Abiel Ma is CEO of Vuala, a start-up pioneering decentralised food waste reprocessing.

He and his company may be relatively young, but like all good innovations they stand on the shoulders of others.

What makes this innovation story unusual is that the shoulders in question are those of his father who carried out decades of research and development in environmental science and mechanical engineering.

This father-and-son team now bring their combined skills to bear on a problem that has global significance. Worldwide more than 30% of food is wasted and - aside from the obvious injustice - it is a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions. Capturing and reprocessing food waste is therefore a vital part of the solution to the climate crisis.

This episode covers Abiel's personal and professional journey from the towers of Hong Kong to an ambitious Cambridge start-up.

We discuss the tensions of working with family across generations, the story of the company and its innovation, and Abiel Ma's personal predictions for the future of work.

(00:00) Introduction to Abiel Ma

(01:44) THE PAST - My Life and Career Journey

(08:57) My father - Anthony Ma

(14:22) Creative artefact

(15:39) THE PRESENT - My Work and Innovation

(25:34) THE FUTURE - Future of Work

(27:51) What's special about humans?

(29:06) Concluding advice

Links and credits

Company website - www.vuala.co.uk

AI tools he mentioned included

• Chat GPT: https://chat.openai.com
• Octoparse: https://www.octoparse.com

Recent awards and recognition:

• UNICEF Innovation30: Young Innovators Shaping the Future, 2023 - https://www.unicef.org/innovation/climate/innovation-30/vuala
• Innovate UK Young Innovator's Awards 2023 - https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/projects/programme-young-innovators/abiel-ma/