The Water Imperative: Innovation at the Industrial Edge
Water Innovation Hub at the Yale Innovation Summit
Water sits at the center of industrial systems, shaping energy use, production efficiency, and operational resilience. As constraints tighten across infrastructure, energy, and cost, the imperative is clear: which innovations are ready to move from research and pilots into real-world deployment?
This session focuses on bridging breakthrough water technologies with the realities of industrial adoption and demand: where solutions meet operational constraints, procurement pathways, and true market need.
At the Yale Innovation Summit, the largest convening on innovation in the Northeast, the session sits within a broader gathering of founders, researchers, corporates, investors, and policymakers shaping the future of innovation.
12:00 – 12:45 PM | Frontiers in Water Research: From Lab to Impact
Rapid-fire insights from faculty at Yale and UConn working at the cutting edge of water innovation, with a focus on translational potential and real-world application.
Discussion themes include:
Advanced materials for water treatment, including novel photocatalysts and graphene-based nanocomposites
Next-generation membranes and electrified separation systems
PFAS destruction and electrochemical treatment approaches
Solar-driven disinfection and low-energy treatment pathways
12:45 – 1:45 PM | Roundtable: Scaling Water Innovation in Industry
An invite-only discussion focused on what it takes to move solutions beyond pilots and into scaled deployment.
Discussion themes include:
Energy recovery from industrial water systems across sectors such as food and beverage, data centers, and manufacturing
Critical minerals recovery from wastewater and industrial streams
Integration challenges within existing infrastructure and operations
Capital, procurement, and what drives real demand from industry