Next generation tech powers Climeworks’ megaton leap
Climeworks reveals its latest Generation 3 direct air capture technology to scale up to megaton capacity
Zürich April 1st, 2025 – Helin Cox, an experienced engineer with a track record of successfully scaling critical climate technologies, joins Climeworks as Chief Technology Officer, effective immediately. Her deep end-to-end expertise in technology commercialization, industrial scale-up and R&D portfolio construction will enable Climeworks to drive continued innovation of its Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology—the core offering of the company’s carbon removal portfolio.
Helin Cox has a proven ability in commercializing new technologies in large-scale projects worldwide—precisely the stage Climeworks finds itself. At Climeworks, Helin Cox will lead a unit of 150 engineers and scientists to further optimize the company’s DAC tech, ultimately facilitating the deployment of Climeworks’ best-performing DAC plant yet—highest CO₂ capture and lowest energy consumption for biggest climate impact.
This will involve validating and advancing the most promising filter materials, process designs, equipment, and operational approaches to DAC, rigorously testing them in Climeworks’ world-class test facilities—spanning lab to large-scale—and guiding them through to commercial readiness.
As a chemical engineer who has spent years driving innovation across technologies, Helin Cox knows how to translate scientific breakthroughs into high-performing industrial-scale plants. Her ambition is clear: Help teams integrate testing, fundamentals-driven discovery and modeling with agile and robust project execution so Climeworks can bring DAC innovations to the field faster, at scale.
Deep expertise in scaling tech—from discovery through commercialization
Helin Cox joins Climeworks from Honeywell UOP—the world’s leading energy process technology commercialization and licensing organization—where she served as Senior Director of Technology Development. The company’s entire portfolio of new product development was under her lead, including renewable fuels, clean hydrogen, carbon capture, energy storage and more.
Helin Cox has expertise managing the full stage-gate R&D process—encompassing discovery, prototype selection, manufacturing and scale-up robustness, and commercialization—across catalysts, adsorptive separations, membrane technologies, process technology and equipment design: all cornerstones of Climeworks’ own DAC technology development. With a background in world-scale plant construction and operations alongside eight US patents, she brings with her extensive field and industry experience.
Technological excellence through rigor, resilience and agility
Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks: “Helin Cox has consistently driven innovation across the full spectrum of technology readiness from early R&D to commercial deployment. Her technical thoroughness, hands-on attitude and sense of urgency, alongside her proven ability to lead large, cross-functional R&D teams is exactly what Climeworks looks for in its leaders. We look forward to cementing our technology leadership in the DAC space with her onboard.”
Helin Cox on what attracted her to the company: “Climeworks’ track record as the industry leader in the DAC space reflects both the strong history of innovation and high caliber of its people. Leveraging my experience in technology scale-up and passion for impact, I look forward to accelerating the deployment of DAC at the pace the climate challenge demands.”
Learn more about Climeworks’ latest technology news:
The reality of deploying direct air capture in the field
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