The MEDC also helped us early on create a model in Excel for tracking business financing and forecasting, forecasting our future financial needs, so that we could be proactive instead of reactive to financial limitations. We knew it wasn't going to be inexpensive to design and build a piece of equipment that's the size of two very large refrigerators that had never been built before. That type of financial-forward modeling helped us figure out when we would need to start fundraising and taking in investments. As we progressed along that, the MEDC also provided support of an attorney who reviewed contract language to make sure that we really understood various agreements that we were signing. Megan: Right. You mentioned that you and your co-founder were first-time entrepreneurs, as you put it. Tech acumen and business acumen are very different sets of skills. I wondered, what was the process like, developing this innovative technology while also building out a viable business plan? Denise: Well, Meng is a brilliant individual. She is a chemical engineer who also has an MBA. Meng had fantastic training to help understand the basis of how businesses function, in addition to understanding both the engineering and the chemistry behind what we were trying to do. I am an environmental toxicologist by training. I've had a longer career than Meng in that field. Over time, I have grown new offices and established new offices for different consulting firms I've worked for. I had the experience with people, space, culture, and running a business from that side. Meng has the financial MBA knowledge basis for a business. We're both excellent chemists and engineers, and those types of things. We had much of the necessary knowledge, at least to take the first steps forward. The challenge became the hard limit of 24 hours in a day and no revenue to hire any support. That's when the startup support networks like the MEDC became invaluable. It was simply impossible to do everything that needed to be done, especially while we were learning what we were doing. The MEDC and other programs provided support to take some of that load off us, but also helped us to learn to implement the new skills in an efficient manner, less stumbling. Megan: So many things to juggle, isn't there, in starting a company. I wondered, in that vein, could you share some successes and highlights from your journey so far? Any partnerships or projects that you're excited about that you could share with us? Denise: As people say, being an entrepreneur and running a startup is like a rollercoaster. You have high moments and you have very low moments when you think nothing's ever going to move forward. I'd love to talk about some of the highlights. Our machine, which we call the PFASigator. First of all, coming up with that name has a fun story behind it. The machine is, like I said, about the size of two large refrigerators. It's very large, and it breaks down PFAS in water. The machine takes in water that has PFAS in it, we add a couple of liquid chemicals, then a very intense ultraviolet light shines on that water, which catalyzes a chemical reaction called reductive defluorination. When all of this is happening and the PFAS molecules are being broken apart to nontoxic compounds, to an outsider, it all still just looks like water with a light shining on it. But the machine is big, and it essentially eats PFAS. Meng and I were bantering, and her young, six-year-old son was in the background at the time. We were throwing names around. Thomas called out, "The PFASigator!" We were like, "Ooh, there's something there."