architects and designers, enabling them to make the most of their DIY renovations. So far, Home & Maker has helped over 3,000 homeowners on their projects.

Another listmaker helping out homeowners is Cristina Mata Yandiola, 29, who is the head of European operations for Powerledger. This company uses blockchain-powered software to let homeowners with solar panels sell their excess energy to other customers on the same electric grid, creating a win-win solution for renewable energy.

On the other side of the renewable energy ledger is Kristina Rabecaite, 28, whose company PPAYA helps renewable energy generators get the best price for their Power Purchase Agreements via a user-friendly auction platform that connects power providers with power purchasers. Meanwhile, in Finland, Winda Energy CEO Tuomas Hooli, 25, is currently in the process of constructing over 1 gigawatt of electricity across the country though his company’s wind farms.

Some of the listmakers this year are also developing new ways to manufacture old products. Benjamin Malatrait, 29, and Emmanuel Fouralt, 27, have cofounded the company Ictyos, which takes discarded fish skins from food producers and restaurants and turns them into leather for designer products. Then there’s Liam Hardey, 25, whose company Cellfion is turning cellulose from wood into sustainable, bio-based membranes to be used as components in clean energy products.

Two companies on the 2022 list are out of this world: there’s Exotrail, cofounded by David Henri, 29, and Paul Lascombes, 28, which has developed propulsion systems and guidance software for satellites to optimize their orbits and decrease the risk of leaving space debris in their wake. And Pau Molas-Roca, 27, CEO of Coactum, is currently working on propulsion systems for satellites in Earth orbit that could enable them to move all the way out to the Moon.

This is just a small sampling of the innovative young minds on this year’s list. Check out the complete Manufacturing & Industry list for 30 Under 30 Europe here.