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CEO, McCarthy X Enterprises<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Patrick McCarthy (\u201901) brings scientific breakthroughs to market. He\u2019s the rare executive who is just as comfortable discussing first-quarter financials as he is explaining the finer points of chromatography. And his success all started as a doctoral chemistry student at the University of Rhode Island (URI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cURI gave me a strong foundation in science. This foundation gave me judgement, judgment I wouldn\u2019t have if I had just taken an MBA,\u201d says McCarthy, who later earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. \u201cAs an entrepreneur most of the time you\u2019re making a decision without full information. If you have the full information, you\u2019re probably too late and you\u2019ve already lost. A science foundation gave me the ability to understand technology risk closer in on a decision curve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After graduating from URI, McCarthy faced complex decisions as an executive and later business founder. At each step of his career, he can point a clear line back to his URI research days.<\/p>\n\n\n During his first semester at URI, McCarthy enrolled in a required physical chemistry class taught by chemistry Professor Sze Yang, whose research group leveraged concepts and processes from biology to create synthetic materials. McCarthy, seeing endless possibilities, abandoned his initial plan to research therapeutic drugs from natural sources and joined Yang\u2019s lab brimming with young researchers and sophisticated equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yang created a culture that \u201callowed you the freedom and creativity to explore any topic,\u201d McCarthy says. \u201cIt gave you the opportunity to be in an environment that\u2019s similar to an early-stage startup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yang specialized in electrically conducting polymer complexes like paint that prevents rust on cars, boats or military fighter jets, or polymers that adjust how light filters through windows or eyeglasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCarthy quickly became an expert, and with a group of peers, adapted the technology for chromatography\u2014a process scientists use to separate the parts of a mixture so they can study each one. Industries like pharmaceuticals, semiconductor processing, paint, food, and environmental protection all depend on chromatography to improve their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was exciting because we were working on things that could change the world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCarthy\u2019s research drew the attention of chromatography analysis company Dionex Corp. Then research executive Chris Pohl saw potential in both the research and McCarthy and offered him a position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pohl recalls McCarthy as a proactive and persistent researcher engaging with scientists across the industry as he worked to make stationary phases using the conductive polymer he studied at URI. His proposal represented an entirely new approach to ion-exchange materials, or substances made of special resins or membranes that trade ions to purify or separate substances. They\u2019re a vital tool in clean water systems, energy storage, and chemical manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the project didn\u2019t reach the market, McCarthy leveraged the experience to design devices\u2014still in use today\u2014that make it easier to separate and purify ingredients used in modern medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was a major contributor to our team while he was with us,\u201d Pohl says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCarthy then took a leap to start ATRP Solutions, which focused on the commercialization of a novel polymerization technique for making highly custom polymer structures possible. But before he took the leap, he made one call. His former doctoral advisor Yang told him to go for it. It was a giant risk, but McCarthy says URI prepared him. While at URI, McCarthy estimates at least half, if not 70 percent, of his 1,000 or so chemical reaction experiments failed.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cMore failures mean more learning and ultimately a strong foundation,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be in the business of building businesses, you will be constantly building your foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCarthy built ATRP Solutions and invented polymers to improve personal care and cosmetics products, home care products, and oil and gas additives. After a decade he sold ATRP Solutions to Pilot Chemical Co. and became its vice president of technology and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, he took a similar role at Corning Inc., an S&P 500 company with a relentless focus on innovation, that asked McCarthy to spearhead its program to build early- stage businesses. McCarthy found the company, like the environment in Yang\u2019s lab where being unsure of the next step was embraced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re at all uncomfortable with ambiguity you will really struggle with early-stage business building,\u201d he says. \u201cThe URI research environment really made you feel like ambiguity was OK and to be comfortable with it. Don\u2019t force the solution but allow the creative process to reveal the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2024, as artificial intelligence started to muddy the scientific waters, he branched out again and started his second company, McCarthy X Enterprises, with a focus on incubating startups, consulting, and weaving AI into today\u2019s businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, McCarthy is substantively giving back to URI with his time and expertise, helping URI researchers find pathways to commercializing their intellectual property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. McCarthy has been so generous with his time and expertise and has stepped up to be an incredible mentor to URI researchers and leaders to help us holistically support our community members who seek commercialization outcomes of their URI research. We are so appreciative of his engagement, \u201c says URI\u2019s Vice President for Research and Economic Development Bethany Jenkins.<\/p>\n\n\n Lay the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Success By Chris Barrett \u201908 Patrick McCarthy (\u201901) brings scientific breakthroughs to market. He\u2019s the rare executive who is just as comfortable discussing first-quarter financials as he is explaining the finer points of chromatography. And his success all started as a doctoral chemistry student at the University of Rhode Island […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5436,"featured_media":6734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-momentum-spring-26-body","category-momentum-spring-26-featured"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5436"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6745"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6881,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745\/revisions\/6881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/momentum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cA research foundation gave me the ability to understand technology risk closer in on a decision curve.\u201d<\/blockquote>Patrick McCarthy<\/cite><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n
He\u2019s the rare executive who is just as comfortable discussing first-quarter financials as he is explaining the finer points of chromatography. And his success all started as a doctoral chemistry student at the University of Rhode Island.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cIt was exciting because we were working on things that could change the world.\u201d<\/blockquote>Patrick McCarthy<\/cite><\/div><\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"