Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/992084
32 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2018 2018 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 32 SPONSOR REPORT Before students graduate from the UConn School of Business, they acquire the skills to make wise decisions. But they also develop a mindset that they have the capacity to solve some of life's most vexing problems. Brian Paganini, a 2003 alumnus, is the vice president and managing director of Quantum Biopower, the state's first food-waste-to-energy plant. Harnessing new technology to create a cleaner world adds tremendous value to his work. "To lead a new industry in the United States is both a humbling and exciting experience,'' he said. "There's not a day I don't wake up without a sense of purpose and worth.'' When a truck carrying 78,000 pounds of frozen chicken crashed on I-91 in Meriden, Conn., last summer, the food was deemed unsafe to eat and had to be destroyed. A year prior, it would have been incinerated. But Quantum Biopower turned the inedible chicken into high-quality fertilizer for farmers and energy to power the police station, firehouse and other municipal buildings in Quantum's hometown of Southington. The facility, which Paganini helped design after traveling the world to see how other countries managed waste, is one of only a handful of food-to-energy plants in the United States. "It's truly been an awakening for me,'' Paganini said, noting that wasted food is the biggest contributor to American landfills. "It is staggering what we throw away.'' The Quantum facility accepts up to 140 tons of food waste a day. Companies including Whole Foods, Dunkin Donuts, the Hartford Marriott Downtown, Yale University and several supermarkets are among Quantum's customers. "I think it is important to challenge the status quo. We're a disruptive technology harnessing Mother Nature and using technology to get the job done. Sustainability and green energy are two industries that are exploding,'' said Paganini. "I think we've started a business right here in Connecticut that will help transform the way the country will handle its waste for years to come.'' TORIGEN VACCINE SEEKS TO CURE PETS OF CANCER UConn alumna Ashley Kalinauskas is harnessing technology in a different way. Kalinauskas is the CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals, a Farmington, Connecticut-based company creating a new treatment for domestic animals fighting cancer. Torigen's treatment can trigger an animal's immune system to fight the disease. "When I meet people whose family pets have been diagnosed with cancer, they are heartbroken,'' said Kalinauskas. "They want the very best for their pet. But few people can afford to pay upwards of $5,000 for chemotherapy and radiation.'' Through the UConn Technology Incubation Program (TIP), Torigen CEO Ashley Kalinauskas '14 (BUS) has dedicated laboratory space, access to unique research and development facilities, and advice from business experts and investors. Working to Cure Animal Cancer, UConn Alumni Use Technology to Drive Change Turning Food to Energy; Brian Paganini '03 (BUS), vice president and managing director of Quantum Biopower, says the facility will recycle enough methane to displace the equivalent of 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year – equal to taking 1,000 cars off the road. | NATHAN OLDHAM / UCONN PHOTO | | NATHAN OLDHAM / UCONN PHOTO |