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For the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), 2025 signifies ten years of converting revolutionary research into practical solutions for worldwide issues. A few instances highlight that endeavor more than NONA Technologies. With assistance from a J-WAFS Solutions grant, MIT’s electrical engineering and biological engineering Professor Jongyoon Han and his team created a portable desalination apparatus that converts seawater into clean drinking water without the need for filters or high-pressure pumps.

This device differentiates itself from conventional systems since traditional desalination methods, such as reverse osmosis, are energy-heavy, susceptible to fouling, and usually utilized at large, centralized facilities. Conversely, the apparatus developed in Han’s laboratory uses ion concentration polarization technology to eliminate salts and particles from seawater, producing drinkable water that surpasses World Health Organization benchmarks. It is compact, powered by solar energy, and can be operated with a single button press — making it an optimal solution for areas lacking grid access and affected by disasters.

This research paved the way for the establishment of NONA Technologies along with co-founders Junghyo Yoon PhD ’21 from Han’s lab and Bruce Crawford MBA ’22, to commercialize the innovation and tackle urgent water-scarcity challenges globally. “This truly represents the culmination of a decade-long journey that my team and I have experienced,” Han stated in a prior MIT News article. “We dedicated years to understanding the physics behind individual desalination processes, but amalgamating all those advancements into a compact system and demonstrating it in an ocean setting … that was a profoundly significant and fulfilling experience for me.” You can watch this video that highlights the device in action.

Transforming innovative research from the laboratory into the broader world is a well-recognized challenge. While standard “seed” grants usually promote early-stage research at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 1-2, few funding avenues exist to assist academic teams in progressing to the subsequent stage of technology enhancement. The J-WAFS Solutions Program is intentionally crafted to fill this vital gap by backing technologies in the high-risk, early-commercialization stage frequently overlooked by traditional research, corporate, and venture funding. By investing in technologies at TRLs 3-5, the program escalates the chances that promising innovations will endure beyond the academic environment, advancing enough to secure further funding.

Equally significant, the initiative provides academic researchers with the time, funding, and adaptability to mitigate risks associated with their technology, investigate customer needs and potential real-world applications, and assess whether and how to pursue commercialization. For faculty-led teams like Han’s, the J-WAFS Solutions Program offered the essential financial runway and entrepreneurial guidance required to refine the technology, evaluate assumptions regarding market fit, and establish a foundation for a startup. While remaining within the MIT innovation ecosystem, NONA attained over $200,000 in non-dilutive finance through competitions and accelerators, including the esteemed MIT delta v Educational Accelerator. These initial successes set the stage for additional investments and technological progress.

Since its emergence from MIT, NONA has achieved significant advancements in both technology development and business sustainability. What began as a device capable of generating just over half a liter of clean drinking water per hour has transformed into a system that now delivers tenfold that capacity, at 5 liters per hour. The company successfully raised $3.5 million in seed funding to enhance its portable desalination apparatus and has partnered with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center, where it co-created early prototypes and commenced revenue generation while validating the technology. Most recently, NONA received two SBIR Phase I grants totaling $575,000, one from the National Science Foundation and another from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Now based in Greentown Labs in Somerville, Massachusetts, NONA has expanded to a committed team of five and is gearing up to launch its nona5 product later this year, with over 1,000 customers on the waiting list. It is also initiating its first industrial pilot, signifying a crucial move toward commercial scalability. “Launching a business as a postdoc was demanding, especially with limited funding and industry insights,” remarks Yoon, who currently serves as CTO of NONA. “J-WAFS provided me with the financial flexibility to pursue my venture, and the mentorship motivated me to achieve key milestones. Because of J-WAFS, I successfully transitioned from an academic researcher to an entrepreneur within the water sector.”

NONA represents one of several J-WAFS-supported technologies that have transitioned from laboratory research to the market, forming part of a growing portfolio of water and food solutions progressing through MIT’s innovation pipeline. As J-WAFS commemorates a decade of stimulating innovation in water and food, NONA illustrates the potential outcomes when mission-focused research is combined with targeted early-stage support and mentorship.

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