Trace AQ, a U of U startup, has created Flow AQ, incorporating their cutting-edge, physics-based forecasting model into an accessible, easy-to-use mobile app that allows users to adapt to the impacts of changing and potentially hazardous air conditions.
A Critical Issue in Salt Lake City & Beyond
Every day, residents of Salt Lake City may breathe in air affected by wildfire smoke, inversion, dust, ozone, and other air pollution, impacting each individual’s respiratory system and making poor air quality one of the most prominent health concerns in the area.
According to research, exposure to the many factors impacting Salt Lake City’s air can have negative impacts on respiratory health, including shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest pain, wheezing, coughing, and fatigue. Prolonged exposure to dusty air, smoky air, polluted air, or ozone can worsen preexisting cardiovascular/heart diseases, asthma, and chronic bronchitis. However, for the critical problem poor air quality presents, it isn’t monitored as closely as many other parts of a weather forecast, making it difficult for athletes or others who train or recreate outside to avoid breathing in harmful air.
Using Flow AQ to Avoid Hazardous Air
Trace AQ, a data science-driven smoke and air quality forecasting technology company, recently released Flow AQ, an app providing forecasts, real-time conditions, personalized alerts, and health-driven insights into local air quality. Flow AQ’s forecasts differ from many other forecast services in that they incorporate physics-based solutions, where most forecasts in the commercial space limit their models to machine-based learning solutions derived from sensor data. This allows Trace AQ to produce a longer and more accurate forecast (96 hours) than ever before, which encourages users to be proactive and plan for poor air quality, rather than reacting once poor air quality is already here. This is especially useful for athletes of all ages with strict training and practice schedules.
The CTO of the startup, Taylor (Kai) Wilmot, shared, “A tool like this could be valuable as far as helping plan your training routine or, you know, helping you avoid the most degraded air quality, like things that will have significant impacts on your respiratory system.”
Because several Trace AQ team members have extensive experience in wildfire smoke research, their forecast has a unique ability to forecast smoke’s impact on air quality, but using a variety of techniques, their system is being built to address all factors in air quality.
Wilmot went on to share, “Our forecasts have correctly predicted upwards of 400% more unhealthy air quality events than our competitors or publicly available forecasts throughout the 2025 fire season.”
With the accurate and personalized air quality forecasts and alerts on Trace AQ’s app, users can be proactive instead of reactive to air quality and adjust their outdoor lifestyles to avoid hazardous air conditions.
Starting a Company Based on Use-Inspired Research
The research behind Trace AQ began as a National Science Foundation (NSF) project that was funded through the University of Utah’s Chemical Engineering Department. Heather Holmes, Derek Mallia, and Kai Wilmot all worked together on the project, later co-founding Trace AQ with Victor Gill, who joined as the founding CEO to aid in commercialization efforts.
“Trace AQ exactly represents the kind of company we aim to launch,” Tom Georgis, with the U’s Energy Accelerator, shared, “they’ve transitioned their research into a startup that can make a difference in solving urgent problems.”
Wilmot noted that from the foundation of Trace AQ, the goal was to commercialize their technology, contributing to the University of Utah’s mission of use-inspired research and tech-based economic development.
He shared that commercialization “offers value in a way that we can build a company, and it offers value that’s less dollar signs based, but it’s more like, ‘let’s actually make something of this technology and keep it alive.’”
For scientists in academia, he emphasized that commercialization and tech-based development are good ways to keep projects continually growing, expanding, and actively helping people. Where academic projects might run out of funding and end as research papers on a shelf, commercialization offers opportunities for long-term growth and prolonged impact.
Finding a Balance Between Research and Business
Throughout the commercialization process, Wilmot, Holmes, and Mallia worked with the University of Utah’s Technology Licensing Office and the Venture Hub’s Energy Accelerator, which facilitates the launching of energy-related technology startups on campus. The Energy Accelerator helps startups to advance their technology, identify market opportunities, create business plans and commercialization strategies, and provide access to investment networks. As the co-founders of Trace AQ worked to commercialize their technology and find investors, they found a challenging barrier between their science experience and the realm of business and entrepreneurship.
“Initial investors were kind of leery of the fact that we didn’t have any meaningful business experience on board,” Wilmot shared about the process of finding investors, “It felt like we kept hearing, ‘yeah, I trust that your technology is good, but I don’t trust that you know what you’re doing from a business perspective.’ Which was a fair critique.”
The more the team at Trace AQ worked to find investors, the more they considered bringing in someone new to handle the business side of the company. It proved difficult, as academics with extensive scientific backgrounds, to navigate the world of investors and marketing strategies.
“The expertise and skill and effort of really putting that emphasis on the business side of things is a whole other job,” Wilmot said. “You either need to be willing to step away from your science and really put time and effort into learning those skills and being that person and championing the company in business lingo and a business perspective, or you need to find somebody to fill that role.”
Eventually, the team had to ask themselves where they wanted to spend their time, if they wanted to keep focusing on their science and technology or if one of them wanted to learn how to navigate the business side of commercialization. The choice was made when they brought in Victor Gill as the CEO, where he’s been driving commercialization efforts ever since.
Next Steps and Goals
After closing their $1.25 million seed round last year, Trace AQ’s next big goal is to deliver their forecasting capabilities to organizations and individuals that need it. Along with Flow AQ, the company recently released Trace AQ | Aero, a tool for scientists and researchers to improve air quality advisories. Those using the tool for the public good, like researchers, can apply for deep discounts. In addition to wildfire smoke forecasts, they will have accessible and accurate ozone and dust forecasts available to their users, making it easier to minimize exposure to hazardous air.
