Episode 80: Decentralizing Chemistry

Voices from DARPA

In this episode, Dr. Vishnu Sundaresan from our Defense Sciences Office highlights several technology programs designed to precisely control chemical processes to enable distributed, small-batch manufacturing of chemical products while retaining efficiencies of large-scale industrial production. Colloquially calling this portfolio “decentralized chemistry for everything,” the concept aims to shift the paradigm from a few centralized production facilities producing medicines in large batches and requiring a costly purification process, to direct manufacturing of pure pharmaceuticals via desktop printer-sized machines that would create — at the push of a button — doses of a variety of medicines whenever and wherever needed. Such a revolutionary capability — if successful — would circumvent brittle international chemical supply chains and would serve military members deployed in remote locations as well as benefit rural civilian communities.

Sundaresan describes programs aiming to achieve elements of this vision: Spin-COntrolled chemical Process Engineering (SCOPE), Recycling at the Point of Disposal (RPOD), and Establishing Qualification Processes for Agile Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (EQUIP-A-Pharma).

Listen to Sundaresan describe his journey to becoming a DARPA program manager, the fascinating world of controlling electron spins, and the ethical, legal, and societal challenges of preparing the market for such revolutionary tech.