Wrapping Up Day 2 of the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit
Day 2 of the 2022 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit began with ‘Coffee with ARPA-E,’ where attendees had the opportunity to network with ARPA-E leadership, program directors, tech-to-market advisors, and fellows on the future of energy innovation and technology.
(Coffee with ARPA-E)
Following ‘Coffee with ARPA-E,’ morning breakout sessions consisted of ARPA-E’s fast pitches and two panels on nuclear energy and energy opportunities in defense.
Fast pitches and breakout panels included:
- Fast Pitch: Carbon, moderated by Dr. Jack Lewnard, Program Director (PD) at ARPA-E, and consisting of Dr. Ian Robinson, Fellow at ARPA-E, Dr. Marina Sofos, PD at ARPA-E, Dr. Elizabeth Shoenfelt Troein, Fellow at ARPA-E.
- New Directions and Opportunities in Energy for Defense, including James Caley, Director of Operational Energy at the Department of the Navy, Richard Kidd, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, Ben Richardson, Portfolio Director of Energy at the Defense Innovation Unit, and John Jennings, Senior Commercialization Advisor at ARPA-E.
- Beyond Baseload: Nuclear’s Role in the New Energy Landscape, including Dr. Rita Baranwal, CTO at Westinghouse Electric Company, Dr. Charles Forsberg, Principal Research Scientist at MIT, Eric Ingersoll, Founder and Managing Director at TerraPraxis, Dr. Jessica Lovering, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Good Energy Collective, and Dr. Jenifer Shafer, PD at ARPA-E.
(Fast Pitch: Dr. Jack Lewnard)
General sessions began with a video address from the Honorable John Hickenlooper, followed by another address from the Honorable Michael Bennet, both Senators from Colorado in the U.S. Senate.
Following the addresses, we had a series of fireside chats. Our first fireside chat was with Andrew Lund, Chief Engineer of Zero Emission Vehicles at Toyota Motor North America, and Doreen Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA, who gave a talk on hydrogen as a fuel for today and the future. Later, Michael Terrell, Senior Director for Climate at Google, and Katherine Hamilton, Chair at 38 North Solutions, took the stage to discuss Net-Zero energy goals.
(Fireside Chat: Andrew Lund)
(Fireside Chat: Katherine Hamilton and Michael Terrell)
Our third fireside chat was with Saloni Multani, Co-Head at Galvanize Climate Solutions Innovation & Expansion Strategy, and Shayle Kann, Partner at Energy Impact Partners.
(Fireside Chat: Saloni Multani)
We followed with a talk from the Honorable Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and Dr. Suresh Sunderrajan, Associate Laboratory Director for Argonne National Laboratory, on the importance of intellectual property to growing innovation.
(Fireside Chat: Hon. Kathi Vidal and Dr. Suresh Sunderrajan)
The technology showcase launched into its second session with technology demos and lunch later that day.
Tech demos included:
- Saving Energy in Commercial Industrial Refrigeration Systems Using Radiative Sky Cooling with SkyCool Systems
- Floor Sensors for Occupancy Counting in Commercial Buildings with Scanalytics.
- A Rapid In-field System to Measure Deep Soil C Stock and Flux with Soil Health Institute
(Tech Demo: Eli Goldstein, SkyCool Systems)
(Tech Demo: Dr. David Webber, Scanalytics)
Concurrently, the Bipartisan Policy Center publicly launched the American Energy Innovators Network (AEIN) during a lunch panel, where discussion focused on federal policy for energy startups. The panel included Dr. Tanya Das, Associate Director for Energy Innovation at Bipartisan Policy Center, Eric Drummond, Senior Advisor at VentureWell, Del Mackey, Economic Development Officer at New Mexico State University, and Dr. Adria Wilson, Manager, U.S. Policy and Advocacy at Breakthrough Energy.
The day continued with the inaugural student Proposing Ideas for Technologies that Can Harness Energy Sustainably (P.I.T.C.H.E.S) sessions. Students were able to pitch their ideas and get guided feedback from industry leaders and program directors at ARPA-E. The PITCHES included proposed solutions for long-duration energy storage, traffic congestion mitigation, and decarbonizing global shipping.
In the afternoon, fast pitches and panels continued, including:
- Fast Pitch: Natural Resources moderated by Dr. Simon Freeman, PD at ARPA-E, including Dr. Dave Tew, PD at ARPA-E, Dr. Katherine Greco, Fellow at ARPA-E, and Dr. David Babson, PD at ARPA-E.
- The Climatech Gold Rush, from Clay Dumas, General Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, Dr. Dan Matross, Global Head of Research at CREO Syndicate, Dr. Johanna Wolfson, General Partner at Azolla Ventures, and Dr. James Zahler, Associate Director for Tech-to-Market at ARPA-E.
- Mining for Energy Transformation, from Emily Hersh, CEO at Luna Lithium, Dr. Michelle Michot Foss, Fellow in Energy, Minerals, and Materials at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Professor Gaurav Sant, Professor and Pritzker Chair in Sustainability at UCLA, and Dr. Nigel Steward, Chief Scientist at Rio Tinto.
- ARPA-E is a Catalyst, from Dr. Amul D. Tevar, CEO at Plitzie, Kacy Gerst, Senior VP of Science & Technology at Galvanize Climate Solutions, Dr. Tim Heidel, CTO of Veir, Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh, Principal of DCVC, and Dr. Patrick McGrath, Energy/Climate Gig Worker.
(ARPA-E is a Catalyst Panel - Left-to-Right: Dr. Pat McGrath, Dr. Tim Heidel, Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh, Kacy Gerst, Dr. Amul Tevar)
We returned to the tech showcase for more demonstrations and demos including from:
- Machine Learning for Automated Maintenance of Future MSR from Kratos (formerly Southern Research Institute)
- Pulsed High Temperature Superconducting Central Solenoid for Revolutionizing Tokamaks from Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
(Tech Demo: Commonwealth Fusion Systems)
We ended the evening with a reception at the Energy Commercialization Partners Networking Event.