Our Team
Nhiem Cao
Nhiem Cao has over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, process engineering, and consulting. As an entrepreneur he has raised venture funding and was awarded nearly $900k in grants through the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research program. Nhiem has successfully led the development and commercialization of novel sustainable wood-based thermoplastic materials.
Nhiem’s background is in paper manufacturing, working for International Paper and Packaging Corporation of America. During his time in the paper industry, he evaluated and implemented new technology, designed innovative solutions, developed and led production trials for paper machines, and developed standard operating procedures and metrics to evaluate various processes.
Nhiem’s education is from the University of Arkansas where he holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering. He also has a master’s in business administration from the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business.
Dr. Tim Vo
Dr. Tim Vo has over 5 years of experience working in chemistry and scaling up chemical processes. Dr. Vo received his BS in chemistry from Southwest Minnesota State University and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska. Prior to attaining his PhD, Dr. Vo worked for Sigma-Aldrich Corporation for the manufacturing of fine chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates. The special emphasis for his PhD was developing new approaches for solution-based synthesis of graphene nanoribbons. Additionally, he worked with cycleWood Solutions to develop cost-effective and commercially viable chemistries for the production of lignin-based thermoplastics.
Dr. Vo’s education and experience is a valuable asset for C12XL. He has a passion for creating unique chemistries from sustainable resources to provide more environmentally friendly alternatives.