Christian T. Wentz is an American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. He is recognized for his work in engineering authenticity in electroni
devices and the use of these primitives in distributed systems
developing neural interface technologies and innovation in

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radi ...

, low power

circuit design In electrical engineering, the process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from complex electronic systems down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit. One person can often do the design process without needing a pl ...

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

power and high bandwidth

communication technologies Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

Early life

Wentz grew up in

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Wisconsin River and had a population of 39,994 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the core city of the Wausau ...

. He graduated from Wausau East High School in 2004. Wentz received a

bachelor of science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in electrical science and engineering in 2009 from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). He received his master of engineering degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

in 2010 from MIT. He returned to MIT in 2013 to pursue a PhD with the support of the Myhrvold & Havranek

Hertz Foundation The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. The fellowship begins with up to $250,000 of financial support ...

Fellowship in applied sciences. His PhD work focused on development of minimally invasive

biosensor A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of a chemical substance, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. The ''sensitive biological element'', e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell rece ...

s. As of 2017, Wentz is on leave from MIT to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Career

As an undergraduate student at MIT in the lab of

Edward Boyden Edward S. Boyden (born August 18, 1979) is an American neuroscientist and entrepreneur at MIT. He is the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology, and a full member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He is recognized for his work on opt ...

, Wentz developed wireless neural interface technology using

optogenetics Optogenetics is a biological technique to control the activity of neurons or other cell types with light. This is achieved by Gene expression, expression of Channelrhodopsin, light-sensitive ion channels, Halorhodopsin, pumps or Photoactivated ade ...

, and worked on ultra-low power circuit technology for large-scale acquisition of neural signals. In 2011, based on this work, Wentz founded Kendall Research Systems, LLC (KRS). KRS became the first company to commercialize wireless optogenetics instrumentation for use in the pharmaceutical industry and

translational neuroscience Translational neuroscience is the field of study which applies neuroscience research to translate or develop into clinical applications and novel therapies for nervous system disease, nervous system disorders. The field encompasses areas such as dee ...

. The company bootstrapped itself until it received support from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH). KRS explored ultra-low power

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...

topologies to capture signals from large numbers of neurons in devices implanted in humans, e.g. deep brain stimulators. In 2010, while still a student at MIT, he co-founded Cerenova, Inc, a spinout from

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Department of Neurosurgery, with noted functional neurosurgeon Emad Eskandar. Their work focused on novel applications of electrical

neuromodulation Neuromodulation is the physiological process by which a given neuron uses one or more chemicals to regulate diverse populations of neurons. Neuromodulators typically bind to metabotropic, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to initiate a sec ...

for recovery and improvement of learning and cognition. In February 2017, KRS’

neurotechnology Neurotechnology encompasses any method or electronic device which interfaces with the nervous system to monitor or modulate neural activity. Common design goals for neurotechnologies include using neural activity readings to control external devi ...

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s were acquired by

Kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learnin ...

for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, Wentz served as Vice President of Product at Kernel, leading development program in clinical neural interfaces. In August 2018, Wentz announced the establishment and funding of Gradient Technologies, Inc., a venture focused on engineering trust into everyday electronic devices such that "''the authenticity and integrity of every electronic device, the software it operates, data it stores and computes, and information itself, are provable qualities by construction, not by trust in a third party".'' Previously, Wentz worked on hardware for

wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the s ...

company Misfit, Inc. Misfit was acquired by Fossil Group in November 2015 for $260 million.

Recognition

In 2011, Wentz was named to the inaugural

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

in Science and Innovation for his work in neurotechnology. In 2012, Wentz received the Myhrvold & Havranak Family Hertz Foundation Fellowship in applied sciences to pursue a PhD at MIT.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wentz, Christian American electrical engineers 1986 births Living people People from Wausau, Wisconsin MIT School of Engineering alumni