Title: Revolutionizing Recycling: Stwart Peña Feliz '17

[00:00:06,470] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Welcome to Engineering Career Conversations. I'm Christa Downey, Director of the Engineering Career Center at Cornell University. 

[00:00:14,410] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: And I'm Traci Nathans-Kelly, Director of the Engineering Communications Program. We are excited to bring you this forum where we will host lively conversations that we hope will inspire you. 

[00:00:26,310] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Stwart Peña Feliz just completed his MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is this year's winner of the MIT Climate Energy Prize. Stwart is the founder and CEO of a start-up that recycles plastic using a novel process that's 90% more efficient compared to other processes with zero carbon emissions. And was recently accepted into Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program. Welcome Stwart. 

[00:00:52,590] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Thank you. I'm excited to be here and I appreciate the opportunity. 

[00:00:56,230] CHRISTA DOWNEY:It's good to have you. Let's start with you telling us about your current work. 

[00:01:00,490] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Yeah, So I am in a very fortunate situation to have met my co-founder who innovated a process that is able to take plastic of quality and upcycle it for all market applications. Something that I think we all know is that we have a big issue with plastic waste at the moment. And one of the reasons for that is that the predominant way of recycling is mechanical recycling. But mechanical recycling downgrades the quality of plastics. Essentially, you can take plastic from a water bottle and you can recycle it to textile and fibers, but not vice versa. As a result, the plastic eventually has to end up in landfill and waste. And new fossil fuel generated plastic has to be generated to meet the demand of the world. What my co-founder had innovated is a process that is able to take plastic of any quality, whether it be those bottles or those textiles and fibers. And we're able to upcycle it and reach version of great quality that can be used for all market applications. But what's amazing is that compared to other technologies that can do that, it does it with 90% less energy and it can be electrified to reach net zero carbon emissions. And it's honestly something that I am very privileged to be working on. It's pretty exciting to be helping our climate and such a challenging issue. I wake up every day re-energized for the new challenges. Something that's pretty crazy is that, you know, I'm working on something that's brand new, never been done before. And that means that sometimes our challenges have never been encountered before. And it's a little bit challenging, but it's very exciting once you're able to overcome those challenges and become one step closer to those goals. 

[00:02:41,230] CHRISTA DOWNEY: It is very exciting. We'd love to hear about your engineering background and how it's contributed to your success so far. 

[00:02:48,110] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Indeed. So I was a chemical engineer from the class of 2017, where I truly loved what I was doing at Cornell, doing research and just trying to learn as much as possible from my time at Cornell. I managed to get the opportunity to intern at ExxonMobil as a process design engineer. I truly loved my experience as an intern and decided to go there full time. What I will say is that Cornell truly did prepare me for everything I encountered at Exxon. Something I do like to say, kind of jokingly, kind of half true, is that I have never been challenged as much as I did for those prelims back at Cornell in the real world, which is kind of crazy. But what that meant is that I was truly prepared for almost every challenge, in the engineering sense, at ExxonMobil. I had a foundation that gave me a leg up compared to my peers that allowed me to move through more roles and excel in all of them and at a quicker pace. And with that I was able to get an engineering expertise that truly allowed me to make the next transition of my career. So after ExxonMobil, I pivoted into a renewable energy start-up where I was not only their senior process engineer, but I was also able to start digging into business development and how do you put the engineering with the business to bring out the best product. And through that experience, I realized that the skill that I now lacked was the business aspect of it. And that mindset, which is why I decided to apply and why I have now graduated from MIT Sloan, because I realized that the most lethal asset that I could be was an individual with the knowledge and the ability to understand the technical expertise, but the ability to communicate the business viability of those technologies and bring it to the market. But I can tell you that no matter how good I may have been or may be communicating that information, if I am unable to understand it, it wouldn't do any good. And I am able to understand, at least with the technology that I'm working on right now, those technical details. Because of the engineering background that I have. 

[00:04:56,530] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: I think that that's a wonderful connection that you've made. So I'm over in the engineering communication part, and so to hear you link it all up, right, with the communication, I always say that that just makes me really, really happy. So it sounds like you have been able to just like meet challenges that you've identified or others have identified for you through all of these different kinds of experiences that you had. I think it's fascinating, this path that you took. So let's narrow it down. What's the most significant challenge and how did you overcome that, besides just going to business school at little old MIT Sloan? 

[00:05:34,000] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: I think the biggest challenge that I have had to overcome, and many people will have to overcome at some point in their career, is some can label it as impostor syndrome and other people can label it as just confidence even when you're faced with your biggest challenges. A quote that I came up with for mentee of mine very recently is that impostor syndrome is the greatest thing that can happen to you. We all know that if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. Therefore, if you feel like you have impostor syndrome, you're in the right place. That's a mentality that I like to think of wherever I go. Uh, even through my lowest of lows. One of my biggest challenges was actually when I was technically laid off from ExxonMobil. The reason I departed was during 2020. We had the layoffs because of COVID and the downturn of oil, and the oil prices went negative. And through there they started doing reduction of the workforce. And I was one of the people that was communicated to that I was placing the PiP list, the performance improvement program, because of my lack of performance. But my lack of performance wasn't on the technical side of things. It was actually, the feedback was, that my positivity and confidence is perceived as arrogant against a technical veteran. When I received a feedback, to say the least, I was a little bit shocked because what I thought was my biggest asset, someone, at a company that at the time,  I'm  not going to lie, I did foresee myself spending a lot of years in. They just told me that was my biggest weakness. And when I went home, I had a lot of doubts and I started losing confidence in what I thought was my biggest asset that I brought to a team. It took a while, but thanks to the help of my peers and family, that network, I was able to realize that they were the ones in the wrong and not me. That that is something special about myself and that I had to believe in myself and that that is the value that I bring to teams and to engineering teams or so on. And that's something that I even doubled down. Kind of part of the reason why I went to business school is like I know what I bring to the table. And now it is actually something that I've been complimented very much on is my ability to connect and communicate ideas and thoughts no matter how difficult they are. And that's the reason why I'm here now trying to bring this technology to the market, complementing the brilliant mind of my technical co-founder and, you know, putting it together so we can not only raise the money because people need to believe in you to give you money, the capital to start the company. But also for people to buy your products and so on. But that I will say my biggest challenge, and I overcame it by truly believing in myself, relying on that network and the support system that I have and just be resilient. 

[00:08:33,660] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: Resiliency is so amazing. I love that reframing that you have of impostor syndrome. I think a lot of people carry either that label with them, pretty sure that it fits them, or they're struggling, like, do I have impostor syndrome or they're just denying it, right? And I love your framing of it about being not being the smartest person in the room, right? That that helps create you're not an impostor. You're in the learning moment, which is really fantastic. And to your point to about company culture has to be a fit for you. 

[00:09:06,640] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Big time. 

[00:09:09,540] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: Yeah, fantastic. I love those points. Christa, what did you have to ask? 

[00:09:15,620] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Yes, I love those points as well. I'm just thinking these are quotes are, you know, we need to share this wisdom with the world. That, you know, if you have impostor syndrome, you are in the right place. I love it. I love it. So Stwart, what's your vision for your company and the impact you want to have in this world? 

[00:09:33,980] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Yeah. So the vision that I've communicated to our investors and our future customers is that we want to clean our environment. We want to give plastic its rightful place in the circular economy. But at the end of the day, what we aim to do is to remove millions and millions of pounds from our oceans, our environments, and in our landfills. And then eliminating that equivalent amount from ever being generated through fossil fuel means and those CO2 emissions associated with it. Many people have discussed the need to reduce our dependency on plastics and we're fully supportive of that movement as well. But what we have seen is that there's a lot of benefits to plastics, whether it's the healthcare revolution. Imagine the single use of plastic and how it has revolutionized health care, making our vehicles lighter and therefore more efficient. Or many other benefits like preventing food spoilage through plastic wraps. There's a need for plastic in many applications, but that need doesn't need to be met through fossil fuel means. And that's where we come in, where there's enough plastic out there in the oceans for us to provide for basically everything that we need for many, many decades to come. And that's where our company comes in. 

[00:10:51,320] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Excellent. And who are the important collaborators toward this grand vision? 

[00:10:57,080] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: It's interesting because, you know, you can talk about the entire supply chain and every component has to go and do their part in order to make this happen. But as I start my recruiting efforts, something that I have realized actually is that some of our biggest collaborators will have to be the universities around the world. Because what we kind of lack right now is a talent of individuals ready to go into the new industries. There's a lot of talent out there, but there's still a learning curve because a lot of our curriculum has been based on a lot of old industries. I remember my time going through chemical engineering. For me it was very applicable and helpful, but a lot of the things were very processing oil and gas heavy. And I went into Exxon Mobil. And that worked out great. I haven't kept up a lot now with the curriculum as of late. But I know MIT specifically has come up with new programs to try and address that need. But I think more and more the education systems have to catch up to the fact that we're in changing times. As I look for the talent, that's something that I'm very mindful of right now. Like how much of a learning curve is there or how prepared are they to be able to come into these new industries? The second collaborator that I would like to mention are actually the financing industries. Whether they're venture capital, banks, or private equities. With hard tech, you have to build big projects to make them a reality. And let's be honest, they're not as attractive financially compared to software, that you can make your money back in less than a year. As a result, they are typically being underfunded and that has stagnated the rate of innovation and commercialization of these type of technologies. One of the biggest examples we can think of is the infrastructure and the transmission lines. How right now we are going to be unable to handle the influx of green energy that may come from all those projects. And it's just because it's not financially attractive to invest in those projects compared to other ones. We are going to need those financing institutions to start changing their way of thinking about it. Because if they only invest in the most financially attractive project, like software compared to hard tech, then they're going to realize in 10 or 15 years when we need those hard tech, it's going to be too late. But yeah, those are the two big picture collaborators that I've thought of very recently. It is like we're really going to need the assistance of to make this vision a reality. 

[00:13:27,880] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Absolutely. Those are great points. Thank you. 

[00:13:31,360] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: It's much appreciated that you're mentioning the recalibration of the financial part of it too. That money isn't just available. There's people that make decisions sometimes on older assumptions. So I appreciate that. 

[00:13:45,390] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Indeed. 

[00:13:47,370] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: So we're going to make you go into the time machine. Now, thinking back to when you were a sophomore, which is about the time that people choose their major, what do you wish you knew at that point? 

[00:13:59,310] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Something interesting is that looking back as to when I was a sophomore, my response might not be the typical one. But what I wish I knew was how important the communication aspect of the education was. I know you are on the communication side of things. That you must be loving this answer. But essentially what I realized is that what differentiated me from my peers was my ability to communicate my thoughts. And it's something that I can now realize as I'm recruiting individuals that I'd much rather have a 3.25 GPA student that is able to work in a team, address the problem, communicate it clearly and tackle head on, than a 4.1 GPA student that is unable to work in a team and communicate and phrase the problem properly. That is something that has come to my realization now. And looking back now, Cornell is such a great place to develop this skill. There's seven colleges, there are so many clubs, there's so many different personalities and individuals that are ready to become friends with you. And learning how to interact with all those individuals is a great, amazing experience in developing the skill. If I had known this a little bit sooner, I wouldn't be stressing out and freaking out as much about grades. And I would have focused more about the journey, the people that I met, and how I became a more skillful individual throughout my time at Cornell. You're going to be challenged many times in the real world. And what gives you that resiliency is your passion for what you do. Loving what you do will allow you to overcome many more challenges than you can ever think of. When it comes to majors, just the biggest advice I can do is just follow your passion, follow your dreams. 

[00:15:45,840] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: I also wanted to add, I did not pay you to prop up the communication part of it. That was not done in advance. 

[00:15:56,860] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Well, it's interesting because a funny story is that, you know, my engineering communication requirement was our unit operations class as a chemical engineer. And I was actually forbidden by my teammates to write any of the papers because of how bad my communication skills were, at least through writing. So it's something that I have had to work on since then. It's something that I've seen how big of an impact it has had in my career, which is why I kind of emphasize it now. Like if that was a skill I had earlier, I don't know how much farther I would be. 

[00:16:35,300] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: It's true, right, and sometimes teams function that way. They give everybody the chores that they're already good at. And I'll say that as an instructor, we're hoping that you're practicing the chores you're not so great at. But that's okay. Your team got there and you're here now. So it's all good. 

[00:16:54,080] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Yeah, let's just say that I was costing them time. They would have had to invest way more hours. And with operations already working 40 hours a week in that class. 

[00:17:03,340] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: It's rough. It's rough. So what are some of the places that you go to now to keep really current on your work? You're already on the cutting edge. So how do you just keep that pace? 

[00:17:14,720] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: I'm going to give a very specific answer that's not applicable to anyone outside this industry. But there's this magazine that comes out on a monthly basis called Plastic News, and it has all the updates of the entire industry on a monthly basis and the market conditions. And it's kind of interesting because I never knew about this. And now out of nowhere, this is the source that I look at the most on a monthly basis to catch up to what is going in my industry. What are the things I need to be mindful of and take into account? And how does my venture fit in into this market. So with that, I kind of just recommend individuals to look for things that they're passionate about, feels that interest in. 

[00:17:58,480] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Stwart, you mentioned some fascinating things about reclaiming plastics, and we also have seen the news reporting how some companies have been less than transparent about their practices with recycling plastics. What might you add about these issues? And also, do you have anything to add about the plastics that are in the ocean? 

[00:18:13,960] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Yeah, that's a pretty interesting thing. So I guess I'll speak more from the companies that are doing the recycling themselves. Something that is kind of deemed as green marketing or green washing is that some oil and gas companies, when they are doing recycling to their technologies, it is true that they're recycling plastics. It is true that they're removing plastic from the oceans, but what they do not mention is that their process emits more CO2 emissions in the process of recycling compared to just generating the plastic through fossil fuel means. To put it briefly, the reason for that is that they're breaking down the plastics to its basic molecules. And then they're repeating all the steps that traditionally has to happen to recycle the plastics. So essentially they're adding one extra step of energy requirements and therefore of additional CO2 emissions. However, when they release their metrics or they compare themselves to like what is being done in reality, what they say is like, oh, we're removing that plastic from ever being incinerated. And as a result they're inflating the numbers of how much CO2 emissions the original plastic production takes to compare themselves to that in order to claim that their process is more beneficial at the end of the day. So that's pretty interesting how there's been a way for companies to still communicate that they're recycling while avoiding addressing any of the negative aspects. As from the ocean to the side of the plastics in the ocean, the reality is that it's very challenging at the moment. There are various companies that are trying to address the collection issue from the plastics in the ocean. But the biggest reality is, is that our best solution is to avoid from that plastic ever ending up in our oceans. But there's many investors out there who are trying to address this issue, but there's simply not an economical way to do it. And in order to be able to do things large-scale, it needs to be economically feasible. So that is a challenge that we do need to overcome. But right now, the best solution is just preventing any of our current plastics from ending up in our oceans. 

[00:20:30,290] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Excellent, it's a good mission. 

[00:20:32,750] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: Yeah, you're walking us through so many aspects of this and we appreciate it quite a bit. But let's dream a little bit. If you weren't doing this work, what work would you be doing, or what did you dream of doing as a kid? And you can circle back. 

[00:20:49,170] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: That's a challenging question because at least over the last few years, I am truly living my dream right now. My dream was to start my own company and create an impact on the climate through my own efforts. If I wasn't doing this, I think I would be an early joiner at a different start up, still trying to address those issues. But I truly do think I am living my dream as a kid, even though in a different capacity. I remember waking up in my parents arms when I was around six years old, in complete darkness in the Dominican Republic where I was born. And the reason it was completely dark is because we had a power outage. And I remember waking up and seeing my mom's face a little bit worried. And as soon as she saw me wake up, she smiled. And I don't know what it was about me, I actually confirmed this with my mom and she told me that this story is true. But at that moment in time I told her in Spanish that I was one day going to solve our power issues. And that's how my journey started when it came to not only solving problems, but then being energy/ climate tech related. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be an engineer who solved problems. And if I wasn't doing it in the climate tech, in the sustainability of recycling space, I will be doing the energy generation or energy transmission side of things. So if you ask me what I will be doing differently, it would just be the industry. But I would still be an engineer, an entrepreneur, a problem solver, that's trying to make peoples lives better. Whether it's my parents, my home country, or anyone who needs help in this world. 

[00:22:26,240] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: That is an amazing story and they must just be so proud of you. I love it. 

[00:22:30,460] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: They're pretty happy. 

[00:22:33,020] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Yeah, I love it too. So if our students or anybody is interested in connecting with you, you know, with a shared vision of solving these problems, where would they find you? 

[00:22:43,540] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: We're still coming out with our official ventures, newsletters, website and all this information, but right now I would implore students to just reach out to me on LinkedIn. If you spell my name correctly I will be the only one that comes up on LinkedIn. But reaching out, sending a message saying, hey, I listen to your podcast, or your appearance in the podcast, and I will be interested in learning more. I will more than happy to take time to talk to them. As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest things that we need to overcome this challenge is that engineering talent and skill, because we're literally trying to address world challenges. And for that, we need world talent. And I know firsthand what Cornell is able to produce when it comes to that talent, but as well as anyone that is very interested in helping, even if you don't have the engineering expertise. You know, since I've come to business school, something I've realized is that not everything has to be engineering. It took me a while to learn that one. But you need a whole set of skills and whole complementary set of skills to make grand visions come true. So I would have challenged that and be proactive. Reach out to me and LinkedIn and see how we can work together to make that solution happen. 

[00:23:55,580] CHRISTA DOWNEY: I appreciate that we are always encouraging students to reach out and make connections with others who are doing things that sound exciting. And I always say that especially people who are interested in solving these important problems around climate, people are very eager to engage and bring new bright talent into the space. So thank you for that. 

[00:24:15,120] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: My pleasure and something that I've enjoyed seeing over the last few years, at least since I graduated, which is six years now. I've definitely seen a big transition of that excitement. Working on new challenges, ready to help the world. 

[00:24:28,805] CHRISTA DOWNEY: I'm glad people know where to find you now, let's switch back more into fun mode. What's something you would say was unique about your time at Cornell that you encourage other people to consider? 

[00:24:38,270] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: I think the most unique part about my experience at Cornell is the amount of activities that I embarked on. A fun fact is that I took 15 PE classes while I was at Cornell. I almost minor in PE, if that was a thing, since you only need 16 credits to minor in something. And I took so many different types of PE classes, which was so fun. Not only did I learn all the skills I got to meet so many different people, that had so many different hobbies. And it's something that I do implore students to take advantage of. Because once you move to the real world, you know, it's kind of challenging to find all those activities to do within the small range by having to pay really high prices. But with that, I also did gymnastics, I did cheer leading, I did Taekwondo, I did snowboarding. So many different activities. And I think that is something that although at MIT Sloan I've been able to somewhat replicate. It is something I was saying I cannot do here the same scale I did back at Cornell. 

[00:25:37,110] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: Well, following up to that, what do you do now to relax, have fun, re-energize? 

[00:25:42,910] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Yeah. So the biggest hobby I have picked up that I've really loved is skydiving. Of course, it's not something that I can do every single day, but whether it's on weekend or on trips, I truly love jumping out of planes and seeing the perspective of that location for 14,000 feet above the ground. As I experience utter freedom and bliss, you know, falling towards the ground, It's something that really excites me, really energizes me, and it puts a smile on my face no matter what mood I am. But that's more of the weekend thing. On weekdays, I enjoy going to the gym, love the fitness aspect, and taking care of my body. Something I've come to realize is that the better I take care of my body, the better it will do for my mind. And that way I'm able to put the best product out there when I can think optimally. 

[00:26:32,420] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: We have a colleague here, Christa and I do, who's also an avid skydiver and she's always trying to get somebody up on a plane with her. I appreciate that she has the same kind of grand energy that you do. 

[00:26:45,760] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: I highly encourage it, it's very mind opening. It's a very good experience mind opening in many perspectives. 

[00:26:53,040] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: That's, I think, what she would say as well. Stwart, thank you so much for your time today. This has been an absolute joy, and we have things that we want to look up now and follow up with how your career is going and this amazing innovation that you're coming out with, plastics. It's very exciting. 

[00:27:11,570] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: No, thank you for your time. I truly appreciate the space and the time to be able to not only talk more about the things that I love, but inspire others to pursue the grand challenge of our generation. If I had to say one last thing, it's that, I hope that everyone, although things may look a little bleak, I hope everyone can believe in the future that we can accomplish together. One of my favorite quotes has always been that a person can survive 30 days without food, four days without water, eight minutes without oxygen, but not a single second without hope. With that, we've got to believe, we got to hope for the best. But we do got to work hard. But together, we can still accomplish this grand mission. 

[00:27:55,910] TRACI NATHANS-KELLY: Well, there's no better way to end. Thank you so much. 

[00:27:57,610] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Thank you. 

[00:27:59,550] STWART PEÑA FELIZ: Thank you. 

[00:28:00,910] CHRISTA DOWNEY: Thank you for listening. If you are enjoying these conversations, please follow, rate and review on your favorite platform. Join us for the next episode where we will be celebrating excellence and innovation among engineers whose impact contributes to a healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable world.