On the third episode of The Stream, Will and Tom were delighted to welcome Dr Andrew Benedek. He was the very first winner of the Lee Kuan Yew Prize, cited as someone who has revolutionised conventional water treatment.

For some people, founding, scaling and selling a global technology business once is enough. For Dr Benedek, he was just getting warmed up.

It was in 1980 that he founded Zenon to help accelerate the reuse of water. After selling the business to GE for over $600 million, he went back into academia and took a position at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

However, he then saw the need for a resource revolution and the need to turn food waste into energy. And then Anaergia was born.

In this podcast, he shares his personal story, or evolving from academia to entrepreneur, and the successes and challenges along the way. This is a great story for any budding tech entrepreneur with a vision, and what’s needed to make it happen.

When it comes to legends in water, Andrew Benedek is certainly someone who immediately springs to mind. And in his early 80s, he’s incredible sharp, articulate and funny – it was an honour to have him on The Stream.

🔔 We hope you enjoy the episode and make sure to follow and subscribe to our channels to get alerts on the episodes.

We’re delighted you can join us on this voyage of discovery, as we journey down The Stream.

Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James.

And our charity partner, Frank Water.

And thanks to our knowledge partners: British Water, WWF, Water Alliance, DCU Water Institute, SurplusWater25, Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab, Water Foundry and Atlantean Media.