In our final day at the 2023 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, we started with ‘Coffee with ARPA-E,’ a continuation of yesterday’s event where folks had the opportunity to network with and learn from ARPA-E leadership, Program Directors, Technology-to-Market Advisors, and Fellows about opportunities related to ARPA-E and discussions about moving transformational technologies out of the lab and into the market.

​

Coffee with ARPA-E

Following ‘Coffee with ARPA-E,’ morning breakout sessions consisted of three panels on the blue economy, ARPA-E’s SCALEUP program, and the new independent Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI).

This “Energy and the Blue Economy” Breakout Panel brought together Julie Decker, Executive Director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Jennifer Garson, Director of the Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office, Dr. Tom Fu, Head of Sea Warfare and Weapons at the Office of Naval Research, Dr. Richard Spinrad, the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, Department of Commerce at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Jennifer States, Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer at the Blue Sky Maritime Coalition. They all anticipate significant growth in at-sea energy consumption over the coming decade. The panel discussed diverse users of ocean energy technologies, whose operational requirements will motivate the development of innovative solutions in renewable marine energy generation, storage, and transfer.

​

ARPA-E Breakout Panel - Jennifer States, Dr. Tom Fu, Julie Decker, Dr. Richard Spinrad, and Jennifer Garson

The “Scaling Up with SCALEUP” Breakout Panel consisted of Allan Bradshaw, Chief Manufacturing Officer of InventWood, Danny Cunningham, Deputy Director for Commercialization at ARPA-E, Dr. Shreya Dave, Chief Executive Officer of Via Separations, Lane Nelson, Co-Founder & Chief Financial Officer at Switched Source, and Dr. Greg Rieker, Chief Technology Officer at LongPath Technologies to discuss key technical, commercial, and team development challenges they have confronted – and continue to confront – in their scale-up journey and how they are addressing them.

​

ARPA-E Breakout Panel - Greg Reiker, Lane Nelson, Allan Bradshaw, Shreya Dave, and Dr. Daniel Cunningham

The Department of Energy (DOE) has been tasked with setting up an independent foundation — the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) — per section 10691 of the CHIPS Act. During the ‘DOE Foundations’ panel, FESI will be established as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Dr. Vanessa Chan, Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions at DOE, Maynard Holliday, Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Dr. Sally Rockey, Chief Executive Officer at Rockey Consulting, Jetta Wong, Co-Author of the 2020, ITIF report, Mind the Gap: A Design for a New Energy Technology Commercialization Foundation and Former Clean Energy Innovation consultant discussed what successes their department and organizations have created and how outside stakeholders interact with existing foundations.

​

ARPA-E Breakout Panel - Dr. Vanessa Chan, Maynard Holliday, Dr. Sally Rockey, and Jetta Wong

After Breakout Panels, U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich gave video addresses to the Summit audience on the Main Stage.

Ms. Vicki Hollub, CEO of Oxy, took the Main Stage to discuss Oxy is reaching their net zero goals.

​

Ms. Vicki Hollub

Lieutenant General Eric J. Wesley (Retired) discussed the impact of new energy technologies on military capabilities around the world through his experience and current work.

​

Lieutenant General Eric J. Wesley

Mr. John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, The White House, and Ms. Aliya Haq, Vice President of U.S. Policy and Advocacy at Breakthrough Energy took the Main Stage together for a Fireside chat discussing the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on America’s clean energy future.

​

Mr. John Podesta and Ms. Aliya Haq

Shomik Verma, MIT Mechanical Engineering PhD Student and PITCHES competition winner, pitched his idea on the Main Stage.

​

Shomik Verma 

U.S. Representative Charles Fleischmann (TN-03) consecutively took the Main Stage to discuss ARPA-E and its impact.

U.S. Representative Charles Fleischmann

We closed out the Main Stage with closing remarks from ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang.

ARPA-E Director Dr. Evelyn N. Wang

The 2023 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit concluded with a final visit to the technology showcase, where presenters had one last chance to show off their innovative technologies.

ARPA-E Technology Showcase