Water Tech Luminary Takes Helm at Active Membranes to Disrupt Desalination

LOS ANGELES, CA – January 08, 2026 – In a strategic move signaling a major shift from research to revenue, advanced water technology firm Active Membranes has appointed its co-founder, the globally recognized membrane scientist Dr. Eric Hoek, as Executive Chairman. The appointment aims to accelerate the company’s push to commercialize a novel technology that promises to dramatically lower the cost and environmental footprint of water desalination.

Active Membranes, a developer of next-generation membrane technologies, is moving from a period of intensive piloting into what its CEO calls a “fully commercial growth stage.” By placing a scientific heavyweight like Hoek at the executive table, the company is making a clear bet that deep technical credibility is the key to unlocking investment, market trust, and a solution to one of the world's most pressing challenges: water scarcity.

A Strategic Bet on a Scientific Luminary

Dr. Eric Hoek is not a typical executive appointment. A professor at UCLA’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Hoek is a towering figure in water treatment science. With over 170 peer-reviewed articles, more than 20 patents, and a citation count exceeding 27,000, his work has fundamentally shaped the modern understanding of membrane technology.

His influence extends well beyond academia. Dr. Hoek has a proven track record of translating laboratory breakthroughs into commercial successes. He co-founded NanoH2O, a company that developed advanced reverse osmosis membranes and was later acquired by industrial giant LG Chem. His entrepreneurial portfolio includes several other water-tech startups, including PolyCera, IntelliFlux, and Pacifica Water Solutions - the latter of which is also an investor in Active Membranes, highlighting a tightly integrated network of innovation and capital.

In his new role, Dr. Hoek will guide strategy for sales, marketing, and new product development while also spearheading investor relations. “Eric’s appointment as Executive Chairman reflects where Active Membranes is today as a company,” said Arian Edalat, CEO and Co-Founder of Active Membranes, in a statement. “Having Eric in this role will strengthen our strategic focus and credibility with investors and customers alike.”

This move brings the company’s chief scientific architect directly into the boardroom, a decision intended to align its technological narrative with its market strategy at a pivotal moment. “Active is at a critical inflection point, and this role enables me to support strategy, sales and fundraising,” Dr. Hoek stated.

Disrupting Desalination with 'Smart' Membranes

At the heart of Active Membranes' strategy is a technology that directly tackles the Achilles' heel of modern desalination: fouling and scaling. Conventional reverse osmosis (RO) systems, the current industry standard, force saltwater through membranes at high pressure. Over time, mineral scale and biological matter clog the membrane surfaces, reducing efficiency, increasing energy consumption, and requiring costly chemical cleaning and frequent replacement.

Active Membranes has developed what it calls “electrically-conducting membranes.” This patented technology integrates a tunable electrical potential directly into the membrane module. By applying a controlled electric field, the system actively repels the particles and ions that cause fouling and scaling, preventing them from ever accumulating on the surface. This innovation promises to slash the lifecycle cost of desalination plants by at least 50%.

The cost savings stem from multiple factors: a drastic reduction in the need for pre-treatment chemicals like acids and anti-scalants, lower energy consumption due to more consistent operating pressures, and extended membrane lifespan. The company claims this makes desalination plants simpler to operate, more cost-effective at any scale, and significantly reduces their physical and carbon footprint.

The technology’s potential has not gone unnoticed. Active Membranes has collected a series of prestigious accolades, including the “Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination” hosted by Saudi Arabia and the “More Water Less Concentrate Prize” from the US Bureau of Reclamation. Most notably, the company is a finalist for the 2024 Earthshot Prize, further validating its potential for significant global impact.

Navigating the Commercialization Gauntlet

Despite the promising technology and recent leadership change, Active Membranes is at a delicate stage. The company's description of a “fully commercial growth stage” is underpinned by a recently closed seed funding round totaling $3.24 million. This capital, raised from investors including lead Natural Ventures, Echo River Capital, and Rose Rock Bridge, is earmarked for corporate growth, scaling up the technology, and executing several extended field pilot tests.

This indicates the company is at a crucial inflection point - transitioning from successful pilots to full-scale commercial deployment. It's a notoriously difficult leap for deep-tech hardware companies, requiring a shift from a research-focused mindset to one centered on manufacturing, sales, and supply chain logistics. Dr. Hoek’s appointment is explicitly designed to navigate this challenge, leveraging his experience and network to secure further funding and forge strategic partnerships.

“Knowing that I advise and consult several other startups and mature companies in our industry, I am excited to explore how those relationships will enable new opportunities and even faster growth for Active,” Hoek noted, hinting at the strategic ecosystem he brings to the company.

A Crowded Field with High Stakes

Active Membranes enters a highly competitive but rapidly growing market. The broader water treatment membrane industry is projected to exceed $20 billion by 2034, driven by compounding pressures from climate change, industrial demand, and global population growth. An estimated 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water, and by 2025, half the world's population could live in water-stressed areas.

The field is dominated by industrial behemoths like DuPont Water Solutions, SUEZ, Toray Industries, and LG Chem. These established players have vast manufacturing capabilities and extensive global distribution networks for their conventional RO, nanofiltration, and ultrafiltration membranes. However, their technologies largely rely on incremental improvements to the same fundamental process that Active Membranes seeks to disrupt.

The key differentiator for the startup is its focus on active prevention of fouling rather than passive filtration and subsequent chemical treatment. By addressing the core operational pain point of maintenance and chemical dependency, Active Membranes is carving out a unique value proposition. Its success will depend on its ability to prove its technology is not only more efficient but also reliable and scalable enough to compete with the industry’s entrenched incumbents. With a scientific visionary now helping to steer the ship, the company is poised to test whether its acclaimed technology can make a meaningful impact on the global stage.