U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Announces 2021 Virtual ARPA-E Summit

ARPA-E will host the 11th ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit virtually, May 24 – 27, 2021. The Summit convenes the best minds in innovation, business, academia, and government to advance cutting-edge technologies and facilitate relationships to move technologies to market.

2021 Summit attendees can expect:

  • Technology Showcase featuring 300+ next-generation energy technologies
  • Live demonstrations of select technologies
  • Networking opportunities, including the Government Agency Networking Program (GANP)
  • Breakout panels that highlight technical and commercial opportunities
  • Exciting keynotes from industry leaders and luminaries on the future of energy technology.

To register, go to https://www.arpae-summit.com


ARPA-E Announces SCALEUP Project Selections

ARPA-E announces 9 projects in our new SCALEUP Program, including Natron Energy, Bridger Photonics, 24M, AutoGrid Systems, Cambridge Electronics, LongPath Technologies, Sila Nanotechnologies, Switched Source and Ionic Materials.

SCALEUP - Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential - is a first-of-its-kind initiative, supporting the scaling of high-risk and potentially disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. The goal of the program is to translate the performance achieved at the lab- and bench-scale by previously funded ARPA-E technologies to commercial viability, supporting promising energy technologies that require scaling-up or pre-pilot projects to enable a path to market and ultimately lead to realized commercial impact. SCALEUP awardees are unique in that they will focus on further developing existing technologies, for which the proof-of-concept R&D challenges have been addressed, that can establish real-world impact through scaling.


ARPA-E: Partnering with Defense for Energy Security

The Department of Defense (DoD) is one of the largest consumers of energy in the world—accounting for 1% of U.S. energy consumption. Given this impressive demand, the department actively pursues energy technologies to make the way it trains, moves and sustains U.S. forces more energy efficient and resilient. Because ARPA-E funds innovative new energy technologies, DoD can be a natural hand-off partner for ARPA-E teams seeking to further their technology. Featuring remarks from ARPA-E’s Dr. Ryan Umstattd, this video highlights two ARPA-E projects that have formed strategic partnerships with the military to improve mission readiness and enhance operational capability. Texas A&M University is partnering with the Navy to develop a membrane technology to dehumidify cargo spaces in ships where moisture can cause damage. Nexceris is collaborating with the Navy to develop an off-gas sensor for lithium-ion batteries that can detect and warn of an impending battery failure, keeping equipment and personnel onboard Naval vessels safe.


U.S. Manufacturing: Light Metals Making Heavy Lifts

ARPA-E’s Modern Electro/Thermochemical Advances in Light Metals Systems (METALS) program seeks cost-effective and energy-efficient technologies to process and recycle metals for lightweight vehicles and aircraft. ARPA-E Program Director Dr. David Tew discusses the METALS program and explains how reducing the amount of energy and money it takes to recycle or process light metals like titanium or aluminum may enable competition with heavier incumbents like steel. This video highlights two METALS projects: UHV Technologies, which has developed a first-of-its-kind automatic scrap metal sorter to reduce the cost of metal recycling, and the University of Utah, which has discovered a new chemical process to extract titanium powder directly from ore—reducing cost and energy consumption. 


ARPA-E High Efficiency Hybrid Vehicles Workshop Webinar

Presentation from the High Efficiency Hybrid Vehicles Workshop recorded October 25, 2017. Presented by ARPA-E Program Directors Chris Atkinson and Grigorii Soloveichik.


ARPA-E MEITNER FOA Overview Webinar

In this webinar, ARPA-E Program Director Rachel Slaybaugh provides an overview of the Modeling-Enhanced Innovations Trailblazing Nuclear Energy Reinvigoration (MEITNER) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

Download Presentation PDF


ARPA-E: Actively Managing Projects to Accelerate Impact

The ARPA-E model is unique in that the agency does not just provide teams funding. Throughout the lifetime of an ARPA-E award, ARPA-E Program Directors and Tech-to-Market Advisors also provide teams with expert advice through quarterly reviews and onsite visits. This hands-on approach helps ensure teams can meet ambitious milestones, target and tackle problems early on, and advance their technologies towards commercialization. Program Director Dr. Isik Kizilyalli explains the importance of this active project management approach in helping teams identify and overcome barriers. In this video, Energy Storage Systems (ESS) from the GRIDS program and Monolith Semiconductors from the SWITCHES program discuss how ARPA-E’s active project management approach helped them find solutions to technical challenges.


ARPA-E: Redefining the Problem to Find New Solutions

ARPA-E brings together experts from diverse disciplines and industries to frame new ways of looking at the energy challenge. By viewing the problem through a different lens, ARPA-E brings together new capabilities to develop new technology solutions. The DELTA and MONITOR programs illustrate this novel approach well. In this video, Associate Director of Technology Dr. Patrick McGrath discusses how ARPA-E has reframed the challenge of building efficiency with the DELTA program and methane leaks with the MONITOR program differently in order to yield “out of left field” technologies that can lead to transformational gains. The video features two projects – University of California San Diego’s DELTA project and Rebellion Photonics’ MONITOR project.


ARPA-E: Guiding Technologies to Commercial Success

ARPA-E’s Technology-to-Market Advisors work closely with each ARPA-E project team to develop and execute a commercialization strategy. ARPA-E requires our teams to focus on their commercial path forward, because we understand that to have an impact on our energy mission, technologies must have a viable path into the marketplace. ARPA-E Senior Commercialization Advisor Dr. John Tuttle discusses what this Tech-to-Market guidance in practice looks like with reference to two project teams. OPEN 2012 awardees from Harvard University and Sunfolding share their stories of how ARPA-E worked with their teams to analyze market conditions and identify commercial opportunities that ultimately convinced them to pivot their technologies towards market applications with greater potential.


ARPA-E: Innovating Today. Transforming Tomorrow.

Innovation and entrepreneurism are integral parts of America’s national fiber and driving forces behind many of the technologies that define our modern lives. It’s this entrepreneurial spirit – in conjunction with world-class institutions and talent – that enable the United States to develop advanced energy technologies that can solve the many challenges we face.

Featuring remarks from multiple ARPA-E staff, this video explores how ARPA-E leverages our nation’s resources to help nurture and grow America’s energy innovation community. The video also incorporates footage shot onsite with several ARPA-E awardees who are innovating solutions to transform tomorrow’s energy future.