Alumni-founded business wins Institute of Engineering and Technology Start-Up of the Year Award
Huge congratulations to Newcastle graduate Dr Joe Penhaul Smith (BSc Marine Biology and Oceanography, 2015), who is celebrating his business Sustainable Sailing winning the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Start-Up of the Year Award 2023.
13 December 2023
Joe is the Founding Director of Sustainable Sailing, which launched in 2021 and uses advances in green chemistry, materials science and biotechnology to build a more sustainable future for the marine industry.
We caught up with Joe to find out more about Sustainable Sailing’s mission and his time at Newcastle University.
A friendly and welcoming introduction
I originally chose Newcastle for Marine Biology and Oceanography because when I visited for an open day, everyone was so friendly and welcoming. And importantly, the prospective students and parents were split up, which meant we actually talked to each other and made friends with our future course mates before we even started.
Alongside my undergraduate studies, I was involved in a number of clubs and societies. I was the bosun and beginners captain for the Sailing Club, social secretary, and later the treasurer, of WetSoc (Marine Science and Technology Society) and also coached beginners for the Fencing Club.
One of my favourite memories of my student days was the WetSoc ball in 2015, which was held in the Baltic. It was attended by basically every one doing Marine Biology that year, so it was an excellent shindig!
Life after Newcastle
After graduating from Newcastle University in 2015, I went on to do a Master’s and PhD at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, Scotland. Completing my PhD was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. My research focussed on applying algal biology advances, particularly in mixotrophic and heterotrophic culture, to the production of aquaculture feed for the Scottish Mussel industry.
I later moved to London to work as an algal biotechnology research scientist for a start-up, where I remained for just over two years before founding Sustainable Sailing with my younger brother. This venture gives us the opportunity to apply some of the things we have both been thinking about for years and actually has its roots in my undergraduate studies at Newcastle: green chemistry and biotechnology solutions for maritime industry challenges.
Revolutionising sail recycling
In November 2023, we headed to Glasgow and were thrilled when Sustainable Sailing was named Start-Up of the Year by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET).
This award was in recognition of our development of the world’s first true sail recycling technology. Sails are designed to be hard wearing and resistant to all the abuse of high-performance racing, but this has come at the cost of being difficult to manage at the end of use. While about 1% of sails are recut or repurposed into bags and jackets, the majority are stored or landfilled, accounting for 2,000 tonnes per year of waste.
Now, by combining recent advances in chemical and biological engineering, we can recycle 90% of all sail cloths on the market.
We’re really proud to have won the Start Up Award. To win the award in Glasgow, one of the historic hubs of maritime innovation, feels very appropriate. We’re now looking forward to our next steps in the business.
Advice for recent graduates
It is extremely normal to have no idea where you are going, or what you are doing next. It does feel uncomfortable, but acknowledging and accepting that uncertainty is part of working out where you want to go and what you want to do next.
There are more options open to you than you would ever expect, with a good degree from an excellent university. You have far more transferable skills than you might consciously know about, you just need to work out how to talk about and use them explicitly.
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