Bjørnulf Østvik

I like fixing things that are broken.

Some things about me:

• I have advised PE firms, technology companies, and financial institutions
• I spent a few years at Lockheed Martin building the New Ventures advanced technologies group, where I started my own programs in areas like synthetic fuels and mobile power systems
• I founded a technology company, a civil engineering firm, and a capital/technology development firm
• I have been issued 100+ patents as inventor or co-inventor, including 15 separate patent families in the U.S.
• I discovered EGS-6, a novel polymeric composite material that can be reliably derived from mixed carbon waste resources
• I developed a subfield I call “Constructive Thermochemistry,” the controlled application of heat to build complex molecular constructs rather than break them down as in conventional destructive processes like pyrolysis
• I built a company and engineering team and together we developed and deployed a modular recycling system capable of processing over 50,000 pounds of municipal waste per day. We showed it can replace landfills without costing communities any more, and often saving them money
• My economics research provided empirical data and statistical backing to show how income inequality drives housing prices, spending patterns, and pressure on local budgets like school funding. I developed a novel mathematical model to evaluate data across more than 13,000 districts and received press attention
• I partnered with Cornell economist Robert Frank to support his broader framework on positional externalities; my research was cited in his book Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class
• I was Vice Chairman of a Sandia National Laboratory-led business incubator (National Energy Systems Technology Center)
• I testified as a witness for the U.S. Government in a major public integrity trial
• I was inspired in my early 20s by internships at the U.S. Senate, the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, and a constitutional law internship at a major Washington think tank
• George Washington University Law School (J.D.)
• Cornell University (A.B. and M.P.A.)
• When I was 10 I built a pretty cool treehouse by myself; I shadowed contractors around my town who also gave me spare materials
• When I was a teenager I built my own lab and did plant research supervised by my school and got approved by the state to do some interesting R&D on curing plant diseases
• I took a few months off from academia to work as a tech at a veterinary clinic; I've always loved animals and helping people with their pets was some of the most rewarding time I've spent