Brandon Dorr-Swendig

Sourced and evaluated pre-company academic technologies and early-stage spinouts, building investment theses in advanced hardware, climate, and neurotech. Conducted primary diligence by interviewing key opinion leaders and industry stakeholders to stress-test technical assumptions and inform go/no-go decisions.

Coached graduate students and postdocs for five years on turning dense technical work into narrative and slides for non-specialist audiences. Started the lab's first newsletter and wrote articles on building scientific narratives.

Managed the SERDP-funded energetics project as the sole graduate researcher, coordinating with the Naval Air Warfare Center. Developed a bench-scale laccase mediator route for an enzymatic step toward CL-20 and engineered proteins for photonics applications.

Built the commercial model for EcoFog, an engineered-melanin crop-protection platform, including primary market research and unit economics.

Owned external partnership and sponsor relationships for the Eco chapter, supporting non-therapeutic biotech founders with commercialization guidance and industry connections.

Served as a teaching assistant for 20.110 Thermodynamics of Biomolecular Systems.

Developed methods for translational regulation using artificial introns and non-coding RNAs over three and a half years, and wrote an honors thesis on the work.

Grade: 5.0/5.0

PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT, with research in the Voigt Lab. Achieved a cumulative GPA of 5.0/5.0.

Grade: 4.0/4.0

BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College, graduating Summa Cum Laude with Honors and a 4.0/4.0 GPA.