Dr. Ryan Gilliam is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Fortera, a next-generation cement company transforming how one of the world's most essential building materials is produced. Under his leadership, Fortera has developed and commercialised the ReCarb® process, which mineralises captured CO2 and integrates with existing manufacturing infrastructure to produce ReAct® low-carbon cement.
Ryan founded Fortera around the belief that breakthrough industrial technologies achieve meaningful impact when they can scale within the systems, infrastructure and economics that already exist. Fortera's technology enables cement and lime producers to reduce emissions while maintaining performance and cost competitiveness, increasing output from existing feedstocks and infrastructure while strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chains.
As CEO, Ryan is focused on moving industrial innovation from technology validation to commercial deployment and scale. He works across the construction and industrial ecosystems including cement and concrete producers, developers, contractors, infrastructure owners, investors and strategic partners - to accelerate adoption of next-generation building materials.
His perspective extends beyond cement to the broader transformation of heavy industry. Ryan is a leading voice on industrial decarbonisation, advanced manufacturing, carbon utilisation, infrastructure modernisation and the commercialisation of first-of-a-kind technologies. He advocates for an approach in which sustainability and economic growth reinforce one another, strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chains, increasing productivity and competitiveness, and building the infrastructure required for the decades ahead.
In addition to Fortera, Ryan is the founder and a member of the Board of Directors of Verdagy, a company manufacturing advanced electrolysers for large-scale green hydrogen production. He previously founded Chemetry, which developed low-energy, low-emissions chemical manufacturing technologies, and served as a Venture Partner at 1955 Capital, investing in companies addressing global challenges across energy, manufacturing, health and food systems.
Ryan holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto. He is an inventor on more than 100 patents spanning carbon utilisation, electrochemical processes and advanced materials, and has authored more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications with over 3,500 citations. He has delivered a TED Talk on carbon mineralisation and the future of low-carbon cement and was recognised as one of TIME's 2024 Climate 100 Leaders.
