Grant Belton is Lead Innovation Engineer and Associate Director of the Rice Nexus within the Office of Innovation. The Nexus is a dedicated innovation space where faculty, students and the community can turn “proof-of-principle” ideas into viable, scalable prototypes ready for commercialization. Within this role, he serves as the go-to-resource for inventors and researchers seeking to design and develop innovative hard-tech solutions. He coordinates all technical aspects of the Nexus, managing product design and development for collaborative projects such as the military’s smart helmet, as well as the wet and dry-lab space including the industrial-grade 3D printers from Carbon and product development partnerships. Outside of work, Grant enjoys tinkering and working on projects large and small, as well as spending time with his partner and their four-legged friends.