Dr. Scott Hsu served as the Principal Investigator for Los Alamos National Laboratory’s ALPHA project from 2015-2018, where he led a team that designed and built a new, non-destructive driver technology that could enable more rapid experimentation and progress toward cost-effective fusion power. Now an ARPA-­E Program Director overseeing the ALPHA program’s conclusion and the development of new fusion programs, Dr. Hsu focuses on potentially transformative R&D to enable timely commercial fusion energy.

We sat down with ARPA-E Program Director, Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh, as she reflected on her experience attending the very first ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Student Program back in 2010.

We recently sat down with a former Technology-to-Market Summer Scholar, Dr. Dan Sanchez, to get his perspective on the Summer Scholar experience and see what insight he has to offer our next crop of scholars!

Dr. Scott Litzelman is a Program Director at ARPA-E. We recently sat down with him to discuss how he became interested in energy, his experience working in the industry, and how he’s hoping to transform America’s energy future.

SHIELD is a portfolio of research projects seeking to solve the massive problem of inefficient and uncomfortable single-pane windows. 

Dr. Michael Ohadi discusses his background, how he came to ARPA-E, and how high efficiency, compact power systems could be a game changer for a range of industries.

Drs. Slaybaugh and Zhao discuss their backgrounds, why they came to ARPA-E, and how novel plant designs could transform nuclear power for the 21st century.

ARPA-E Tech-to-Market Advisors are commercialization experts that have a critical blend of technical, business, and entrepreneurial experience that they draw upon to prepare project teams and technologies that are too early for private sector development for commercial success. Hear from Tech-to-Market Advisor Carlton Reeves about his experiences on the ARPA-E Tech-to-Market team.

Here at ARPA-E, we focus on transformational energy projects that can be meaningfully advanced with a small investment over a set amount of time. Our streamlined awards process enables us to act quickly and catalyze cutting-edge areas of energy research. Part of making sure we have a constant infusion of fresh thinking and new perspectives comes from our Program Directors, who serve on limited terms. ARPA-E hires Program Directors with visionary ideas for new energy technologies. During their three-year terms, Program Directors are responsible for program creation, design, implementation, and management. Hear from three Program Directors—two current and one alumnus—about what being an ARPA-E Program Director is like.

The ARPA-E Fellows Program seeks to seed innovation and creativity within the Agency by generating new ideas and connecting with leading experts to empower cross-disciplinary solutions that improve energy efficiency, reduce energy imports, and curb emissions. During their two-year tenure, ARPA-E Fellows influence the direction of American energy innovation, engaging with world-class researchers in academia and industry, entrepreneurs, and government officials.