"It can’t just be green, it has to be better!"

This is the philosophy behind the great innovator, Tom Schuler. Tom’s journey has been riddled with all kinds of ups and downs ever since he was a kid. His vicious resilience helped him overcome every struggle he ever faced - and made him what he is today!

With over 25 years of experience on his belt, and inspired by the lack of progress in concrete production, he joined Solidia Technologies to make history. Driven by the idea of reducing massive CO2 emissions and the volumes of fresh water required for concrete production, Tom gifted the world with a unique solution.

A family man, a visionary, and a downright overachiever for the greater good, Tom's Solidia Tech does best what others do just ‘okay’. Nothing came easy for him with the plethora of troubles he had to overcome, but he did it anyway!

This is the story of Tom Schuler, whose ultimate goal is a better future for us all!

Read it here:

Not So Humble Beginnings As a kid, Tom could never fathom how his existence would or could impact the world, so he was just another normal kid. However throughout his career, he slowly developed a passion - and then an idea for the most futuristic approach in concrete production. Ever since young adulthood, Tom was always aware that the 19th-century methods used in concrete production must come to an end. The great visionary started his journey by graduating Mechanical Engineering at the University of Virginia with the highest honours in 1985. Such a respectful degree was not enough for him, as he went on to complete extensive Finance and Marketing studies, acquiring a mastery of conversational German and French.

Career Success

Thanks to his exceptional talent, Tom always remained on the radars of prospective companies, and it wasn’t long after his graduation that he was hired, taking up the post of Research Engineer at DuPont.

This company witnessed great growth during Tom Schuler’s 25-year spell, as he acquired a key role in their operations. Being constantly promoted and given greater responsibilities, by 2003, Tom’s title became Global Business Director.

His job?

Lead a $1 billion technology and manufacturing business across 3 regions!

Additionally motivated due to his success in this ever-growing company, Tom’s idea for more efficient and sustainable buildings slowly came to life. The next big step was being named President and General Manager at DuPont in 2007. Provided with the highest title, Tom took up the responsibilities of global business leader and architect of building innovation models. He worked on several collaborations, designed business models, and provided product and engineering support for customers to effortlessly achieve better building sustainability.

Providing customers with astonishing building solutions wasn’t Tom’s only expertise. Having a degree in Marketing and Finance allowed him to become a marketing manager of DuPont as well, formulating multi-year growth plans based on the customers’ needs.

After achieving such dizzying highs, standing down was never an option for the highly motivated workaholic, as he was determined to flip the industry completely on its head!

The 25-year journey at DuPont was only the beginning and starting point for what he had set to become and achieve!

The Man With the Vision

Driven by his underlying wish for a better future, Tom’s main objective was to lower the CO2 emissions produced by the concrete production process, consisting of the capture of waste gas from other industries to be reused for curing concrete. Instead of using water as the curing element, Tom discovered that concrete can be cured with wasteful CO2. Not only that, but this process results in better concrete, overall 30% less CO2 emissions, and up to 80% less water waste.

As Tom himself says:

"The cement industry is the second-largest industrial emitter of CO2, responsible for almost 8 per cent of total global emissions. If we’re gonna solve global warming, innovation in both concrete production and carbon utilization is absolutely necessary".

Tom’s success in numerous areas played a huge part in the development of his idea. Despite partially turning his dream into a reality, he joined Solidia Technologies in 2011 as its President and CEO. Tom Schuler immediately patented and implemented his solution within the company’s operations.

Solidia Technologies

With becoming the CEO of Solidia Technologies, he was definitely starting to see the beginning of his dream coming true.

Solidia Tech is a concrete and cement company which uses Tom's green and patented technology to create superior and very sustainable building materials. This ingenious solution has the potential of eliminating a massive amount of CO2 from the atmosphere - about 1.5 gigatonnes each year!

Tom’s solution consists of two core technologies. The first one is a sustainable way of manufacturing cement, while the second one is a sustainable concrete curing technology. If all manufacturers adopt these solutions, the world will be heavier by 3 trillion litres of fresh water every year.

Rise of the Company

Tom began marketing his new technology via paid demonstrations with cement companies, offering to convert 10% of their plant so they could get comfortable using his new technology.

However, the first 5 years of Solidia Tech operating under Tom’s leadership weren’t as easy. The company simply had a hard time convincing businesses that this is the way to go.

Even after such unfortunate times, Tom kept on pushing forward. It wasn’t until 2016 when Solidia was named in the Sustainia100 for its innovative approach regarding concrete production that reduced carbon footprint up to 70%. Solidia was competing with 6.000 other nominated businesses coming from 60 countries.

Tom’s vision was finally heard and accepted by many companies!

CEOs started recognizing that not only was this a socially responsible solution, but it also boosted production time and reduced costs. Using Tom’s concrete production AI technology is projected to become the rule rather than the exception. He single-handedly changed the entire production method in such a colossal industry.

As the man himself says - it can’t just be green, it has to be better! The meaning behind this famous quote is that going green is not the only benefit when adopting his sustainable solution, but companies are expected to witness much faster production and greatly reduced costs. Tom Schuler’s solution for sustainable building materials results in a curing time of 24 hours when opposed to the normal curing with water that takes 28 days to harden properly.

Emerging Investors

Considering everything that Tom has done to reduce the waste yielded by the standard concrete production methods, it was only a matter of time before he attracted investors. So, the company was commercially launched in the U.S in 2019 via a partnership with paving company EP Henry.

Since the arrival in the U.S, Tom’s Solidia Technologies has become a top investor target. Solidia’s investors include LafargeHolcim, Total Energy Ventures, Oil and Gas, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and many more looking to jump on the investor’s bandwagon!

Solidia Tech Today

Solidia Technologies today is a very well-known and respected company, adding value and smart solutions for businesses. Solidia’s patents are protected and approved by various 3rd party organizations, by industry standards.

Solidia’s headquarters are 11 Colonial Drive, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. With a revenue of $57 million and 95 employees, Solidia Tech has taken a very complex matter and made it simple. For the fourth time, in 2020, Solidia Technologies participated as one of the top 100 companies in the CleanTech group.

Solidia’s patent portfolio consists of 20 issued patents by the US, 85 in foreign countries, and 200 pending approval all around the world.

This just shows where a determined man can end up with a solid idea in mind.

Undoubtedly, Tom Schuler will go down as one of the top inventors of modern time. People may not hear a lot about him, but they ought to, as the man is saving the planet every minute - every second, even - making global sustainability his business!