Bridging Saudi-US Scientific Commercialization

Exploring ScienceWerx’s Role in Global Innovation and U.S.-MENA Collaboration

In a recent episode of What's the Buzz?!, guest Patrick Haley and host Chris Frew explored the evolving landscape of scientific commercialization and international collaboration. The discussion highlighted ScienceWerx’s pivotal role in driving innovation from concept to market, particularly through its recent announcement of the $100 million EverGreen Pre-Seed Fund in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

ScienceWerx: A Task-Force Model for Innovation

Co-founded by Patrick Haley, ScienceWerx specializes in technology transfer - helping startups launch groundbreaking technologies, bridging expertise gaps, and accelerating commercialization. Inspired by Patrick’s background as a U.S. Navy Veteran, along with some of the other team members’ combined military experience, ScienceWerx employs a task-force model that prioritizes efficiency and leverages a highly skilled advisory board. This model not only fast-tracks project timelines using SMART goals but also provides junior analysts with valuable hands-on experience.

ScienceWerx’s MENA Expansion

With a new chapter headquartered in Saudi Arabia, ScienceWerx aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to drive U.S.-Saudi collaboration through joint ventures, talent exchanges, and technology transfer. The MENA region holds vast untapped intellectual property and research opportunities, making it a key area for strategic investment.

ScienceWerx’s presence & main headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, further strengthens its initiatives by offering proximity to federal labs, partnerships with institutions like Hood College, and support from local economic development groups. The newly established fund aims to foster commercialization efforts in the MENA region specifically Saudi Arabia, enhancing U.S. competitiveness and opening new opportunities for American companies in the region.

Addressing Global Competition

The MENA region has attracted significant investment from global players, including the U.S. and China, due to its potential for academic and technological advancement. As international interest continues to grow, initiatives like ScienceWerx’s fund aim to strengthen U.S. engagement in the region by supporting innovation and research commercialization. By providing critical infrastructure, the fund helps translate R&D investments into tangible economic and technological advancements that have the potential to contribute to the US & Saudi Arabian economies.

ScienceWerx’s Holistic Approach

ScienceWerx operates on the belief that innovation requires more than just financial investment - it thrives on operational expertise, technological foresight, and strategic agility. ScienceWerx embodies this philosophy through its subsidiary, IPWerx, which offers a patent financing model via convertible notes. This allows inventors to manage patent filing costs through flexible monthly payments, reducing financial barriers and expediting commercialization.

Success in Action: BC3 Technologies

A standout example of ScienceWerx’s impact is BC3 Technologies, a Baltimore-based company known for its revolutionary wound-sealing spray, Seal. Made from U.S.-sourced chitosan, Seal has applications in medical treatments and is even available on Amazon. The product has been distributed to Ukrainian life-saving groups, showcasing its global reach and real-world impact.

Building a Thriving Knowledge-Economy

ScienceWerx champions the “triple helix model”, which fosters collaboration between government, industry, and academia to accelerate innovation and economic growth. Building on its proximity to key institutions such as Fort Detrick, the National Cancer Institute, and other local economic leaders, ScienceWerx is well-positioned to bridge the gap between research and commercialization.

Strengthening U.S.-MENA Collaboration

As the discussion concluded, Patrick Haley and Chris Frew underscored the vast opportunities for U.S. companies to engage with Saudi Arabia’s emerging tech ecosystem. ScienceWerx remains dedicated to importing talent and technology while exporting U.S. products and services, further strengthening international partnerships.

For those interested in joining ScienceWerx’s advisory board, task force, or exploring opportunities in the MENA region, inquiries can be sent to info@sciencewerx.org.

Watch the Full Interview:

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Transcript:

Chris Frew [00:00:03]:

Hello everybody and happy Monday to you. A special happy Veterans Day. Also to you today, it's an extra special Monday. Just coincidentally, I happen to be joined today by a good friend of mine and also a veteran, Patrick Haley, CEO and Co-founder and Chairman of ScienceWerx. So Patrick, first of all, thank you for your service and everything you've done for our country. And I can't wait to talk about how you continue to live that kind of mission forward. And welcome to “What's the Buzz?!”

Patrick Haley [00:00:34]:

Well, thanks for having me, Chris. I appreciate it.

Chris Frew [00:00:37]:

My pleasure. So for those of us joining those of you joining us today, “What's the Buzz?!” Is our opportunity to interview ecosystem builders and leaders across ecosystems who are really helping startups and helping the innovation economy throughout our markets really grow and thrive. So I'm thrilled today to welcome again ScienceWerx around a really important announcement that they have, but also the great opportunity just introduce ScienceWerx to our community better and talk a little bit about what you all do. So I'm going to take a quick breath and let Patrick take over things. And Patrick, do you mind just giving us a quick introduction to yourself and a little bit about what ScienceWerx is?

Patrick Haley [00:01:18]:

Sure. So personally, in my real day job, I'm the president, founder and CEO of BridgePath Scientific. We're a small company located in Frederick. We do a lot of work around laboratory equipment servicing, preventive maintenance, calibration. So starting back in the Navy, I was actually an aviation electronics technician. So I tried to make sure airplanes could stay in flight. And now my company tries to make sure that laboratory equipment can stay in flight so those scientists can continue to do their jobs. We're just about 19 years old now, so we've been doing it for a minute and several. Like probably 10 or 12 years ago, I started to have this vision of rapid IP commercialization. We have so many federal labs in our backyard with so many great universities and colleges. And Maryland has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to intellectual property because we have agencies like NSA, we have NASA, what's going on at Fort Detrick. It has 42 different tenant agencies running a variety of laboratories, doing an amazing amount of research from USDA to USAMRID. So it covers a wide range. And most of those folks have a tech transfer office, National Cancer Institute, which moved off the base not long ago. I say not long ago, but that's because I've been in Frederick a long time, has an amazing facility here in town. So they have their own tech transfer office. They have a huge amount of intellectual property and they're working very hard to try to get some of that commercialized as well. But we have found that there's a significant gap in getting that IP off that shelf and out into the marketplace so that it can actually be purchased or used. So ScienceWerx's whole mission is really to work with technologies for the betterment of humankind, whatever flavor that takes. And over the course of the last couple years, we've been able to identify a number of swim lanes, so life-saving technologies, advanced materials technology, AI, stuff like that. And I know AI is a big buzzword. We actually like to refer to it more as machine learning because I don't think we're at AI just yet. And so we've set ourselves up and organized ourselves in a variety of capacities here. So we have a very small board of directors which allows us to get things done with alacrity. And then we have a very large board of advisors. And we've tried to put anybody on that board of advisors that is a subject matter expert in their world. They've done it, been there, seen it, have all the scars and straps from moving through the world. So we have experts in business turnaround, business operations, marketing, international business, international intellectual property, government. We have a retired army colonel, Vic Suarez, so I know you're familiar with. He's been a tremendous resource. He's taken me to a lot of really cool events. I'm going with him on the 20th down to Georgetown for another event. He's traveling the world right now doing a series of talks and then through one of our board of directors and advisors, obviously Bassem Kadri. He's very well connected in the MENA region, which is why we have a number of advisors in that region on our board of advisors. And that will, that led us to the, you know, to some of pretty big activities over there. Additionally, we also have, we started off with junior analysts, which is our fancy word of for interns. But they actually do a lot more than just be interns. So we actually put them in operational roles, we give them real responsibilities and hopefully teach them a lot along the way. Once they're done that role, they have an opportunity to join or lead a discovery team. So these are folks that are young, they've got a lot of energy, but they don't have the experience of actually building a business or commercializing intellectual property or taking something from ideation to actual getting something done, whether that be a business, an idea, a study. So we have a number of those. So really it's that four tiers where you have your board of directors, your board of advisors, which is the most active group. Then you have discovery teams and then junior analysts. So that, that, that works very well. I also am not a big fan of committees. I've served on at least one border council every year for the last 20 couple years. And I've sat on most of them that have committees, and committees don't get anything done. That's where, that's where ideas go to die. So we have task forces, and that's a military term. I like it a lot better. It insinuates action. So a task force can be comprised of a number of those individuals and even folks who are outside of ScienceWerx. So if we have someone who wants to participate but doesn't necessarily want to sit on a board, but they are passionate about a certain idea or swim lane, we can put them on a task force to help us actually get things done.

Chris Frew [00:06:03]:

I love that. So, and I agree with, you know, the task force, the tiger teams. That's how I'm always saying, let's do stuff, get it done right. And that's why I like, you know, I remember seeing you draw your vision for ScienceWerx a few years ago on the whiteboard. And that's one of the things that I was immediately drawn to is like this idea of like, let's eliminate bottlenecks and let's just do stuff and let's do stuff that moves things forward and, you know, and makes things happen. So just in summary, so ScienceWerx is a technology commercialization. Would you call it like a studio or. Because you're a nonprofit and your mission is to identify and commercialize technologies for some unmet needs in these swim lanes.

Patrick Haley [00:06:55]:

Correct. And to help people who may have had an excellent idea and don't know how to commercialize it or get it from basic commercialization. Like they made a product, they have no idea how to sell it, market it, distribute it. So, you know, we have experts in those different lanes that we can bring to bear on those problems. I can use one as an example is a company out of Baltimore called BC3 Technologies. They have an amazing product called Seal. It's a wound sealing spray. It's like something out of Star Trek. First time I saw a video of it, I was like, that's crazy science. And it turns out that it's a very old school proven science. These guys figured out how to aerosolize a powder. Kind of like if you've ever used a fire extinguisher that has dry chemical in it as opposed to like CO2 comes out like it's a dry powder. In the Navy we used to use something called Purple K powder. Same kind of stuff, nasty stuff, by the way, but seal comes in a small, you know, two and a half ounce. Can you shake it? There's a little ball bearing, gets the mixture going. You pop a cap, you spray it and unfortunately or fortunately, I actually had an opportunity to use it on my own daughter when she sliced her foot open. We were on vacation, sealed it right up, took her to medical. They cleaned it so it didn't even need stitches. Gave her a tetanus shot and sent her on her way. And four days later she was up and walking completely normally. It has amazing properties. It's actually going through a few different iterations for some different approvals for burn care, immediate wound casualty. We shipped a number of cases over to the Ukraine. It's their number one requested product for their life saving groups in their military. So it's, the product is manufactured in Baltimore. The chitosin, which is the active ingredient, is sourced in the United States. So it kind of checks a lot of boxes for me and for ScienceWerx. And so very happy to work with Wayne Grub, who's the CEO and his team to kind of move that down the, down the gate, the field. And we've recently been able to get it for sale commercially through Amazon and a number of other channels. And we were able to apply for a DoD grant, which is a significant direct to phase two grant proposal. And we haven't heard back from that on yet, but it's nobody's heard back, so we hope to hear back from that pretty quickly.

Chris Frew [00:09:07]:

Well, that's great. And I think those examples are like opportunities to speed things to market, help unclog the pipeline. And as a Baltimore company myself, I love hearing Baltimore success stories. I'll tell you, ScienceWerx is a BioBuzz partner and you all are helping us fill in the gap of areas that we didn't have expertise. So I can also, you know, feel like the hair club for men. I'm not only a, I'm also a user of ScienceWerx and your team has been amazing at helping us to, you know, identify the gaps in where we are and then just to see how you're able to pull in experts and just fill in the gaps in rapid time and move things forward has been really fascinating and an amazing experience with you all. So, and I think that's, that's, that's a challenge for a lot of entrepreneurs and especially when they're scientists and engineers who maybe are developing IP in the university or in an institute to be able to then have experts that can be pulled together, cut bureaucratic tape away and just start focusing on how do you get a product to an unmet patient need or an unmet.

Patrick Haley [00:10:28]:

Right. Yeah, and we're not doing this with any kind of borders in mind. You know, we're working on projects all over the, all over the world. Part of this is to bring good technologies here because, you know, the United States really is an unbelievable marketplace for these things. And we do know what we're doing when it comes to getting a product up and running. Very inventive. We have our own sets of processes and rules in place for doing this across the board. So, you know, one of ScienceWerx missions has been to identify technologies that are going to help solve real world problems. And if they're not here, then we'll bring them here. So we've got, we've actually started two companies in the last six, eight months. One's an advanced materials company that's partnered with a firm out of Egypt that has an unbelievable wearable type cloth that regulates body heat. It's got a nano mesh, so if you puncture it, it automatically seals. You can embed sensors in it for biometrics if you'd like to. So anybody who needs that type of product, whether it be, you know, space laboratory, firefighter, EMT type, whether, you know, hostile environments, some of those types of things, we've got another company that has a product that we've then commercialized in the United States for identification of plastics in the ocean. And right now the average is it cost $11,000 a ton to get it out of the water because it's not a very efficient process. They basically right now do a big grid search. If they find plastic, they pull it. If they don't, they don't. So we've got this technology now that uses satellite data to very specifically identify within a geofence all the plastics in that particular piece of water. So we can draw 100 mile by 100 mile box in the ocean off the coast of California and say, okay, here's where it is, here's where it's moving, here's the tides, here's the weather. Here's the best port to leave to go get it. Here's the best route to go get it. Here's the best drop off point and it has its own marketplace and it's very sophisticated and it's called Ocean Science. And I think that's really we've done some testing over the last few months. It's really. The technology works very well, so I expect to see a lot more growth out of that. And again, that's an international company that we were able to start a US Company, sign a joint venture, get their intellectual property available to us in the United States, and start to move it forward. That's great.

Chris Frew [00:12:45]:

Well, that's a great segue, Patrick. So let's talk about the MENA region. So can you unpack this for us a little bit? So it's considered a ScienceWerx chapter, you know, so you have, you'll, you're, you've launched this chapter in the MENA region as. And there's also a seed fund tied to it. Can you just, you know, tell us a little bit about how this came about? And really, this signifies. For you…

Patrick Haley [00:13:10]:

Yeah, absolutely. So it's out of the KSA region initially, but it's for the whole MENA region. And again, I told you before that some of our advisors are from that region or do a lot of work in that region. And Dr. Saqr -  S, A, Q R, he's brilliant. Mathematics, fluid dynamics, blockchain. He's rated by Stanford University, is one of the top 2% of scientists in the world. So he's that super guy, right? He's got a shit out of a cape when he leaves his house. But he, you know, he's working in that MENA region and in Europe. And he really wanted to say, hey, there's a real opportunity here. There's a lot of really positive things going on. And in particular, the KSA has a huge desire to get this moving forward. They have this whole vision, 2030. They really want to make things happen. So we started looking at it real seriously and, you know, we started looking at who else is already playing there in China is a huge player there, and they're really spending a lot of time and money with the KSA. They're getting money out of the KSA. And again, it goes back to some of those other studies we, you know, you and I have talked about before. So as a kind of a little segue to bring it back, there was a study recently published that talked about the number of articles being written and published by academic institutions of the top 10 list. And number two is Harvard, and number eight was the University of Toronto, and the other top 10 were all universities out of China. And so they're absolutely taking an approach and then they're bringing those papers and ideas to places like the KSA and say, hey, we want to co-develop this with you, which is obviously strengthening their ties. So in like 2023, the US put out $650 billion in grants and so did China. But the economic impact compared country by country is very disproportionate. So they're investing, China's investing heavily, the US is investing, but they're not getting a lot of return. So this fund is our opportunity to fund commercialization in partnership with the KSA. We can do technical evaluations, tech fit, we can do personnel fits, we create US entities. It really aligns with their Vision 2030. And the goal is to import talent and technology and export from the US products and services and strengthen US and KSA ties in the mix while we get it done. So I think it's going to be a very strong opportunity for US Companies to be involved as well as KSA companies to be involved to move that technology back and forth and to better everything for everyone.

Chris Frew [00:15:46]:

That's amazing. Yeah. And being based in Frederick too, I know that Maryland especially has a soft landing program. So you're also based in a great location for supporting this collaboration. It's interesting that you talk about how the competition we have globally with China, so talk about how ScienceWerx is going to be helping to foster like will you have boots on the ground in the KSA now, helping to kind of strengthen that, or do you have a partner that will be there? How is it structurally going to be set?

Patrick Haley [00:16:30]:

Yeah, that's a great question. That's the reason we structured it as a chapter as opposed to just an outreach program through ScienceWerx headquarters. So the chapter allows for a number of individuals to be involved specifically in that region. And Dr. Saqr was the one who proposed the chapter itself and that he would run it. So he is in charge of that chapter for us over there. And we work very tightly with him, I'd say almost on a daily basis as things are moving forward. So we've been able to bring a number of other folks into it. If you look at our board of advisors, we have a number of very diverse people. One who's stationed over in that region is. He's a master of international intellectual property. I call him our international man of mystery. We have a number of. Dr. Rana is stationed over there as well, kind of some people refer to her as the Oprah Winfrey of the Middle East. So she's highly involved in this process. So we're covering everything from intellectual property, actual science evaluations. We have a variety of marketing, market caps, market know, market analysis with our, with our current team and the ability to bring things together and even back to our US Partners. We've, as we talked, Chris, you know, we have. One of the philosophies I learned a long time ago was from a gentleman named Conrad Kleiber. And I'm not sure if you're familiar with him, but he ran TATRC at Fort Detrick, the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. And he was always a fan of what he called the triple helix model, bringing government, industry and academia together to solve problems. So we, one of the first things we did as ScienceWerx decided memorandum of understanding with Hood College so we could bring that academic partner online early so that we got their flavor, we understanding their processes and to be able to leverage what all universities have, but in particular one that sits so close to our backyard. You know, these are, this allows for these public private partnerships we brought, you know, one of our board members is Rick Weldon with the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. They, they very much support our activities. We brought in some folks from local economic development and state economic development to help us understand their needs and what we can do to help them. So we're trying to bring together all the partners that have a vested interest in either workforce development, technology commercialization, whether they're on the government side, the academic side, the industry side. So, you know, we're a conduit. We want to get things done. We're not, we're not sitting around in some building waiting for things to happen. We see an opportunity, we go out, we work it hard, we bring it to the dirt, and then we try to move it forward.

Chris Frew [00:19:14]:

That's, that's a Navy in you, isn't it, Patrick? That's, it's about, it's about accomplishing the mission. Not just talking about the mission. It's about execution. It's about, you know, you know, winning at the end of the day. And it seems like that's a big part of your culture for sure.

Patrick Haley [00:19:32]:

And that's, you know, it's part of the thing. That's why we have task forces and not committees. It's just, even though it just sounds like a different label there, we don't treat it like a committee. It's like, okay, you know, we use smart objectives, you know, specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, with a timeline. You know, everything gets put through these filters with hundreds and hundreds of years of business experience between people who have done business internationally, locally, people who have government experience, people have academic experience and be able to really understand how those get done where this, where the holes are in those different groups to be able to backfill them. You know, academics just untraditionally tend to move slow where business wants to move fast. Sometimes business moves too fast, they need to slow down. Sometimes academics move too slow and they need to speed up. The government has its own, you know, gluttony of red tape and process and sometimes that needs to be streamlined. So, you know, getting things done is about our mission. So really at the very core we're problem solvers.

Chris Frew [00:20:28]:

Right?

Patrick Haley [00:20:28]:

Like what is the real problem, what's the root problem and how can we move it forward?

Chris Frew [00:20:32]:

So you've identified a, you've built a framework and a system and pulled together the right people to basically solve problems rapidly and to move commercialization forward through these systems, through the, through this system and the people that you have.

Patrick Haley [00:20:54]:

Yeah, so we've kind of created our own little communities. And I know Chris, you're a big believer in communities. So the first one we identified was believe in bio, which that's why we dovetail so nicely with BioBuzz because it's like, it's like peanut butter and jelly, like we belong together. So these believe in communities are the way that we get some heart share involved in these activities as opposed to just operational excellence. You know, we need people who have a real affinity for what we're trying to accomplish, not just the know how to get it accomplished. So you know, we're trying to work with different groups. Like biobuzz is again a great example of how do. We don't want to reinvent the wheel. We don't want to be a big public relations media outreach. That's not our, that, that's not what we're good at. But we want to be involved with people who are great at it so that they can help us move our mission forward. At the same time, we're helping to move their mission forward.

Chris Frew [00:21:45]:

Agreed. And we can talk later about who's peanut butter and who's jelly. But I completely agree with you and that's why we love you too. Like, right. We see an opportunity to reduce the cost of talent for startups and the opportunity to build community and foster. As you know, I talk about community more than a lot of things and I just think it's so important to the success of any ecosystem and the success for startups. And I think that, I love that. Also when you started talking about ScienceWerx several years ago, how you were embedding community into it, so when you think about the new MENA chapter, which we're very excited to continue to talk about a BioBuzz MENA region as well with you all, how do people get involved if somebody is in the US and they say, hey, we're interested in that market, or I guess my question is like, how do people at this point get involved with ScienceWerx and who do you want to hear from? What are the type of opportunities that you think you're positioned, well, at this point to make an impact on?

Patrick Haley [00:22:53]:

Sure. So the easiest way to do it, we tried to say, hey, what's the simplest way? And that seems to be email. Everybody has email. And we have our infosciencewerx.org email address, which is actually monitored by humans, not robots. And so if you email info@sciencewerx.org and you say, I'm interested in being on your board of advisors, or I'm interested in a discovery team, or I have an idea or I would like to join the task force or tell me more about the MENA region, whatever, whatever it is, we know how to direct that. And you know, a lot of times you defined as to what you say no to, not what you say yes to. So the answer is not always yes. But I also like to be able to think that, you know, with the group that we have, there's, if we, if we're not going to be able to help someone, we're going to be able to point them in the right direction. We have really good wide network of professionals. So if somebody comes to us and it just isn't a good fit for ScienceWerx, we probably can make several recommendations and put them in contact with real people that may be able to actually help them. So just because it's not quite in our wheelhouse doesn't mean that we can't still help, at least tangentially. But, you know, we really want to hear from people. People still make the world go round. They still get, they're the ones with the ideas, they're the ones who get things done. And we love talking about technology and all the cool stuff it can do, but at the end of the day, there's always a human behind it. And so we want to make sure that that gets moved forward to be able to leverage everything that we built and are currently building, to continue to build out our network of partners. We're looking for other universities in particular to want to join that have a desire to get into this commercialization world or how to get their research off the, off the, you know, off the shelf and into industry. We've, you know, one of the things we've identified early on was the, you know, the whole patent process was a real problem. So we created another company called IP Works that allows people to, you know, get their intellectual property paid for on a monthly basis in the form of a convertible note. So the way that that works is, you know, someone comes in, they want to get something patented, they don't have the money to do it upfront. We'll let them sign with us a convertible note for the. Let's say it's just use a round number. Let's say it's $10,000 to get your filing done, and they make a $300 or $400 a month payment towards that. And every month they make that payment, they get that percentage back until they own the whole thing. If they were to fail or run out of money or whatever, then ScienceWerx is sitting there with a convertible note to be able to take some equity in that idea and potentially continue to move it down the field as well. So, you know, we're trying to create these entities that, you know, I like to say, eat your own dog food and you're healthier because of it. So, you know, I know that's a problem. I've seen that be a problem for a number of my clients over the last 20 years that, you know, oh, this patent, this patent, I gotta file this patent. It's so expensive. And it's like, well, let's come up with a way to make it so that they can do it. Instead of telling them, oh, yeah, well, you know, good luck with that. I don't like that answer. So, you know, trying to come up with good ways to do things and using those convertible notes is a really solid way of getting people what they need in a time that they can get it. And everybody becomes a winner. And it shows that we're very vested in that idea. Like, we wouldn't do it if we didn't believe in it.

Chris Frew [00:26:06]:

Yeah. And again, just as a partner itself, I can validate that approach that you and your team has. And the fact that also, like, you know, your team really does come at this with this approach of partnership and ultimately, how do we solve the problem? Right. I always come back to that with you, and I work closely with your co-founder Bassem, and all the time it's how do we solve the problem? And you guys are constantly listening for problems and how that your team can solve it. So I think that IP works is a great example of how that really has come to reality out of ScienceWerx. Well, I'm really thrilled to be able to share this news. I mean, again, I'm a Maryland guy. I love Frederick. I consider myself an adopted Frederick Canadian. How do you say?

Patrick Haley [00:26:58]:

Fredericktonian?

Chris Frew [00:27:00]:

All right, thank you. I love Frederick. I'm out there with you guys quite a bit. You know, Frederick's been a great partner for BioBuzz, but I was so excited about this opportunity because one, I think it's a great opportunity for Maryland that has more federal labs than any other region. It's got a tremendous amount of IP, it's got a tremendous amount of intellectual talent and talent capacity. I mean, Frederick itself is a designated soft landing zone for the state of Maryland. Maryland has incentives for companies. And with everything going on with the KSA 2030 vision, I mean, I think they just announced last week $100 billion fund that they're putting out there for AI and technical startups. You all are basically creating this conduit now for again, for talent and ideas and to come across here to the U.S. hopefully land in Maryland or anywhere in the U.S. that works. And likewise for great products and solutions and services to exchange both ways. Just, again, just from where we are with BioBuzz, I was super excited to help share this message. And we want to make sure that our audience and everyone else knows exactly what it means and what it could mean for them if they're sitting there with the next wound care spray and they're like, how do we get this out? Or whatever technology that might be. But we wanted to make sure that our audience knew exactly what ScienceWerx was doing. Again, one, because you've been such a great partner for us, I know several of the projects you're working on have seen firsthand how fast you're moving things towards commercialization versus a lot of other vehicles that we've seen over the years. So I really just can't speak highly enough about you and your team and everybody else and what you're doing. And I'm excited to see how this continues to evolve and really the projects that come out of this new chapter.

Patrick Haley [00:29:00]:

Yeah, I, I saw that one of the little notes on the side popped up that said somebody wanted the email address again. So if you don't mind, I'm going to talk about if you want to, want to get all those ScienceWerx, it's info info@sciencewerx.org which is science S C I E N C E and it works w e r x.org so sciencewerx.org and then somebody else Asked why did we choose the Middle East? And we didn't choose the Middle East, it kind of chose us through a series of connections. You know, it's all about the people. And so we have a number of people on our board of advisors that have excellent connections in the MENA region. They brought this to our attention. We reviewed it and as a group thought it was a very appropriate region to work with. And it's not to say we're not doing work in other regions like Europe, United States, Canada, Pan Pacific regions. It's just that we really are working on that region is just a recent press release about that MENA region.

Chris Frew [00:29:55]:

That's great. Well, in closing, Pat, anything you want to. Anything else you want to share? Anything other?

Patrick Haley [00:30:03]:

Just not really. I want to say Happy Veterans Day to all my fellow veterans and I appreciate you taking the time to get us on your radar. Chris, very generous of you to offer this time. And, you know, we found it great to work with you and your team. They're, they're super fun to work with, getting a lot done and, you know, we're looking forward to this. 2025 is going to be a seriously excellent year. We've got so many good things in the pipeline. You know, 100% volunteer staff. There's nobody who's paid here on the regular for doing anything. So, you know, it, it really does show the level of dedication that the folks have that they're willing to spend their time, energy on these projects. And it's just amazing the response that we've had. I just, I'm blown away every time I look at our board of advisors. I really am.

Chris Frew [00:30:52]:

Well, again, I mean, and it continues to grow with some very impressive people. And I think it speaks to the mission and it speaks to the fact that you're walking the walk, whereas you like to say, eating your dog food. You're not just a committee talking about what you could do, you are walking it. And there's proof that's out there in just a short period of time. So when people are doing things, it attracts other people that want to do things. And so congratulations on that and the continued success. Can we get you back in a couple months just for an update?

Patrick Haley [00:31:25]:

Sure, absolutely. Love to do it.

Chris Frew [00:31:27]:

Maybe we can invite Bassim on.

Patrick Haley [00:31:29]:

Absolutely. We'll make him talk.

Chris Frew [00:31:32]:

I love it. Well, listen, happy Veterans Day, everybody. We'll make sure we share contact information with for ScienceWerx and the team over there. But again, Patrick, thank you to you and your team for everything you do and for joining us today. On “What's the Buzz?!” Thank you for everybody who's listening again to get in touch with us. It's pretty easy. We're online. We publish every day. We have an info@biobuzz.io as well. We'll be doing an article about this to share this even more and spread the word. And again, thank you for joining us on this episode of what's the Buzz. We'll be back in just a couple days with some exciting announcements about what TEDCO is doing to spur innovation. And an exciting event they have coming up in just a couple of weeks, the TEDCO Expo, which is one of my favorite commercialization and entrepreneurship events that Maryland has every year. So join us again Wednesday. And until then, happy Veterans Day. Let's make this a great week. Thank you, Patrick.

Patrick Haley [00:32:27]:

Thank you, Chris.