Meet the yet2 Team: Hat Sawaengsri
This is the first in a series of blog posts where we highlight members of the global yet2 team. We recently sat down with Hat Sawaengsri, senior project leader and technology scout, based in our Boston office.
What excites you about working with yet2 clients?
Hat: I love leading technology scouting projects where the client has given us a particularly difficult search topic, like one where no solution is expected to exist (yet). Often it means we have to find a solution outside of the “typical” search strategy, not just looking cross-industry. This takes a different approach and requires in-depth understanding of the fundamental problem and the system surrounding it. In addition, extensive collaboration between yet2, our clients, and the solution providers are required, so we’re all working together to solve a rather complex puzzle.
What technology developments are you following these days?
Hat: I’m very passionate about the industries I specialize in: nutrition, food, beverage and immunology. There are some fascinating developments going on in nutraceuticals, immunology, biopharma and medical devices with a lot of digital innovation making the space consumer friendly. I’ve also been doing some research in chronic disease areas – including solutions involving ingredients, drugs, and devices – for obesity, heart disease, digestive health and diabetes.
What’s on your reading list at the moment?
Hat: I follow BostInno Beat, FoodNavigator-USA and Food Dive. They usually recommend some interesting articles to read, such as The Salt:NPR, which is a favorite of mine. It’s a blog from the NPR Science Desk about what we eat and why we eat it and provides some insightful perspective on food and food developments.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun?
Hat: Cooking interesting, and sometimes healthy meals, especially Thai food. In the summer and fall I like to do container gardening, and I have a particular interest in growing tomatoes. I also like trying out a lot of different physical activities such as yoga, boxing, spin classes, or sometimes I just go for a jog.
Hat’s current projects include seeking innovations for OTC digestive health products, functional sugars that help prevent obesity or rapidly rising blood glucose, and a magnetic field computational design tool that can combine radiation and magnetic field inputs for Monte Carlo Analysis to investigate active shielding designs and determine deep space radiation protection.