Former Director of Technology Development (and Licensing), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

During his 30-year tenure at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), most recently as director of technology development, John T. Preston was responsible for turning scientific discoveries into marketable products. He plans to do the same at Braidy Industries with metallurgical technology developed at MIT.

Of the companies started during his tenure, those that went public have reached an estimated $150 billion cumulative market capitalization, according to a news release.

In recognition for his contributions to society, Preston was awarded the rank of “Knight of the Order of National Merit of France” by former French President Francois Mitterrand and the “Hammer Award for Reinventing Government” by former Vice President Al Gore. Preston chaired President George H. W. Bush’s conference announcing the President’s technology initiative and has previously served as a board advisor to Mars Incorporated.

Braidy Industries will benefit from recent MIT research in metallurgy that will help produce lighter, stronger materials for the automotive and aerospace industries.

“The last decade has seen rapid advances in material science similar to advances in the computer/internet fields in the 1990s,” Preston said. “These advances, both in processing equipment and new materials, are now ripe for full-scale deployment which enables cost-effective material substitution, reducing the weight of vehicles and planes, saving vast amounts of energy and reducing dependence on scarce materials.”