Ilan served as founding CEO of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), designed to unlock frontier science and technology breakthroughs for human flourishing. Since graduating with a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, he has built a career at the intersection of cutting-edge science, entrepreneurship, and public service. Before ARIA, Ilan founded Activate.org whose pioneering entrepreneurial fellowship has catalyzed the formation of hundreds of science-based startups that are revolutionizing the physical infrastructure of the world. Earlier, he founded two advanced materials startups—including battery company Seeo, later acquired by Bosch—and served as a founding Program Director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s high-risk, high-reward energy innovation agency, ARPA‑E. Across these roles, Ilan has created new institutional and funding models that empower scientists and engineers to translate their research into scalabe impact.
