Dr. AJ Perez is an MIT alumnus and a professional founder. He is president of Grow Clean, an organic farmland fund designed to ensure the supply of healthy organic food and strong financial returns for investors. AJ serves as both an environmental, social and governance (ESG), and deep-tech advisor. He graduated from his MechE PhD in June 2023.

In 2018, he cofounded and served on the board of directors of IndustrialML, an MIT enterprise machine-learning software spinout optimizing efficiency of industrial manufacturers and enabling real-time workforce education. AJ was chairman, CEO, and founder of New Valence Robotics Corporation (NVBOTS), an MIT 3D printing spinoff that invented automated 3D printing, cloud 3D printing, and high-speed, multi-metal 3D printing.

In early 2017, NVBOTS spun off and rebranded a portion of its metal 3D printing business unit as Digital Alloys. Later that year, NVBOTS was acquired by Cincinnati Incorporated. AJ served as general manager until his return to MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering as a Presidential Fellow.

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AJ holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an MEng in advanced manufacturing from MIT. He worked with MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative’s Jason Jay to teach the MBA course, Innovating for Impact, and ran a series of sustainability workshops in collaboration with MIT’s Trust Center for Entrepreneurship and Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Innovation and Change Initiative.

AJ was a Lemelson-MIT Inventor Fellow, was named on The Boston Globe’s 25 under 25 list, and won the Lemelson-MIT “Use it!” student prize. He is primary inventor of more than 30 inventions in manufacturing, Industrial Internet of Things, machine learning, computer vision, medical devices, and construction.