Chris Kanik

Chris is the son of immigrant parents and he thrived on the prospect of fulfilling the American Dream. Chris first stepped foot in a lab at 12 years old, now with over 25 years of laboratory research experience, Smart Cups is the embodiment of his life’s work.

At age 12, Chris Kanik was able to attain University permission to begin work at Stevens Institute of Technology as a researcher using a high-performance liquid chromatography machine (HPLC) to study the chemical degradation of aspartame in diet sodas over extended periods of storage at various temperatures. At age 14, Chris was a Research Assistant at Rutgers University in the Nutritional Sciences Department, studying adipocyte metabolism in adipocyte fatty acid binding protein knockout mice (aP2-/-) after short-term high-fat feeding. From there, Chris, continued to be a Researcher at Rutgers University in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering/NASA, assisting in the development of the conceptualization of biologically based nano-robots.

Chris Kanik attended Cornell University as an American Chemical Society Scholar. During his last two years at Cornell University, Chris took on the role of Student Manager, providing support and managing over 70 employees, showing off his abilities as a highly dynamic leader with a unique balance of analytical and interpersonal skills. Chris went on to graduate from Cornell University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Rather than pursuing the conventional path after graduating, Chris blazed his own trail and pursued his passion for stand-up comedy on the New York circuit. In 2011, Chris Kanik was sitting a packed taco Tuesday and wanted a margarita… his waitress was not fast enough, so he had an idea. The next day, Chris successfully created encapsulated ethanol in his kitchen using simple tools. After researching solutions for bringing the product to market – Smart Cups was born.

Chris’ creative and entrepreneurial spirit can be directly attributed to being the first generation born of immigrant parents. Having experienced first-hand the struggles and inequalities that exist among socio-economic classes, Chris has always been drawn to disrupting the status quo and designing better solutions to systems. Chris’ dream was to provide resources to people in need across the globe in a more efficient and eco-forward manner.