From left, Kyle Gillis from Wheeling and James Carnes from Weirton, industrial engineering graduates at West Virginia University who created Iconic Air while they were in school. Iconic has been recognized by Forbes Magazine’s Forbes 30 Under 30. (Photo Provided)
MORGANTOWN — A company created by two engineering students from the Northern Panhandle has been recognized by Forbes Magazine’s Forbes 30 Under 30.
Kyle Gillis from Wheeling and James Carnes from Weirton grew up miles apart in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, but their paths would not cross until their junior year at West Virginia University where they graduated in 2019 with degrees in industrial engineering.
They founded Iconic Air during their senior year at West Virginia University in the Statler College of Engineering. Two years later, the company is among the world’s fastest growing startups in the energy sector.
Iconic Air company is making waves in the global energy sector with a new emissions monitoring and reporting software technology that also has national defense applications. The company was recognized by Forbes in the critical energy category.
Iconic Air is pioneering a new way of emissions monitoring and data reporting — a critical need because of evolving efforts to address climate change.
In addition to securing green lights for pilot operations in three key oil and gas-producing regions for 2021, the company has been awarded a 15-month United States Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contract to adapt the technology for U.S. Department of Defense applications.
The company is creating and implementing a data analytics software infrastructure that interfaces with methane and environmental monitoring sensors, Carnes, Iconic Air’s chief technology officer, said.
The platform will equip the oil and gas industry with an effective way to achieve transparent, continuous and automated processes for complying with higher standards related to climate change, environmental, social and governance reporting requirements and other evolving data demands, Carnes, Iconic’s chief technology officer, said.
“Early users have referred to the software as their ‘environmental hub’ because it combines leak detection, operations and emissions targets used in data driven reports that help organizations stay on track for emissions reduction goals,” Gillis, company CEO, said.
“It’s just a matter of time before the energy industry is required to present continuous environmental data to keep operating,” he said. “The Iconic Air platform will be a central piece in bridging the gap between operational excellence and environmental sustainability.”
Carnes and Gillis believe over the next decade, Iconic Air will make a global impact across high-emitting industries by helping companies become aligned with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to reduce the world’s dependence on global Greenhouse Gases.
The Forbes recognition “is a major step forward for the company and offers validation that a startup company, born out of West Virginia, can compete at the highest levels,” Carnes said.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 program is annually issued by Forbes magazine and recognizes businesses and industries in energy, entertainment, social media, media, education, finance, sports, venture capital, art and enterprise technology. Forbes launched the project in 2011 and by 2016, the nominations for the list grew to more than 15,000.
Gillis and Carnes were notified in October the company was awarded a Phase I & Phase II USAF Small Business Innovation Research Grant to adapt its technology to keep Air Force personnel safe and healthy.
The $700,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant will be used to create an automated and scalable software architecture that will interface with modern environmental instrumentation data and allow the Air Force to make informed decisions relating to air quality at USAF facilities.
The company may have never applied for the Air Force contact had it not been for West Virginia’s Small Business Innovation Research Matching Grant Program that offers state matching funds for companies winning federal awards from the grant program.
“The assistance we received from the ‘West Virginia Small Business Development Centers In-Tech Program FAST Grant Program was instrumental in helping us through the grant process,” he said.
Iconic Air is a spin-out of the Vantage Ventures entrepreneur assistance program at WVU.
