Every time his startup celebrates a big win, Gabe Tavas hears the voice of his middle school science teacher. “Think bold, be curious, and do the research,” she’d say — words that led him to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he surrounded himself with makers, researchers, and entrepreneurs. There, at the Community Fab Lab and later Seibel Center for Design, Tavas began developing Pyrus — a wood alternative made from food waste and bacteria. His goal: build a better future for the planet, one that doesn’t rely on cutting down forests to make flooring and decks. Musical instruments, too.

“It’s gut-wrenching,” he says, “to see ecosystems destroyed for a few pieces of mahogany or ebony.” Pyrus changes that. The material starts out looking like beef jerky or a thick fruit roll-up, but transforms into a sustainable substitute artists use to make everything from earrings to ukulele fingerboards. By turning discarded kombucha byproducts into functional design, Tavas and his team at Symmetry Wood are reducing landfill waste and reimagining what materials can be.

After graduating, Tavas moved Symmetry Wood to Chicago — part of a growing trend of University of Illinois System alumni choosing to stay and scale in the state. As founder and CEO, he now travels the world championing climate-resilient materials and urging the next generation to think differently. “The world I envision has more trees,” he says. “A lot more trees."