Who We Are

Leadership and Advisors

Valerian Materials was founded in 2015 by Dr. Kechun Zhang, Dr. Frank Bates, and Dr. Marc Hillmyer. Mike Arbeiter joined the team in 2022 as Chief Executive Officer. The leaders are committed to benefitting society through the development of new sustainable materials solutions with Valerian Materials’ platform technology.

Leadership

Mike Arbeiter

CEO

Mike is an accomplished business leader with a proven record of driving top and bottom line growth in a wide array of market segments.

Bart Engendahl

Director of Production

Bart is a PhD chemist with experience in technical and business development for renewable chemicals.

Advisors

FRANK BATES

Founder and Director

Frank is a chemical engineer and materials scientist pursuing fundamental knowledge and developing applied technology across a wide range of topics related to polymers.

Marc HILLMYER

Founder and Director

Marc is a synthetic polymer chemist focused on the design, synthesis, and applications of advanced macromolecular materials.

KECHUN ZHANG

Founder

Kechun is a biochemical engineer working on the design of fermentation approaches to new materials.