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Manufacturing Abundance

Ages of human history are defined by materials that transformed societies and mark breakthroughs in mastery over matter. Rather than a single material, the next age will be defined by our ability to assemble molecules into bespoke solutions for today’s challenges and unlock sustainable abundance.

Programme development

As we develop a programme in the Manufacturing Abundance opportunity space, we're sharing our current thinking in the form of a programme thesis. This programme is expected to launch in February 2026.

Universal Fabricators

Following a period of public feedback and internal review, PD Ivan Jayapurna has now published his latest programme thesis that hones in on the potential of proteins as universal fabricators.

In the updated Universal Fabricators thesis, Ivan proposes that:

  • Biology proves that proteins are able to produce materials with almost any function from only locally abundant molecules.

  • Despite this, our current use of proteins in mass manufacturing is almost entirely limited to drugs and enzymes.

  • In this programme, we challenge a new coalition of biologists, materials scientists and engineers to develop scalable processes that use proteins to template the assembly of inorganic and composite materials with structures that currently cannot be mass manufactured.

  • If successful, we’ll be able to use proteins to manufacture materials across electronics, energy, infrastructure and more → proteins will become ‘universal fabricators’.

Read the full thesis below, and share your feedback to help us refine our thinking as we shape a programme in this space.

Read the programme thesis           Share your feedback

 

Join a team

Ahead of a potential funding call in this space, we have a live teaming tool that allows applicants to find complementary expertise. After a quick registration, you can browse other researchers and request an introduction from the ARIA team to explore potential collaborations.


Register for teaming

Meet the programme team

Our Programme Directors are supported by a core team that provides a blend of operational coordination and highly specialised technical expertise.

Photo of Ivan Jayapurna smiling against a blue background

Ivan Jayapurna

Programme Director

Ivan joins ARIA from the University of California, Berkeley, with a PhD in materials science and engineering. While studying, Ivan co-led several tech spinout efforts, was twice funded by the National Science Foundation I-Corps, and co-founded a technical consultancy for biotech startups.

Headshot of Alex Smith

Alex Smith

Programme Specialist

Alex is a project management professional with experience in complex transformations. He recently streamlined national public service infrastructure for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and has led strategic initiatives at the London School of Economics, including delivering programmes, establishing governance and replacing legacy systems. Alex supports ARIA as an operating partner from Pace.

Headshot of Aayush Chadha

Aayush Chadha

Frontier Specialist

Aayush works alongside the Programme Directors to scope out emerging areas of technology that can shape current and future ARIA programmes. He previously spent a year as a founder in residence at Entrepreneur First working on neuromodulation, materials for computing, batteries for electric aviation and stroke therapeutics. He also has a PhD in Nanosciences from the University of Manchester.

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