About MAAD House

MAAD House is a public-benefit research foundry built on Modular Anchoring & Adaptive Design—home to scientists, patrons, and collaborators working to make life more affordable, sustainable, and easier for everyone.

How MAAD House is Structured

🏛

MAAD House — The Institution

The overarching public-benefit research foundry. Home of Modular Anchoring & Adaptive Design. Where everything happens.

This is the brand, the identity, the institutional home for all our work.

🔬

MAAD Labs — The Execution

Specialized research labs where proof-of-concept work happens:

• Materials & Optics: Advanced materials, surface chemistry, optical systems
• Environmental Chemistry: Air/water purification, microplastics, circular recovery
• Biotech & Diagnostics: Molecular recognition, shelf-stable tools, antibody-free detection

🤝

MAAD Community — The People

Everyone building this together:

• Members: Monthly supporters funding research ($10-$50K+)
• Collaborators: University partners conducting proof-of-concept studies
• Partners: Industry validation partners ($50K-$500K projects)
• Supporters: Advocates, followers, believers in the mission

Why This Structure Works

MAAD House gives us institutional identity— we're not a startup or a side project. We're a research foundry with structure and staying power.

MAAD Labs organize our work by specialization— making it clear what expertise we have and what problems we tackle.

MAAD Community welcomes everyone at their level— whether you contribute $10/month or $500K, you're part of building this.

What We're Actually Trying to Do

Make life better in practical, everyday ways—using science that already works, applied with different incentives.

We're not trying to replace massive infrastructure or outcompete industrial-scale systems. We're building individual- and community-scale solutions that improve health, reduce environmental harm, and make everyday life easier.

"Your tent charging your phone won't change the grid. But it will change your day—and sometimes that's enough."

The MAAD House Team

Dr. Hannah Sanford-Crane, PhD

Founder & CEO

Chemical biologist with 10+ years building targeted delivery systems, click-chemistry platforms, and functional surfaces. Focused on turning proven science into tools that improve everyday life.

Working full-time to build MAAD and its research infrastructure.

Dr. Charlotte Thompson, DVM, MPH

Scientific Advisor (Independent)

Veterinarian and public health professional advising on research direction, translational relevance, and real-world application.

Contributions made independently and outside primary employment.

Ryan Thomas, MS

Senior Scientific Advisor (Independent)

Provides technical guidance and scientific review across MAAD Labs projects, with a focus on rigor and proof-to-prototype execution.

Contributions made independently and outside primary employment.

Future Scientists

You?

MAAD is intentionally small right now. We’re building toward stable funding that allows scientists to be hired, paid, and supported to do this work sustainably.

• Think across disciplines
• Comfortable in the proof-to-prototype middle
• Organized, rigorous, and collaborative
• A little MAAD (in the best way)

Interested in building public-benefit science?

Start a Conversation

Advisors and contributors participate independently and are not employees of MAAD unless explicitly stated.

How We Work With Universities

MAAD is built around partnerships. We collaborate with universities, colleges, and applied research groups to move ideas through the “hard middle”—from proof-of-concept to validated prototype—so good science can become useful in the real world.

Riipen Projects

We use Riipen to launch fast, focused proof-of-concept work—bringing defined problems, industry context, and direct funding to semester-scale research projects.

• McGill University (via Riipen)
• UC Merced (via Riipen)
• Additional Riipen projects (planned)

Applied Research Partnerships

For projects ready to move beyond semester timelines, MAAD brings direct funding for proof-of-concept and early prototyping, and works side-by-side with applied research groups to advance them.

• Langara College ARC (direct partnership)
• Northeastern University – Toronto (direct collaboration)
• University of Waterloo (pending, industry–academia model)

We co-apply for Mitacs and other applied research grants when appropriate, and combine these with fee-for-service, sponsored research, or hybrid funding models as projects mature.

YOU?

Are you a professor, college department, lab, or applied research group interested in public-benefit work that’s difficult to fund through traditional channels?

We’re open to many collaboration structures—direct funding, co-applied grants, sponsored research, or other partnership models that let good ideas move forward.

Propose a Collaboration

Our model is flexible by design.
We bring funding, context, and momentum—then work with partners to choose the structure that makes sense.

The MAAD Philosophy

Modular Anchoring & Adaptive Design — not just a name, it's how we build.

Modular

Components that do one job well, reusable across applications

Anchored

Real chemistry, real materials, real-world constraints

Adaptive

Works across conditions, tolerates variability, improves with iteration

We're a little MAAD—by design.

Read the Full Philosophy

Join the MAAD Community

Everyone who supports MAAD becomes a member of the MAAD House—a home for people who believe science should make life more affordable, sustainable, and human.

Become a Member Read the Full Story