Alumnus Kent Sorenson career journey from MIT to innovation and leadership

A career marked by seizing opportunities when they arise, Kent Sorenson MS ’95 has navigated the intersections of research, entrepreneurship, and leadership.  Sorenson credits the value of his MIT civil and environmental engineering education for his strong foundation in quantitative thinking and the ability to understand and solve complex problems.

Sorenson’s love for nature began in Colorado, where he spent much of his childhood. “I spent a lot of time in the Rocky Mountains growing up. That’s why I like pictures like this one.”  He points to a photo on his computer screen of a mountainous scene along the Clearwater River in Idaho.

Despite his early environmental interests, Sorenson pursued a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Tulane University, supported by a Department of Energy (DOE) scholarship for environmental restoration and waste management through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). He had planned to continue in mechanical engineering for graduate studies until a serendipitous conversation with MIT Professor Emeritus Rafael Bras shifted his trajectory. At the time, Sorenson was reaching out to the top graduate schools in the country and Bras was the liaison for the DOE scholarship program at MIT. During their conversation, Sorenson shared his research interests in environmental topics. Bras, recognizing the alignment between Sorenson’s passions and MIT’s Parsons Lab, suggested he consider civil and environmental engineering instead.

“I remember hearing about all the amazing research happening in the Parsons Lab that was an exact combination of my DOE fellowship, he recalls. I flew out to visit MIT in the spring and when I met everybody in the department, and Ole in particular, it was a slam dunk for me.”  

The MIT Experience  

He enrolled at MIT for his master’s degree studying groundwater under the guidance of Ole Madsen, the Donald and Martha Harleman Professor Emeritus, one of the leading experts in hydrodynamics at the time, and renowned groundwater researcher, Lynn Gelhar, the William E. Leonhard Professor Emeritus. His research focused on sediment transport and wave-current hydrodynamics on the Continental Shelf. 

When asked to recall his fondest memory at the Parsons lab, Sorenson’s remembered the camaraderie among students and the supportive faculty.

 “There’s this one memory that stands out about the way grad students helped each other out,” he recalls. “I remember a group of us first-year grad students sitting around a table in Parsons, commiserating about how hard it was. We were feeling downtrodden when a second-year grad student walked by, saw us struggling, and said to us, ‘Oh, you’ve just got the first semester blues.’

“We asked, ‘What’s that?’ 

“He said, ‘oh, everybody gets it. The first semester here is overwhelming, but don’t worry about it. You guys are going to be okay. Trust me – next semester, you’ll feel much better’

“And he was right. That small moment made all the difference.”

Sorenson also appreciated the balance of high expectations and strong mentorship among MIT faculty. “They expected a lot, but they also wanted you to succeed. That balance of challenge and support shaped how I approached my career.”

Another fond memory of his time at MIT was the birth of his daughter Kelley while he was finishing his master’s degree. Sorenson and his wife, Jennifer, were living in a one-bedroom apartment in a dorm at MIT, Sorenson recalls “writing my thesis with an infant in the dorm apartment was interesting.” 

After Kelley was born, Sorenson and his wife moved back west. He began working at the Idaho National Lab where he previously interned during the summers working on groundwater and environmental cleanup applications. 

A Bold Challenge 

When Sorenson joined the Idaho National Lab, he quickly realized it was a very research-heavy environment. “It wasn’t just about following instructions—it was about diving into real-world problems right away.”

Not long after he arrived, they handed him a project and said, ‘We need to figure out how to clean up chlorinated solvent dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) from a fractured rock aquifer—200 to 400 feet underground. It’s considered one of the hardest environmental cleanup challenges in the world. Do you want to lead it?’

And he thought to himself, ‘You’re crazy. But sure.’ At the same time, Sorenson couldn’t help but think to himself, ‘Am I the most qualified person?’ But despite his initial doubts, he embraced the opportunity. As the project unfolded, Sorenson realized the work could form the foundation for a PhD. He approached a professor at the University of Idaho, Roger Ely, proposing to turn the project into his dissertation research. “He looked at me and said, ‘That’s really ambitious—but if anyone can do it, you could.’ Sorenson wasn’t sure what he based that confidence on—because he barely knew him—but he took it as a yes and ran with it. That vote of confidence meant everything.”

The project was broad in scope, requiring significant groundwater modeling to understand the system they were working in. “My exposure to groundwater modeling at the Parsons Lab and strong training in math turned out to be invaluable. I had a solid grasp of the governing equations, and when my work was challenged. I could defend my approach with rigorous mathematical proof, which was very powerful and compelling,” said Sorenson. 

Beyond the technical aspects, everything he had learned at MIT about groundwater, surface water, and complex environmental systems played a huge role in his PhD research and throughout his career. “It was one of those moments where everything—theory, application, and real-world problem-solving—came together.”

Entrepreneurship and Industry Leadership

The experience at the National Lab was instrumental and a turning point in his career. In 2001, Sorenson and his colleagues developed a groundbreaking bioremediation process for environmental cleanup, securing a patent and laying the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey. The bioremediation process they developed addressed what the National Research Council considered the most difficult category of environmental cleanup. To hold the rights to his patented bioremediation process, Sorenson created an intellectual property (IP) holding company.

He identifies his entrepreneurial spirit and desire for creative freedom as the reason for not staying at the National Lab after developing the technology. “I didn’t realize it until that moment that I’m entrepreneurial at heart.  I wanted to take what we created and make an impact beyond the lab.”

Sorenson sub-licensed the patent to North Wind, where Sorenson and his colleagues started a new division focused on environmental cleanup work. He then went on to work at CDM Smith in Colorado for 16 years in an executive leadership role. 

Today, Sorenson has returned to Boston as Chief Technology Officer at Allonnia. “Allonnia operates at the intersection of biotechnology and environmental solutions, a space I find incredibly exciting,” Sorenson says.

Sorenson observes that while the Human Genome Project and breakthroughs in DNA sequencing and synthesis have significantly advanced the pharmaceutical industry, their application to environmental challenges remains limited. “There is potential to program biology much like we program computers, though it’s not as straightforward,” he explains. Sorenson sees immense opportunity in environmental engineering to harness modern biotechnology for tackling pressing issues, such as reducing carbon emissions and remediating contaminated water and soil.

A significant aspect of Allonnia’s work involves PFAS Remediation, addressing “forever chemicals” in contaminated water and decarbonizing the mining industry.

“Metals and mining is the single largest industry in terms of carbon emissions. If we want to electrify the economy, we need sustainable ways to extract critical materials like nickel, copper, and lithium.”

Finding your passion 

Sorenson’s career has been marked by following his passions and seizing opportunities along each step of the way. He emphasizes finding one’s passions as the first step in the process. “It’s important to figure out what you’re passionate about. If you’re not passionate about it, it’s not going to be worth it.” 

Beyond his professional life, Sorenson is an avid fly fisherman—a passion that ties back to his environmental work. “I joke that my motivation was to ‘save the fishies,’ but in reality, conservation has always been a driving force for me.” He even hosts a fly-fishing TV show on Fast TV network that includes three 20 minute episodes that were filmed in Wyoming and Colorado. He learned to fly fish while living in Idaho, partly self-taught and with the guidance of mentors. He shares with me another piece of advice that helped him along the way.  

“Find good mentors, invest in those relationships, and strive to be a great mentor yourself. That’s exactly what Rafael and Ole Madsen were for me. I’ve had mentors who told me their goal was to help me surpass them – and they made sure I did. And that, to me, is the mark of a truly great mentor.”