A Look Ahead to the 2017 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit

 

Summit Speakers

During the last week of February 2017, more than 2,000 energy innovators, investors, and policymakers will gather just outside Washington, D.C. to discuss cutting-edge energy technologies and commercialization strategies at the eighth annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit. During the three-day program, attendees from across the United States and the world will hear from industry and government leaders, network at focused seminars and panel discussions, and have a first-hand look at the hundreds of technologies featured in ARPA-E’s Technology Showcase.

Every year, the Summit brings together prominent energy entrepreneurs and thought leaders from business, academia, and government to present their vision for the future of energy innovation on the mainstage. In the past, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Ursula Burns, and Henry Paulson have addressed Summit attendees. 

Now, ARPA-E is excited to announce its first wave of speakers for 2017: 

Lynn Good, chairman, president, and CEO of Duke Energy, is leading one of the nation’s largest electric power companies. Under her tenure, Duke Energy has embraced new technologies and expanded its use of renewable energy.

L. Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at MIT, where this year he launched The Engine, an accelerator focused on supporting technology ventures addressing humanity’s greatest challenges. 

Jeffrey Sachs, university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, is widely recognized as a global leader in economics and sustainable development. He has spent decades advising international aid organizations, heads of state, and the United Nations on economic strategy and sustainable development practices.  

Ajay Royan, founder and Managing General Partner of Mithril Capital Management, is an investor and entrepreneur. He cofounded Mithril with Peter Thiel in 2012, where he focuses on helping lead companies through high-growth periods. He also serves on the Science Advisory Board of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was elected to the Presidents’ Circle of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. 

Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO of C3 IoT, was an executive at Oracle before founding the global application software firm Siebel Systems in 1993. Now he is focused on bringing smart, connected internet-of-things solutions to an array of industries including energy, retail, government, healthcare, and automotive. 

Thomas Hager, author of The Alchemy of Air, is a thoughtful observer on science and technology. He has written seven books and more than 100 news articles and feature stories. His latest work, The Alchemy of Air, is widely praised and was a finalist for the National Academies Communications Award. 

Saul Griffith, founder and CEO of Otherlab, is an inventor and entrepreneur. At Otherlab, he leads a company focused on collaborating with universities, federal agencies, large companies, and other research firms to develop pioneering technologies in renewable and clean energy, digital fabrication, robotics, and other areas. He is also a columnist for Make and Craft magazines.  

The 2017 Summit will be held February 27 - March 1 in National Harbor, Md. ARPA-E will announce additional mainstage speakers in the coming weeks.