"I was as surprised as anyone when I made it through, but I think my proposal’s uniqueness and research-informed approach made it stand out. Sometimes being an outsider is an advantage."

Aidan Mickleburgh, U-M College of Engineering Master's student and one of five finalists for the OpenAir Collective Carbon Removal Challenge

In his short career, Aidan has founded a start-up company and an incubator support program, completed a Fellowship at Lawrence Livermore National Labs, and worked as both a software and instrumentation engineer. He holds a B.S. (Computer Engineering), MBA (Entrepreneurship), and certificate (Technology, Licensing and Entrepreneurship) from Syracuse University.

How did you become interested in carbon removal and climate innovation?

I suppose you could say it was a product of necessity and curiosity. My journey started during the COVID-era internship scramble in my junior year as a computer engineering student. With limited opportunities, I joined an invention accelerator at Syracuse University, where my team created a smart asthma pump for children using digital sensors — a novel idea at the time. 

While we secured second place, regulatory hurdles led us to pause further development. This experience, though, sparked my fascination for building solutions that make a difference. 

Encouraged by friends, I dove into Syracuse’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, first in software and then in hardware after working in tech transfer for government agencies like the Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

That’s when I began forming my thesis: for real impact in carbon removal, the technology must be economically sustainable and market-driven, rather than dependent on regulations or subsidies. That idea put me on a path to explore deeper solutions in the decarbonizing industry and, ultimately, led me to the University of Michigan (U-M) to refine my skills as a technical leader in what I see as the “new carbon economy.”

You competed in the Open Air Collective Carbon Removal Challenge as a one-person team. You did very well even though you were up against larger multi person teams. How did that experience come about?

I felt out of place seeing teams with up to ten people representing major universities, while I was solo. I had only just started my program at U-M a couple of months before the competition deadline. 

The idea itself actually began as a scribble on a Chili’s napkin in December after an animated conversation with a friend. It centered on a core problem: the ocean naturally absorbs CO₂ because it’s more alkaline than the atmosphere, but as oceans acidify, this process slows. 

Most startups in the sector focus on restoring ocean alkalinity — basically “resetting” the ocean’s chemistry to keep carbon flowing in. But I wondered, are we thinking about the surface of the ocean all wrong? If it acts like a catalyst, the surface area is pretty inefficient. 

My initial vision was to increase aeration at the surface — imagine “frothing” the water to boost gas exchange. But as I dove deeper into research, I realized the process might be more efficient if we targeted different ocean conditions, releasing CO₂ below the surface where key factors like temperature and alkalinity are optimal.

What drove you to pursue this novel approach to ocean-based carbon removal?

During my winter break in Puerto Rico — where, frankly, I can’t spend much time outside — I obsessed over this idea, crunching the numbers and reviewing literature about ocean chemistry. The more I looked, the more convinced I became: nobody had proposed something exactly like this, yet the science suggested it should work. When the OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge crossed my desk, I saw it as a sign to formalize the idea. 

I only knew one professor in Michigan at the time, Dr. Joshua Jack, who kindly allowed me to work in his lab, even though this wasn’t his main area. I ended up submitting my concept with some robust economic modeling, best-site selections based on ocean currents, and a clear plan for how to make it feasible — even if I didn’t have lab results yet. 

I was as surprised as anyone when I made it through, but I think my proposal’s uniqueness and research-informed approach made it stand out. Sometimes being an outsider is an advantage.

You seem passionate about communicating science in accessible language. Why is that important to you?

Throughout my education and work, I’ve often felt like a technical novice, regularly encountering fields where I have no idea what’s going on. That’s taught me the value of clear communication — engineering concepts only matter if others can grasp and use them. I still remember a formative class at Syracuse, where we had to distill complex topics down to a middle-school reading level. 

The ability to explain science to anyone changes actual understanding, not just the illusion of it. And I think that’s crucial, especially today, when everyone has an opinion, but true understanding remains scarce.

With such a diverse range of experiences — from startups to music to climbing — what truly excites you?

What excites me most is the act of creation. I tend to hyper-focus on new ideas, bouncing from one intense interest to another, but a consistent thread is my curiosity about what doesn’t exist yet. 

I’ve always gravitated toward making rather than consuming, whether in music, technology, or climate solutions. As a kid learning guitar, I was more eager to write my own songs than master someone else’s. I believe we should all ask ourselves about our ratio of creation to consumption; I find joy in bringing novel ideas into the world, in learning by doing, and in realizing something meaningful from scratch.

What message or advice do you want readers to remember from your journey?

I started as an okay computer engineering student, took a winding path through entrepreneurship and tech transfer, and now find myself still learning every day. I want people to know the value of being an outsider is vastly underrated. You don’t need top-tier credentials to start something meaningful. If you’re creative and determined, go for it. Science — and progress — will work in your favor, eventually. 

Lack of traditional pedigree shouldn’t stop anyone from pursuing solutions that matter.

Can you share a fun fact about yourself that might surprise people?

I write a lot of music, and most of it is heavy metal. People are often shocked to learn that — since I don’t exactly give off “metalhead” vibes. But it’s something that energizes me, and maybe it’s another way of staying true to my creator instinct — always looking to bring something new and unexpected into the world.

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