Jacob Freitag — Where I See Possible Convergence

Jacob Freitag

Founder, Altigad · Kansas City

Where I See Possible Convergence

Here’s a short background. I prepared this to surface work that may be applicable to your goals at UMKC.

People I’ve engaged

Recent discussions in your orbit.

Eric Anderson — spoke several times in spring re: pharmaceutical IP licensing, UMKC OTC

Melissa Roberts Chapman — Attended BRICKS, scheduled 1:1 for September

Brittany Martinez — KC RiBS, KUMC; invited to apply for executive board seat; meeting on the 24th

Anthony Caruso — visited his office several times, relationship is warm; have not engaged since the award announcement, to respect the chain of command and preserve his focus

Questions for you

01

What other NSF or Federal Opportunities are you planning for?

02

What UMKC assets do you see as underutilized?

03

One person who will be at the CMC working session I should learn from?

04

What are you most excited about between BioHub and CMC investment?

My work

Selected work. Expand for evidence and detail.

Federal STEM Investment Tracking

Altigad · 2024–Present

Built a primary-source federal intelligence capability spanning DoD, NSF, NIH, and related programs, mapping funding flows, incumbents, partnership pathways, and emerging technology priorities.

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Expanded evidence

  • Analyzed a $120M+ federal portfolio to inform strategic planning and priority management.
  • Authored 10+ federal white papers across Army DEVCOM, Navy DON STEM, NDEP, NSF, NIH, and related opportunities.
  • Built and managed a five-agency opportunity pipeline, aligning technical concepts against agency priorities and BAAs.
  • Established firm as an NSF-listed federal contractor, enabling direct federal engagement, and cultivated relationships with 10+ federal, industry, and DoD stakeholders.

Outcome context: No awards to date due to federal funding shifts beginning in late 2025.

Biomaterial-Interface Research

University of Kansas · 2018–Present

Progressed from research intern to Adjunct Researcher supporting industry-funded translational bioengineering, research operations, and external partnerships across biomaterials, enzyme systems, and material interfaces.

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Expanded evidence

  • Supported an approximately $5M Fortune 500 research partnership, translating technical progress and risk for external PIs, VPs, scientists, and patent counsel.
  • Delivered 50+ external research briefings to external executive leadership.
  • Coordinated 3–5 concurrent funded projects and governed approximately $1.26M in research equipment; directed onboarding and technical development of 15+ researchers.
  • First-author presenter at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society national conference, 2024.

Work included dental and mineralized-tissue biomaterials connected to Dr. Paulette Spencer, formerly of UMKC School of Dentistry.

AquaAction · Maritime Innovation

$325K Awarded · 4-Day Engagement

Entered a multi-partner state innovation proposal four days before submission and restructured its strategy, partner architecture, evidence, and impact logic against the funder’s scoring criteria.

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Expanded evidence

  • Reframed the proposal across 15+ academic, government, nonprofit, and private-sector stakeholders within a four-day submission window.
  • Unified partner roles into a coherent operating and implementation model.
  • Corrected inconsistencies across timelines, funding logic, evaluation metrics, and partner contributions.
  • Surfaced external strategic intelligence that strengthened program positioning and credibility. Aligned metrics with federal opportunities.
  • Awarded $325K July 2026.

“The first person to bring a true external perspective … a unique skill I have not witnessed before.”

Soula Chronopoulos, President, AquaAction

KCAS Bio · Executive Intelligence

375-Person CRO · 8 Weeks

Embedded without a predefined scope across eight departments, tracing commercial signal paths, operational failures, and decision bottlenecks for senior leadership.

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Expanded evidence

  • Diagnosed a 92-step commercial process and identified a 4.7× cascading failure pattern, shifting the leadership diagnosis from individual error to system architecture.
  • Surfaced a 10-month client-feedback latency and defined a change approach for restoring the signal to leadership.
  • Analyzed 2,000+ contracts to identify pricing variance and margin risk.
  • Resolved a BD–Marketing conflict through a biomarker audit and 12-point survey with 100% participation.
  • Built the business case that reversed an IT decision and restored collaboration tools for approximately 375 employees.

“He built trust quickly and focused on internal realities … not external frameworks or assumptions.”

Dominic Warrino, Sr. Director, KCAS Bio

Additional work

Cyber workforce program architecture · advisory-board development · federal technology and partnership intelligence

How is CMC thinking about this?

Biological design, interface characterization, and material design as one coupled, iterative system, not sequential steps.

Biological design, interface characterization, and material design working model

Also worth a look: Chen et al.’s July 2026 fluorine-free superhydrophobic coating paper, out of UMKC’s School of Science & Engineering. Curious if you’ve connected with that group.