Creating the Greener Grid: Challenges & Opportunities of Integrating Renewable Energy Technology
Saturday, May 7, 2011
at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
Registration and Continental Breakfast:
8:00 a.m. Baxter Lecture Hall
Program:
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Networking:
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Cost:
$40 on-line registration fee; $50 at-the-door; $10 for students with full-time student ID and free for Caltech students (must show ID at door). Caltech students can now register online.
On-line Registration closes at 5:00PM on Thursday, May 5, 2011. There are no refunds for no-shows.
Event Preview
Why can’t the grid be more green? What are the various technologies that are being adopted, where are they and what’s taking so long? ‘Creating the Greener Grid’ will discuss challenges and opportunities in creating a smarter grid to integrate resources such as wind, solar, biomass and new forms of energy storage.
As a result of aggressive policies and vigorous investments, new and smarter technology is rolling out. In California, newly elected Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation requiring state utilities to generate 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. In 2010, investors poured $3.7 Billion into cleantech, an increase of 76% over the previous year. Given all this activity, what are the remaining challenges and what are the opportunities? Why can’t we just add an endless amount of distributed renewable generation onto the grid, why are the costs so high, why is intermittency of renewable such a problem and what are the potential solutions?
As utilities roll out new meters and other smart equipment on the grid with seemingly endless potential, there are hundreds of companies looking to integrate exciting new technologies and platforms that promise monetary and environmental savings for both consumers and utilities. We will examine opportunities and strategies being pursued by tiny start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and discuss remaining gaps and challenges to achieve the full vision of the smarter grid.
Keynote Speaker
Jim Kelly
Senior Vice President, Transmission and Distribution
Southern California Edison Co.
www.sce.com
Geoff Wardle has had a worldwide influence on transportation design. He has worked as a professional designer with British Leyland (UK); Chrysler (UK & USA); International Automotive Design (UK); SAAB (Sweden); Ford (Australia); Abtech (UK); Tatra (Czech Republic) and TVS Motor Company (India).In his current position as Director of Advanced Mobility Research at Art Center College of Design, Wardle lectures and leads investigations into all kinds of transportation. Research projects have included the future of urban bus travel (Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Company), new categories of personal commuting vehicles, personal rapid transit systems and holistic approaches to urban development and integrated transportation systems.In December 2008, he testified on the future of the automotive industry before the Congressional Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey. Wardle has served on the board of advisors for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.Wardle also is a partner in OnGoingTransportation, a consultancy which researches and advocates innovative design-based processes to create future, sustainable transportation solutions.Mr. Wardle has a B.S. Vehicle and Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Hertfordshire (UK) and a M.Des.RCA in Automotive Design from the Royal College of Art, London.
Panelists
Joseph Perry
Chief Executive Officer
FlexEnergy
www.flexenergy.com
For over 25 years, Randy Churchill has served the entrepreneurial community in a variety of roles, including stints as a commercial lender, securities lawyer, financial printer, Internet entrepreneur and, for the past 10 years, Director of Emerging Company Services for PwC’s Southern California Technology practice. In addition to identifying promising venture-backed companies as potential clients, during his tenure with PwC, Randy consistently has worked to connect investors, entrepreneurs and others to promote investment and innovation within the Southern California technology ecosystem. Randy also manages and presents PwC’s Southern California MoneyTreeTM Report, a quarterly survey of venture capital investment across the nation.Randy was named Technology Leader of the Year in 2009 by Los Angeles County’s TechWeek, and he currently sits on the advisory boards of several organizations, including: the Los Angeles Venture Association, Caltech MIT Enterprise Forum (past chair), Los Angeles Business Technology Center, USC’s Center for Technology Commercialization, SoCal Tech Group, and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s Green Task Force. Additionally, Randy is an inactive member of the State Bar of California.Randy received his B.B.A., cum laude, from Western Michigan University, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law.
Neel Master
Vice President, Strategic Development
Petra Solar
www.petrasolar.com
Whitney manages projects in CALSTART’s First Mile Program, which fosters the efficiency of community transportation systems by evaluating and implementing new multi-modal choices that enhance system connectivity. Her work has included the deployment of a variety of demonstration projects including MyGo-Pasadena, a financial incentive program that provides significant rebates and cash rewards to commuters who purchase and use an electric bicycle or electric scooter to connect to local transit stations. Whitney also focuses on small zero or near zero emission vehicles including city class and neighborhood class vehicles.Whitney obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from U.C. Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate degree from Tulane University Law School, where she received a certificate of specialization in environmental law and was the Notes and Comments Editor of the Environmental Law Journal. While at Tulane, Whitney published several articles on sustainable resource issues, including brownfield/infill redevelopment and sustainable business management. Prior to joining CALSTART, Whitney worked as a legal analyst for the California Department of Justice in the Natural Resources Section, and for the City Attorney of Glendale with regard to water and power issues.
Shahin Farschi
Senior Associate, Advanced Technology
Lux Capital
www.luxcapital.com
Dick Cromie has worked for Southern California Edison since 1994, first in Major Accounts Management and then Electric Transportation / Advanced Technology. He manages various SCE partnerships, programs and collaborations among automakers, infrastructure providers and US DOE FreedomCAR to advance plug-in vehicle acceptance, grid integration and PEV readiness.Dick graduated from Lehigh University in Engineering, and received his MBA from Indiana University. His experience with electric power system design, advanced metering and communications came from assignments with Westinghouse and Scientific Atlanta.He is past chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of the IEEE Power Engineering Society, and has authored papers and technical reports for the Electric Power Research Institute on load management reliability, non-road EV load shifting, transport electrification, PEV-Grid Integration and PEV consumer research.
Producers
Andre M. Ramirez (Click to see bio)
Regulatory Policy & Affairs
Southern California Edison Co.
www.sce.com
Andre Ramirez currently works in a Strategy & Planning rotational position at Southern California Edison. He has worked on operations, regulatory and business strategies in the areas of electric vehicles, energy storage, R&D and rate design. Prior to joining SCE, Andre led or consulted on several projects on the supply and demand side of the energy space including work on technological competitive analysis, market entry strategies for new technology, and energy efficiency program development.
Andre earned a MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management and bachelor degrees in Economics and Political Science from UC Irvine. He can be followed @AndreMRamirez.
Stephanie C. Yanchinski (Click to see bio)
Aerospace Consultant
SCY & Associates+
Stephanie C. Yanchinski currently administers the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, a unique program in Los Angeles which is celebrating 25 years of assisting entrepreneurs to start their new ventures. She was formerly the founding Executive Director of Entretech, a highly respected non-profit assisting the growth of technology companies in Southern California. Over her eight year involvement with Entretech the organization grew from a founding Board of six people to a membership base of close to 250 organizations. Entretech helped companies raise over $1.5 million in financing. She launched a novel Strategic Partnering Program, matching entrepreneurial ventures with Big Corp participants, which was broadly applied to aerospace, biotechnology, energy and the new materials industries.
Stephanie Yanchinski currently works with cities in their strategic planning for growing tech clusters and completed a major study on behalf of Caltech and the City of Pasadena. She advises and implements strategies to assist large corporations wishing to partner with technology ventures. She is affiliated with Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL), California’s premier Health and Technology Executive Membership Organization, where she facilitates mentoring programs for executives.
An award-winning writer and marketing and communications specialist, Ms. Yanchinski successfully built and managed a business consulting company serving a diverse clientele in the high tech arena. She takes particular pride in the many start-up ventures that used her services to attract finance and partners. Here, her intuitive sense of how business works added value and credibility. First established in London UK, she operated successfully in Europe, Singapore and Toronto. In Toronto, she drove the foundation stages of a $20 million medical science incubator, located in the downtown core and ran a $1.5 million CEO mentoring and training program. She was an early founder, and leading Board member of Canada’s largest and most successful biotechnology industry association.
A graduate of McGill University in Canada, Stephanie C. Yanchinski trained as a scientist and pursued medical research in hormone metabolism in Canada and the UK, where she earned a second degree before turning to a career in science journalism. She worked for the leading British science publication New Scientist as Biosciences Editor, where she won Britain’s foremost prize for science reporting. As European Bureau Chief for McGraw Hill’s newsletter Biotechnology Newswatch, and through her writings for Business Week, the Financial Times newspaper, The Times and Guardian newspapers, and European investment newsletters, she tracked the emergence of the biotechnology industry in Europe. She authored Setting Genes to Work, (Penguin Press) and The Biotechnology Revolution, (Lutterworth), two books on the early development of the biotechnology industry.
Rogelio Nochebuena (Click to see bio)
President
Nochebuena R&D
https://www.arnoldporter.com/
Rogelio is President of Nochebuena R&D, a small consulting organization based in Pasadena, CA. His primary industry focus is breakthrough technologies and devices. He is also a Sr. Consultant for MindForce Consulting an international network of consultants that specialize in conducting Technology Assessment and Commercialization of Intellectual Property for companies that range from global telecommunication providers to national laboratories.
Mr. Nochebuena’s areas of expertise include semiconductors design and processing, flexible and lean manufacturing, business strategy, marketing, new product development, and managing R&D.
He is a proven business strategist having assisted companies to expand operations, create additional sources of revenue; and has also worked on divestitures and evaluated M&A deals. He has strong expertise in increasing market share and improving the new product development process, an area where he has demonstrated a consistent ability to introduce novel technologies and design new products and services.
Mr. Nochebuena has more than 20 years of experience in high technology; he has worked in Fortune 100 as well as start-ups, including Agilent Technologies, Xerox Corp, Perkin-Elmer, Carl Zeiss, etc. Having the correct mixture of physical and biological sciences, and has been involved in the development of a variety of projects; serving in senior technical and marketing positions.
While working at world famous Xerox PARC, Rogelio was tutored in Nanotechnology by Prof. Cal Quate the co-inventor of the Atomic Force Microscope, since then he has been involved in a variety of projects that include super capacitors using Nanolaminates, organic nanotubes, and avant-garde Photovoltaics (CIG/CIGS, CdTe and solar concentrators). He holds several patents in lasers and quantum electronics. He also wrote a newsletter with global reach for JETRO on the effect that Nanotechnology has on Biotech, Energy, etc. and a new series on Technology Innovation.
Rogelio is an Executive Coach for Japanese companies that want to enter the US Market where he assists them to write Business Plans, create and execute their Strategy and prepares them to raise capital from Angel and VC’s. He frequently conducts technology assessment and due diligence projects for the Angel Community in: medical devices, advanced materials and photovoltaics and energy storage technologies.
Mr. Nochebuena got his BSEE from National Polytechnic Institute and a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University; he holds a MBA from Pepperdine University.
He has spoken in a number of panels in local and international seminars and conferences; he is member of the Executive Committee for the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum and held the position of Chapter Vice-Chair for the IEEE Laser and Electro-Optics Society Los Angeles Chapter. He is an Adjunct Professor of Business Strategy at Pepperdine University.
Michael M. Krieger (Click to see bio)
Ph.D., J.D., UCLA Computer Science
Willenken Wilson Loh & Lieb
www.willenken.com
Michael Krieger has practiced high technology business and intellectual property law for more than 20 years. A member of the Los Angeles firm Willenken Wilson Loh & Lieb, his practice focuses on strategic counseling, litigation and preventive methods to both secure and exploit clients’ patents and other key IP assets. With degrees in mathematics (B.S., Caltech; Ph.D., UCLA) and law (UCLA), he was on the MIT Mathematics and UCLA Computer Science faculties and also a Fulbright Scholar prior to practicing law. This technical background led to early involvement with encryption, domain name/trademark, and open source issues as well as IP litigation for content providers and patent holders. His clients have ranged from start-ups to industry leaders, as well as counseling for the tech transfer arena and the United Nations as well as other international technology initiatives. He also serves as an expert in technology litigation.
Date
Saturday morning, May 7, 2011
Location
Registration and Continental Breakfast:
8:00 a.m. at Baxter Hall, Caltech
Program:
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Baxter Lecture Hall
Networking:
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at Baxter Hall, Caltech
Cost
$40 on-line registration fee. $50 at-the-door. $10 for students with full-time student ID and free for Caltech students (must show ID at door). Registrations are taken on-line up to 5:00pm on Thursday, May 5, 2011. There are no refunds for no-shows.
Online registration has closed, but registration is still available at the door for $50 or $10 for students.–>
