Inspiring the next gen of entrepreneurs | Emerald Youth Foundation visits the Anderson Center
Brian Washington, the founder of AluminAiry, delivered an inspiring message to high school students in the Emerald Youth Foundation.
Brian Washington, the founder of AluminAiry, delivered an inspiring and heartfelt message to high school students participating in the Emerald Youth Foundation’s summer program this week.
On Tuesday afternoon, the students gathered at the Haslam College of Business on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) campus to learn about entrepreneurship. The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI) hosted the event, welcoming approximately two dozen students.
For more than 30 years, the Emerald Youth Foundation has served over 30,000 young people in the heart of Knoxville through school-support programs, calling and career ministry, sports, and faith-based opportunities.
Washington was one of three entrepreneurs to speak at the event, and his story stood out for many of the students. Rather than diving straight into business talk, he focused on his life journey—one filled with challenges, ambition, and perseverance.
Growing up in Alabama with his grandmother, Washington faced his share of peer pressure, failures, and self-doubt. But underneath it all, he harbored a drive to become a leader, CEO, and to build a legacy greater than his circumstances.
“You have to believe in yourself, otherwise nobody else will,” he told the students.
Washington earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, then later traded his crimson jersey for orange to pursue graduate studies at UTK. There, he completed both a Master of Science and a PhD in Chemical Engineering.
“Sometimes it was really hard for me, being an African American man pursuing post-secondary education,” he shared. “There weren’t a lot of people in my classes who looked like me. My professors didn’t look like me. It was hard to find someone to look up to. Now, my goal is to be that figure for someone else.”
Washington also spoke about his late grandmother, who recently passed away from breast cancer. Her sacrifices, he said, have continued to fuel his determination to succeed.
While completing his PhD, Washington decided to pursue his long-held dream of becoming a CEO. He saw commercial potential in his research and launched AluminAiry—a startup focused on commercializing aluminum-air technology. Though the company initially focused on defense electrification applications, Washington sees potential across multiple industries, including grid-scale energy, eVTOLs, and heavy-duty vehicles.
“As I was starting the company, it was really hard,” he said. “I had no idea how to form a business—there’s no roadmap. You just have to figure it out. For months, I had bags under my eyes,” he added with a laugh.
That prompted one student to raise their hand and ask, “Why did you have bags under your eyes?”
Washington smiled and explained that he was running on just four hours of sleep each night—hustling to fund the startup and applying for grants. Though he is more well-rested now, he looks back on those days with a positive mindset.
“The harder the experience in your life, the more you learn about yourself,” he said. “The good stuff doesn’t come easy. You have to know that you’re going to fail. It’s going to happen. So, don’t be scared of it.”
To date, AluminAiry has earned several notable accomplishments, including:
- A $10,000 Spark Award from TVA at the TAEBC Opportunities in Energy conference (2024)
- A $50,000 Chancellor’s Innovation Fund Grant from the UT Research Foundation (2025)
- Participation in the Spark Cleantech Accelerator at UT Research Park (2024)
- Investment from Village Capital and participation in the Annual Community Cohort (2025)
Learn more about AluminAiry here.
Connect with Brian Washington.
Learn more about the Anderson Center.
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