Facing the Future on a Solid Foundation

When Air Liquide was founded in 1902, the company was firmly focused on innovation. More than a century later, that is still the case. For proof, consider the Paris-based company’s Innovation Campus Delaware, located in Newark, Delaware.

“Here in Newark, we develop new technologies around our core R&D platforms: life science, materials, process engineering and combustion, advanced fabrication, fine chemistry for electronics and data science,” says Serban Cantacuzene, vice president of research and development, Americas, at Air Liquide.

The groundbreaking “disruptions” have led to the evolution of both the global business and the Delaware location. The choice to come to Delaware, Cantacuzene says, was “visionary.”

Air Liquide Fast-Tracks Growth

Based in Paris, Air Liquide’s roots go back to the relationship between a savvy entrepreneur, Paul Delorme, the company’s first president, and Georges Claude, who invented a process of producing oxygen from liquid air. Since gas is challenging to transport, Air Liquide quickly built an international presence by opening production units in Europe (1906), Japan (1907), Canada (1911) and the United States (1916). Today, Air Liquide is in 80 countries.

The company, which has 66,000 employees, is a recognized leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health. Targeted sectors include chemical, steel, glass, pharma, food, metal fabrication, electronics and health care.

“Our ambition is to lead our industry, deliver long-term performance and contribute to sustainability,” says Cantacuzene, who joined Air Liquide in 1995 as a research scientist. “By leveraging the physical and chemical properties of the gases we offer, we improve the lives of patients at hospitals or at home, and we help our industrial customers produce better, faster and more efficiently while helping to lower the emissions of pollutants.”

During Cantacuzene’s nearly 25 years with Air Liquide, he’s worked in Tokyo, Tunisia, Montreal, Houston, Atlanta and Paris. He’s had positions in R&D, marketing, operations and general management. In 2018, after being in Japan, he headed back to the U.S. and the Innovation Campus Delaware.

Building an R&D Hub in Delaware

An Air Liquide subsidiary, Medal, was already present in Delaware when the company considered the Newark area for a research-and-development center that would employ nearly 120 engineers, chemists and physicists.

“Many reasons contributed to choosing the site, among which is the proximity to major universities on the East Coast, the availability of land, the proximity to major chemical partners and the support of the Delaware government,” Cantacuzene says.

Air Liquide develops new technologies with the help of a “large ecosystem” of universities, government-sponsored labs and industrial partners, he explains. The goal is to improve the competitiveness of American industries and support their growth.

The opening of the $35 million Newark center in 2007 followed the closing of a Chicago facility. Today, the Innovation Campus Delaware is one of five Air Liquide research-and-development facilities around the world. (The others are in Paris, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Tokyo.)

Air Liquide Poised for Expansion

Over the past decade, the Newark center has evolved. There are now 140 people working on the site, which has expanded the fine chemicals lab space and added indoor platforms for advanced fabrication and outdoor platforms for combustion. Air Liquide is currently building a new outdoor platform for full-scale testing of new membrane solutions.

The company has expanded in other respects. In 2016, Air Liquide acquired Airgas in Radnor, Pennsylvania, which like Newark is in the Greater Philadelphia region.

“The proximity of the Newark site to the Airgas teams enabled a close collaboration around welding and manufacturing, which lead to the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Center within the campus in 2018,” Cantacuzene says.

The Advanced Manufacturing Center helps industrial customers adopt the latest technologies and practices. (Manufacturing makes up about 20 percent of the company’s business.) At the center, customers can view a “cobot” that welds with a robotic arm via an app.

Meanwhile, Air Liquide’s membrane manufacturing site in Wilmington, Delaware, has directly benefited from the products and technologies that were developed in nearby Newark, he notes.

Delaware’s elected officials have been supportive of the Innovation Campus Delaware’s growth, Cantacuzene says. “They are in constant contact, and they visit to understand our local needs.”

The company works with Delaware’s U. S. senators on legislative issues involving energy transition, materials and membrane innovation, CO2 separation for sequestration and new mobility issues, such as hydrogen energy.

Researchers at the Innovation Campus Delaware come from 20 nations, which makes the campus a melting pot of some very creative minds.

“Our goal is to improve human life and to lower our impact on the environment through our innovative gas processes,” Cantacuzene concludes.

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January 31, 2020 – 

Few savvy investors trust their gut. Instead, they rely on sound research and experience. But what if there was an even better way to mitigate risk and increase the reward? That was the question that two University of Delaware graduate students set out to answer.

Anthony Rossi and Duanyi Wei were not in a business class, however. They were working side by side in the robotics lab when they wondered if they could apply some of the same principles to the financial world.

“Think of us as merging the world of robotics engineering and financial decision-making, if you will,” Rossi explains. “Essentially, we are creating the autopilot for asset management.”

If you’re picturing C-3PO, the droid from Star Wars, in a pinstripe suit, think again. The field of robotics involves more than hardware. Robots navigate around an uncertain environment, such as the moon’s surface. They need to “make decisions” when faced with obstacles, much like the mechanical systems on a commercial airliner make adjustments.

The partners wanted to create a platform that could evaluate risk and make choices in the potentially volatile financial market. “There’s no human emotion involved,” Wei says. “We factored out those distractions, so it’s consistent and systematic.”

In 2017, the partners started Lyapunov Technologies in honor of Russian mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov whose work laid a foundation for risk management in robotics and inspired the duo to explore and create novel applications in the financial market. The fintech company is an example of a new wave in financial technology.

Beyond Bitcoin

In the news, financial technology—or fintech for short—is often linked with blockchain or cryptocurrencies. But it’s much more, Rossi says. “There is a wide range of technologies—typically software-related—that streamline processes, improve existing financial services and, in some cases, create new markets.”

Rossi and Wei wanted to create one of those new markets. So, they did their research. At UD, Rossi got a Lerner MBA. Wei, who earned a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from UD, also audited business classes. They turned to UD’s Horn Entrepreneurship Venture Development Center and joined the Summer Founders program. They were also finalists in four pitch Competitions, including the Southeastern Hedge Fund Competition, where they won third place. (They beat teams from MIT and Duke.)

After graduating in 2018, the founders hit the ground running. Lyapunov Technologies, which is headquartered at 1313 Innovation in downtown Wilmington, has targeted hedge funds, banks and insurance companies. Retirement accounts and pension funds will be a main emphasis in the future.

The company is not focused on beating others to a hot investment. Instead, their unique engineering-derived approach seeks to make sound investment decisions  based on systematic risk management framework that has proven in other high-risk engineering applications. The platform, as a result of more than three years of research and development of the team, can not only make the decisions behind the scene, but it can automate and execute the orders. Next up: The founders will roll out a registered investment (RIA) and commodity trading advisory (CTA) business.

“We know from the ground up how all the technology works, so it’s easier to create value as a sub-advisor to others rather than licensing it,” Rossi says. The advisory division will have a different name than Lyapunov Technologies.

Fabulous for a Fintech Company

Rossi, a lifelong Delawarean, says the area has been a perfect incubator, and not only because of the University of Delaware’s resources. The partners appreciate the quality of life and Delaware’s proximity to mountains and oceans, as well as major urban hubs on the East Coast. Wei, who lived in Indiana while going to Purdue University, likes Delaware’s lack of a sales tax.

The state benefits a fintech business. “For fintech, you need to be able to pull the right resources together to navigate both the business and regulatory landscape,” Wei says. “Delaware is uniquely positioned to foster fintech innovation.  As a startup, we can get into rooms with state legislators and decision-makers relatively quickly. There’s a lot of agility when it comes to getting the right people together.”

Rossi believes that the fintech sector is still in the early stages. “There is a lot of opportunity to improve efficiencies and increase access, as well as create new markets and products,” he says. “There will likely be a lot of partnerships with fintech companies and large financial institutions. The large firms want to be a part of the up-and-coming technologies, and this can create excellent synergy between startups and financial institutions.”

In Delaware, Lyapunov Technologies is poised to capitalize on the trend. Says Rossi: “There is a tremendous pool of talent, ideas and world-renowned financial firms in the area.”

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8 January, 2020 – 

Delaware-based La Vida Hospitality Group is on the Move

With names like Big Chill Beach Club and Crooked Hammock Brewery, the restaurants under La Vida Hospitality’s umbrella possess a low-key vibe. The company, which is headquartered in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, urges customers to “enjoy the ride.”  

But don’t let the laid-back attitude fool you. La Vida is on the fast track, and its growth is propelled by professionalism, attention to detail and Delaware’s business-friendly climate.

In 2019, La Vida Hospitality had 350 employees and $13 million in revenues. Next year, the company expects to reach 600 employees and earn $25 million.

La Vida’s focus is on building a way of life, not just restaurants, said Josh Grapski, managing partner. “We think of food and beverage as a way to deliver a lifestyle,” he explained. “Products and services can supply an experience.”

 To date, that experience is rooted in the casual beach lifestyle. Crooked Hammock has a spacious outdoor area with games so guests can mingle as though they’re at a backyard barbecue. Big Chill Beach Club in Bethany Beach is located on deck above the surf in Delaware Seashore State Park. 

The hospitality group’s stable also includes Big Chill Surf Cantina, Taco Reho and Fork + Flask, formerly Nage.

When it opened in 2004, Nage took a risk. The site is in a strip mall on Route 1. At that time, there were few upscale eateries on the highway. Nage succeeded, but over time, diners’ attitudes relaxed. 

Encouraged by the popularity of the casual Crooked Hammock, which opened in 2015, La Vida turned Nage into Fork + Flask, which sports a large bar and cabana-esque décor. (The site remains the home of La Vida’s catering division.) However, it is still an indoor space.

Crooked Hammock and Big Chill Beach Club capitalize on the tourist’s desire to experience the area up close and outside. “We can take advantage of our surroundings to create a better experience,” Grapski said.

Now La Vida is taking the Delaware beach vibe beyond Sussex County’s borders. A Crooked Hammock in Middletown, located near Wilmington, Delaware, opened in late 2019 with an even larger outdoor area than the original site.

Another Crooked Hammock is scheduled to open in late 2020 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. La Vida Hospitality is currently exploring new opportunities for Big Chill and plans to seek bricks-and-mortar locations for fast-casual Taco Reho restaurants. 

Being based in Delaware has helped boost La Vida’s success, said Grapski, who has worked in more than 10 states. The hospitality industry here is a community instead of a group of competitors, he said. Suppliers are supportive, and legislators are approachable. “You can get things done in a friendly, productive manner,” he said.

La Vida Hospitality is looking for other businesses that might complement its offerings, such as hotels or entertainment complexes. If they’re at the beach, La Vida will play up the get-away-from-it-all mentality. If they’re in suburbia or a city, they’ll give residents a vacation close to home.

 If La Vida Hospitality has its way, guests at all the locations will be living the good life. For information, visit lavidahospitality.com.

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