Tech innovation in Arizona’s water sector

What do point of use water filters, destruction of forever chemicals, hydrogen, wastewater reuse, atmospheric water harvesting and water sterilization have in common? They are all areas where researchers are pursuing technology innovation to improve Arizona’s water outlook, as well as support job growth and the state’s economic future.

The water technology innovation space is a small but growing one, says Adam Gushgari, whose role with the Global Center for Water Technology, a pillar of the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, is to support researchers in commercializing promising water technologies.

“Arizona has a very up and coming tech sector, but we really haven't nailed down what the primary tech driver is in this region,” Gushgari says. “Water makes a lot of sense with climate change and greater water use for a lot of commercial industrial applications, including AI. We have an incredible opportunity sitting in front of us.”

Gushgari is a civil and environmental engineer who received both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at ASU, close to where he was raised. Before entering his doctoral program, he had a life changing experience. 

“I had a friend overdose on what we believe was heroin adulterated with fentanyl. It was the second person I'd known in my adult life who died from an opioid overdose,” says Gushgari. “She was on the road to recovery and had been clean for about six months when she overdosed.”

That tragic event happened as Gushgari was re-evaluating his career path. He met with ASU professor Rolf Halden and they discussed the emerging field of wastewater epidemiology and its potential use for monitoring opioid levels and the presence of fentanyl in a community. Soon after, Gushgari entered a doctoral program with Halden to start research in the field.

“There were very few academic institutions doing wastewater epidemiology at the time and no for-profit companies. We became the first researchers to publish the positive detection of fentanyl in US wastewaters,” says Gushgari. “At the same time, we spun out our own startup company, AquaVitas, and saw some mild successes in the first few years. What really catalyzed our work was the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic when the Centers for Disease Control came out and said this is valuable for disease detection.” 

With that successful experience under his belt, Gushgari joined the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative. He now supports water researchers in pursuing their own entrepreneurial visions. 

“One core ethos of the research and development side of the university is driving innovation in our communities. Where business comes into play is when it is time to translate innovative ideas into the routine, so to speak,” says Gushgari. “When we have something that has a clear public benefit and demonstrated applicability within a target market, there is an opportunity for commercialization.” 

Gushgari says that the water technology start-up space has seen increased venture capital investment, which provides some indicator of potential growth in the field.

“Venture capitalists do a lot of research. Prior to 2015, there was relatively little venture capital funding in water tech innovation. But starting in 2017, it went up to about $300 million. By 2022, that number was up to $1.6 billion,” Gushgari says. “The largest investment areas have been water treatment, followed by water monitoring and then water management. That means there's an opportunity for university startup companies, especially those whose business plans require external funding to capitalize on an opportunity.”

However, for researchers interested in commercializing their work, there is no playbook and the process is not necessarily straightforward, says Gushgari. 

“Anytime I talk with a researcher who wants to start a company, I ask them what they want out of it. It's important to understand your own personal drive,” says Gushgari. “The answer doesn't matter as much as being truly introspective, because if you're not true to yourself, you're going to burn out. When I ran my company, 80 to 90 hour weeks were pretty normal. I was stressed, I was tired, but I absolutely loved it. Not everyone does.” 

From there, Gushgari says it’s important that everybody on the team understands why they're doing it. 

“They have to work that out with each other. This is the time you can't sweep anything under the rug,” says Gushgari. “Compromise is important, but if you negotiate on something that you feel is non-negotiable, you're going to have problems down the road.”

Gushgari additionally stresses that customer discovery is one of the most important parts of bringing a technology to market. 

“I made this mistake. We went to market too quickly. We didn't do customer discovery, and it turns out we had the wrong product. It was great science, there were people who wanted it,” says Gushgari. “But the customer discovery phase is an iterative process, and it happens throughout the entire life cycle of a business. It's important to engage in that from the get-go, because the product that you have today is most likely not the product the market is going to need.”

For academics in particular, Gushgari stresses the importance of moving quickly.

“From my experience with university focused startups, we often miss the time for market entry,” Gushgari says. “There's this idea that we have to have perfect technology or we just need a couple more improvements. When we do that, we are chasing perfection, which is not obtainable. If you see an opportunity, the time to start pursuing that is yesterday.”

Gushgari has one final piece of advice for academics interested in commercial ventures. 

“You have a business hat and an academic hat. When you're wearing your business hat, the decisions you make need to be in the fiduciary interest of the business,” says Gushgari. “If there's a decision that may affect the business, but it benefits you in another position you hold somewhere else, it can be difficult. But from a legal perspective, it's incredibly important.”

Then there is the issue of intellectual property (IP), which is a key component of solidifying any business venture.

“When it comes to IP, I generally break it down into three categories. First of all, there's hard IP, which is patents,” Gushgari explains. “They can be good because they protect your technology with a written document that says ‘this is mine’ and if anybody infringes on it, you can take legal action. The challenge with hard IP is now everything is publicly disclosed and others might be able to try to get around the patent.”

Then there's what Gushgari calls “softer” IP. 

“Depending on the industry, sometimes the best path forward is soft IP – things like trade secrets that you keep close to your chest and that make you competitive in the market,” says Gushgari. “I also always include personnel here, your talent. The people on your team who drive your product or service forward and without whom you are not as competitive.” 

Given the tailored approach that has to be taken for each start-up effort in Arizona’s water technology innovation sector, it can be hard to know what success might look like. However, Gushgari is clear.

“It’s really about growth,” says Gushgari. “Patents, startup companies, bringing in corporate investment, all of these efforts support job creation and economic growth. If we're not successful in that, in my mind then we're too early. This is a sector that's going to grow a hundred percent, so we just have to time it right.”