When
November 1st
12pm - 1pm CDT
Where
Hybrid Event (In person or on Zoom)
Address
University of St Thomas
St. Paul Campus
Room MCH 100
BDW Speaker Series: Tech for Good
Digital Solutions Supporting Circular Economy
Insights on Circularity, Blockchain Solutions and Supply Chain Traceability
How can we use technology to enhance sustainability across your supply chain?
Circular Economy is growing quickly with many companies implementing innovations to change how they design products, business models, and operate supply chains. This requires companies to have a clearer understanding of how materials and energy flows to support circular innovations. Key levers for this are new digital technologies and data.
Join The Opus College of Business, Business in a Digital world - Tech for Good event to learn the ins and outs of a Circular Economy from St Thomas grad, Dr. Jon Smieja, and hear from Dr. Phil Brown about how Netherlands based Circularise is developing blockchain based digital supply chain traceability systems. Phil will share his insights from recent projects that help companies understand their supply chains and the flow of materials and energy. This will include insights into how Circularise has been developing Digital Product Passports (DPP), which aim to gather data on a product and share it across entire value chains so all actors, including consumers and regulators, understand the materials, products and the embodied environmental impact throughout the whole lifecycle.
Presentation followed by discussion and Q&A
Hosted by
Opus College of Business: Business in a Digital World Initiative
Office of Sustainability
Melrose and The Toro Co. Center for Principled Leadership
Co-Sponsored by
Business Law and Compliance Club
Engineers for a Sustainable World
Meet the Speakers
Dr. Phil Brown
Phil is the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy at Circularise. Phil has over 10 years of experience within the Circular Economy and brings this knowledge to support Circularise’s partners to integrate circular oriented innovation strategies and translate blockchain capabilities into decision-making processes. He holds a PhD in Collaborative Circular Oriented Innovation from Delft University of Technology and an M.Sc. from Cranfield University in Environmental Management for Business where he was a Schmidt MacArthur Circular Economy Fellow. His key areas of interest and expertise include circular economy oriented; collaborative innovation networks, circular business models, and supply chain management.
Phil's LinkedIn
Dr. Jon Smieja
Jon earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas in 2005 and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California – San Diego in 2012. After graduate school, Jon joined Steelcase Inc. as their environmental chemist and eventually moved into a role as a leader in sustainable design and development. He joined Andersen Windows & Doors as the product sustainability manager in 2017, became corporate sustainability manager in 2019, and was responsible for product lifecycle assessments, material ingredient transparency, and preparing Andersen for a future in circular economy. Jon is now the VP of Circularity and Senior Analyst at GreenBiz Group, a media and events company that accelerates the just transition to a clean economy.
Jon's LinkedIn
About Business in a Digital World
Develop leaders who understand the enormous power and potential of emerging technologies in business and society and responsibly harness that power for the common good.
Sustainability is core to the university's mission of advancing the common good.
