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Michael Carlson

Co-founder & CTO, CarboNet

Cleantech

Michael Carlson co-founded CarboNet, the Vancouver company that makes engineered flocculants and coagulants for industrial wastewater, and is its chief technology officer. As a University of British Columbia biochemistry PhD student, Carlson developed the NanoNet chemistry behind its products and brought the idea to the entrepreneurship@UBC incubator, where the company took shape.

Michael hasn’t spoken on a TechTO, TechVancouver or TechWaterloo stage. This profile is here because Michael co-founded CarboNet.

Around the web ×2

Article
CarboNet’s NanoNet Platform and innovation in wastewater treatment solutionsWater Canada
2023
Interview
A breakthrough idea for recycling waterH2O Global News
2021

Quick answers

Did Michael Carlson co-found CarboNet?

Yes. BCBusiness named Barry Yates, Michael Carlson, Amielle Lake and Bill Schonbrun as CarboNet's co-founders on 2024-10-25, reporting that Carlson, then a UBC PhD student, walked into the entrepreneurship@UBC incubator with an idea for treating wastewater. CarboNet's leadership page, read on 2026-09-24, lists Carlson as Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer.

Where did the technology come from?

Water Canada reported on 2023-03-27 that while completing a PhD in biochemistry, Carlson noticed polymers forming unintended complexes, at a time when offshore oil-spill cleanup was in the news. EDC wrote on 2025-05-26 that the work began in drug-delivery research aimed at oil spills before shifting to wastewater treatment.

What does Carlson do at CarboNet today?

CarboNet's leadership page, read on 2026-09-24, says Carlson developed the NanoNet platform and now leads the company's research and scientist recruitment.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Sep 24, 2026