Rahul Pathak

Making the world a greener place is a common theme for some of Pathak's clients.

Among them is LiveFuels Inc., which focuses on creating fuels from renewable sources and sustainable methods for "aquaculture."

Currently, the company is developing new ways to harvest energy from algae by using fish.

"We have made recent breakthroughs at the patent office and are hoping to see a patent issued this year for aspects of the process," Pathak said.

Harvesting algae for fuel in an efficient way has been a challenge in the past, he added.

But LiveFuels found the key.

"Fish are really good at eating algae," Pathak said. "In this process, oil can be extracted from the fish to produce fuels, and what's left of the fish can be used for crops and feed."

Among his other innovative clients is Amyris Inc., whose portfolio of patents is aimed at sustainable fuels and chemicals produced by living organisms, and on methods for engineering living cells to produce the fuels and chemicals.

In the past year, Pathak has led a team that has issued six patents on chemical compositions, chemical production methods, ways to genetically modify microorganisms, as well as methods for producing industrial chemicals in living cells.

A noteworthy example of the work could be seen at the recent Paris Air Show, where an Airbus aircraft flew a demonstration flight powered by a blend of jet fuel patented by Pathak and his team on behalf of Amyris.

- Pat Broderick