SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
Noboru Saito
President & CEO | TDK
Mr. Noboru Saito has held the title of President and CEO at TDK Corporation since April 01, 2022. Entering TDK Corporation in April 1989, his most recent prior role was Chief Executive Officer of Sensor Systems Business Company of TDK Corporation from April 2017 until April 2022. Previously, Mr. Saito was Senior Vice President at TDK Corporation from June 2013 until April 2022. He has served as Representative Director at TDK Corporation since June 2022.
Mr. Saito was General Manager for Corporate Strategy HQ from 2015 to 2017 and General Manager of the Electronic Components Sales & Marketing Group from 2013 to 2015. He also served as President of TDK Electronics Europe GmbH from 2006 to 2011. He has held roles at the Electronic Components Sales & Marketing Group in Germany, Hungary, and the United States between 1995 and 2005. Mr. Saito graduated from Doshisha University, Faculty of Law in March 1989.
Henry Huang
Investment Director | TDK Ventures
Henry Huang is an Investment Director with TDK Ventures, covering computing, connectivity, industrial and mobility.
Prior to joining TDK Ventures, he had extensive experience in the telecommunication industry, including various roles with AT&T, NextG Networks (acquired by Crown Castle), Tarana Wireless, 3TEN8, and TTS Wireless (acquired by AMDOC). His responsibilities covered R&D, engineering, product management, customer success, technical sales, marketing, and investment.
He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), both in Electrical Engineering and an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In his free time, he loves to travel around the world with his wife and three children. He has backpacked in Tibet, hiked in Peru, and ran a marathon in Switzerland.
Maha Achour, Ph. D.
Founder, CEO & CTO | Metawave Corporation
Maha is a senior leader with more than 25 years of experience in both public, defense, and startup companies in semiconductor and wireless RF and optical communication and sensing systems. She was recently recognized in the Forbes 50 Vision list for founding Metawave. Maha is also Glass Dynamics Chairwoman of the board. Her strong technology background combined with leadership, business, and marketing skills. Previously, Maha served as co-founder and CTO of Rayspan, Dir of Adv Technology at SDRC (Boeing), and Dir of Adv Technology of Optical access where she pioneered the first broadcast HDTV system over satellite, mm-wave/Free-Space Optical systems for last mile connectivity, and led various DARPA projects in wireless MIMO and Optical devices. She holds a doctorate in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), authored over 35 publications, and holds more than 75 granted patents and over 150 pending applications.
Deeana Ahmed
Chief Strategy Officer | Our Next Energy (ONE)
Deeana Ahmed, PhD is the Chief Strategy Officer at Our Next Energy (ONE). Through ONE’s energy storage technology, Dr. Ahmed aims to help build a foundation for the widespread adoption and accessibility to alternative energy sources. She also assesses market needs and how to scale renewable energy. Dr. Ahmed helped ONE secure funding from major investors, including BMW i Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Dr. Ahmed spearheaded ONE’s search for its first North American battery factory and has facilitated partnerships with a variety of businesses and non-profits across the country.
Dr. Ahmed was recently appointed to President Biden’s inaugural 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board. The 14-member group includes individuals with workforce development, labor, and energy sector expertise and will develop strategic recommendations for how DOE can support and develop a skilled energy workforce to meet the changing needs of the U.S. energy system.
Dr. Ahmed holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and nutrition from Columbia University, an M.Sc. and MPH in policy from Tufts University, and a BS from the University of Michigan. Deeana is a published researcher and policy analyst who has conducted large policy evaluations for the NYC Department of Education, managed grants for a Silicon Valley non-profit, and owns and operates a start-up education technology firm. Deeana is an alumnus of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, where she led the development of the nationally and globally ranked solar car, InfiniUM’s battery pack.
Amber Allen
CEO and Founder | Double A Labs
Amber Allen, CEO and Founder of Double A Labs is a leading expert on the metaverse and hybrid events. Forever a “gamer girl” at heart, Amber is passionate about creating experiences and tools that promote human connection and help companies train and engage with employees. Double A Labs was founded nearly a decade ago to create innovative, data-driven, immersive technologies to help brands stay connected with current customers and new audiences. Today, Double A Labs is a global leader in creating digital worlds and has developed a proprietary online virtual platform to connect, learn, and play.
Yasser Alsaied
VP of IoT | Amazon Web Services
Yasser joined Amazon Web Services as a VP of IoT coming from Qualcomm where he was Vice President. He held a variety of leadership roles that included managing teams that released Qualcomm’s first WLAN chip for mobile phones, and leading the formation and launch of QuIC (Qualcomm Innovation Center) and CAF (Code Aurora Foundation) to solve legal and operational issues around the open source software release. Yasser also led the Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) program, to expand Qualcomm’s business in China which grew the market share by helping the Chinese manufacturers produce phones based on Qualcomm technologies. For the past four years, Yasser managed Qualcomm’s IoT ecosystem. He directly managed the critical part of the strategy to scale IoT chipsets, including key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision drones, robotics, and 5G. Yasser attended numerous trade shows, customer meetings, and other marketing events in the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Sarah Applebaum
Partner | Pangaea Ventures
Sarah Applebaum is the Director of Pangaea Spark at Pangaea Ventures. Pangaea Ventures is a world leader in advanced materials venture capital – investing in companies with innovations in the areas of energy, electronics, health, and sustainability. As Director of Pangaea Spark, Sarah leads the firm’s activities in seed-stage investing.
Sarah is a member of the Young Private Capitalist Committee of the CVCA, a start-up showcase review board for SXSW Eco, and a mentor to the Singularity University Labs Accelerator. Sarah is also the co-founder of TNT Events, a Vancouver-based organization that strives to create a more interconnected and multidisciplinary innovation ecosystem.
Sarah holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a BSc from Dalhousie University.
Ms. Sarah Applebaum serves as a Partner at Pangaea Ventures. She worked as a sustainability consultant from 2010-2012 while completing her MBA. She also worked with the City of Toronto Environment Office in 2011 to help them develop a business case around climate change adaptation. Sarah is a member of the Young Private Capitalist Committee of the CVCA, an advisory board member for the CIX Cleantech Conference, a startup showcase review board for SXSW Eco, and a mentor to the Singularity University Labs Accelerator. She is the co-founder of CatapultYVR, a Vancouver-based organization that strives to create a more interconnected and multidisciplinary innovation ecosystem. She holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a BSc from Dalhousie University. She has also completed the executive program at Singularity University.
Takao Asami
Senior VP of Research & Advanced Engineering | Nissan Motor Cp., Ltd.
Asami has a wide-ranging role as Senior Vice President for research and advanced engineering of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (NML) and Alliance Senior Vice President for the Alliance. He guides NML’s research and technology strategy to ensure the company remains competitive. He was appointed to his current role in April 2014.
Asami has been with NML since 1981. He has helped develop numerous advances in motoring technology, including navigation systems, distance control assist systems, and telematics. In April 2006, he became the Corporate Vice President in charge of the Nissan Research Center and was appointed Senior Vice President in charge of technology planning and advanced engineering in April 2013.
Asami graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering. He earned his Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Tae Ashida
Fashion Designer | Jun Ashida Co; Ltd
Tae Ashida is a fashion designer who inherited the most prestigious fashion maison in Japan, Jun Ashida Co., Ltd., from her father who founded it, and was the representative designer of Japan. As Creative Director of the Maison, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, she is constantly pursuing innovation to complement the existing tradition and high quality. In 2010 she designed an in-flight outfit that was worn in space by astronaut Naoko Yamazaki on the American space shuttle “Discovery”, the first time a designer’s creation has been worn in space, which brought her wide-ranging international acclaim. In 2012 she won the 54th Japan Editors’ Club Special Award (FEC). She debuted her collection for men in 2019 and celebrated her 30th anniversary as a designer in 2021. That same year, in collaboration with Canon Inc. and IBM Japan, Ltd., she presented the Jun Ashida Spring Summer Collection 2022 movie using a volumetric video system – a union of Jun Ashida Maison’s craftsmanship and innovative cutting-edge technology.
Roopan Aulakh
Managing Director | pi Ventures
Roopan has 15+ years of experience across Venture Capital, corporate development, and technology. Currently, an MD at pi Ventures, she invests in early-stage Deeptech startups across diverse sectors. Before Pi Ventures, she invested in early to growth-stage global startups at Applied Ventures (the corporate Venture Capital arm of Applied Materials). Before becoming an investor, she worked in DeepTech as a technologist. She holds a BTech degree from NIT Jalandhar and an MBA from ISB Hyderabad.
Edgar Auslander
Senior Director | Meta
Edgar Auslander is Senior Director, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Intelligence at Meta, (fka. Facebook), where he develops and executes partnership and acquisition strategies for Metaverse, VR, AR, and wearables. He initiated and led a partnership with EssilorLuxottica that redefined Facebook’s AR roadmap with e.g. RayBan Stories. He was one of the founders of Texas Instruments’ Wireless Business Unit, bringing it from no product no revenue to $5B/year. He has more than 30 years of experience, serving on company Boards and working in product planning and management, marketing, licensing, business development, general management of business, marketing and engineering teams, venture capital, consulting, and M&A, at startups, Fortune 100 companies, and a VC firm. He combines deep business and technical knowledge of mobile systems et ecosystems, from semiconductors to consumer devices, application software, and services. A former Faculty Member at Stanford University and the EDHEC Business School, he is a frequent guest lecturer at engineering and business schools in Europe and the USA and started his career while studying for his MBA by licensing inventions from Columbia University.
Susan J. Babinec
Program Lead | Argonne National Library
Susan Babinec leads a comprehensive strategy that expands the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) vision for a future electric grid that includes a range of optimized energy storage capabilities.
Babinec previously served six years as senior commercialization advisor for both transportation and grid energy storage at the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E). Before ARPA-E, she led several research groups as a technical director for A123 Systems, Inc. at its Ann Arbor, Michigan, site. Babinec spent the first two decades of her career at Dow Chemical Corp., where she was awarded the Inventor of the Year Award, was senior advisor to the Venture Capital group, and was the company’s first woman Corporate Fellow. She was co-inventor of a low-cost display technology that was spun out as the venture-funded start-up, holds more than 45 patents, and has authored or co-authored dozens of journal articles and book chapters.
Chris Bergey
SVP/GM | Infrastructure Line of Business Arm
Chris Bergey is the senior vice president and general manager of the Infrastructure Line of Business at Arm. Chris’ organization is responsible for the proliferation of Arm-based solutions throughout the data infrastructure of today and tomorrow, from cloud computing to the network edge. Before joining Arm, Chris served as senior vice president of Devices Products at Western Digital Corporation and was responsible for product management and product marketing across the company’s $10B+ portfolio of hard drive and flash-based products for data center, client, mobile, automotive, and IoT. Previously, Chris was the vice president of Marketing at Luxtera, a silicon photonics startup that revolutionized datacenter interconnect, after spending over nine years at Broadcom. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Drexel University and an MBA degree from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
Emilie Bodoin
Founder & CEO | Pure Lithium
Emilie Bodoin is the founder and CEO of Pure Lithium a start-up focused on changing the way lithium metal is made and greatly enhancing the quality vs. the current state of the art. The original patent for rechargeable lithium batteries goes back to the 1970s and was based on using lithium metal. Technical/safety issues forced a compromise to the current lithium-ion design using metal oxides rather than lithium metal.
Cindi Bough
Managing Director of Ventures | Climate Investment
Cindi is the Managing Director of Ventures at Climate Investment. She joins us from TotalEnergies Ventures, the venture capital arm of TotalEnergies, where she led the Ventures team in San Francisco from 2021, and led the European Ventures team in Paris for the 4 years before. Before TotalEnergies, Cindi was a senior director at SunPower, a startup CEO of a vehicle electrification company, and an investment banker at JPMorgan and Stephens. Cindi is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, University of Queensland, and Rice University.
Dean Brenner
Chairman | FCC Technological Advisory Council | Federal Communications Commission
Dean Brenner is a leading expert on the allocation of spectrum for wireless technologies and on wireless public policy issues in the United States and around the world. In January 2022, the Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointed him to be Chairman of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council to lead a new initiative to advise the FCC on 6G, as well as leading ongoing work on spectrum sharing, emerging technologies, and machine learning/artificial intelligence. Mr. Brenner holds one patent on spectrum sharing. He was the co-chair of the US Policy Task Force of the 5G Automotive Association, an industry group working on connected car policy, and he was a member of many wireless industry groups. Mr. Brenner joined Qualcomm in November 2003, after working at a large Washington DC law firm and founding his law firm. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1985 and his A.B., magna cum laude, with distinction in public policy studies, from Duke University in 1982.
Diane Bryant
CEO & Chair of the Board | NovaSignal Corp.
Diane M. Bryant is a global technology leader with more than three decades of executive leadership in the global semiconductor industry, cloud computing services, artificial intelligence applications, and technology-based healthcare solutions.
Bryant serves as the Chair and CEO of NovaSignal. NovaSignal is a medical technology and data company focused on brain health. Applying advanced technology – robotics and artificial intelligence – direct access to cerebral vascular data is obtained enabling diagnosis of stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other illnesses that present themselves in the brain.
Prior, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Google Cloud, where she focused on accelerating the scale and reach of Google Cloud’s business, including optimization of the global supply chain, acceleration of customer adoption, and development of next-generation information technology solutions.
Before Google, Bryant spent 32 years at Intel, the last five years as Group President of Intel’s Data
ata Center Group, the worldwide organization that develops server, storage, and network platforms for the digital service’s economy, growing it to $19 billion in revenue in 2017. Before becoming Group President, Bryant was Intel’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, responsible for the corporate-wide information technology solutions and services that enable Intel’s business.
Bryant was elected to the Broadcom Inc. board of directors in January 2019 and serves on the compensation committee. She is currently a board member of the privately held Ownzones, a SaaS AI-driven platform for media post-production. Diane served on the United Technologies Corp (UTC) board of directors from 2016 to April 2020. She is also the chair of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors.
Bryant was named among Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2015 and 2016 and is a tireless advocate for women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of engineering and technology. She established the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Center at the University of California-Davis, and the Diane Bryant STEM Innovation Center at the American River Community College. In 2020, Becker’s Healthcare named Diane one of 7 “shaker and mover” leaders affecting health IT. Business Insider ranked Ms. Bryant #6 among the Most Powerful Female Engineers in 2018. In 2016, World Affairs and its Global Philanthropy Forum honored Ms. Bryant with its Global Citizen Award.
Bryant received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from U.C. Davis in 1985. She attended Stanford Graduate School of Business, completing the Executive Program in 2011. Bryant holds four U.S. patents in mobile computing.
Maria Buitron
Principal | Piva Capital
Maria Buitron serves as Principal at Piva Capital. Before joining Piva Capital, she was a consultant at Accenture Strategy Energy (formerly known as Schlumberger Business Consulting). She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Tecnologico de Monterrey, where she graduated with top honors, as well as an MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Maria came to Piva Capital from Schlumberger Business Consulting (later acquired by Accenture Strategy Energy). There she helped clients address complex problems in the energy industry while working on projects in the Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream sectors. At the energy storage provider, Stem Inc. Maria was part of the Business Development team, she focused on expanding into international markets and new product offerings.
Maria is passionate about technology and diversity in the energy space. She firmly believes in the value of investing as a driver to help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Sara Chamberlain
Managing Director | Energy Foundry
Sara Chamberlain has worked in the energy and environment sector for nearly a decade, with a core focus on helping energy startups develop commercialization strategies. Working at the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship is a personal passion.
She currently leads Energy Foundry’s investment activity and maintains an active role with each of the firm’s portfolio companies. Before joining Energy Foundry, Sara co-managed the government advisory practice for clean technology startups at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she successfully led multiple teams through more than two dozen federal and state grant and loan applications, including over $300 million in research grants, loans, and guaranteed loan funding. Sara’s previous experience also includes roles with GE Energy, where she developed a solar manufacturing expansion strategy, and with GaiaTech, where she led the environmental due diligence and regulatory compliance process for industrial and manufacturing transactions across North America.
From working with large Fortune 500 companies to startup businesses, Sara has broad and deep industry knowledge of the energy sector and was recognized by Midwest Energy News as “40 under 40.”
She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, and a BA in Environmental Studies from Emory University.
Kelly Chen
Founding Team | NIF
Kelly is a Founding Team partner at NIF, an inaugural €1B deep tech VC backing ambitious founders to secure the future for the Alliance’s 1B citizens. Focus areas include energy, AI, defense, climate, industrials, space, health, and biotechnology. NIF is the first multi-sovereign-backed fund and operates as a standalone VC, leading both early-stage investments and fund-of-funds.
Previously, Kelly was a Partner at DCVC, a $3B AUM deep tech venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley, where she led investments and served on the board of companies building revolutionary tech in AI, robotics, manufacturing, logistics, and sustainability. Earlier, Kelly was a fixed-income derivatives trader in New York, overseeing nearly $2B, an angel investor, and had built out a new securitized trading product for a global investment bank. It was in that quantitative role that she started relentlessly focusing on the non-quantitative side of business – understanding customer needs, the sales process, and building trust. Kelly has a BS/MS from Columbia Engineering and an MBA from Wharton. Outside of work, she can be found in the ocean, collecting data on the best dive locations or optimizing the max speed on her eFoil.
Pearly Chen
VP Business Development & Partnerships | HTC VIVE
Pearly Chen is a VP at HTC with a unique operator-investor role at the forefront of immersive technologies. She has held several leadership positions for HTC’s early-stage venture investment program, VR content platform, and other strategic and operational roles as Chief of Staff to Chairwoman/CEO. She led the launch of HTC’s VR for Impact and serves on the WEF’s Global Future Council and AIXR’s Advisory Council. A dynamic, high-energy, multilingual global citizen and mother of 3 girls, Pearly now lives in Florida with her family.
Zheng Chen
Assistant Professor | UCSD
Co-Founder | UNIGRID
Zheng Chen received his Ph.D. at UCLA in 2012 under the supervision of Prof. Yunfeng Lu in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His Ph.D. work is mainly related to the design and synthesis of nanostructured materials for electrochemical energy storage devices. From 2013-2016, he was a postdoctoral associate working with Prof. Zhenan Bao in Chemical Engineering and Prof. Yi Cui in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, where his work focused on functional polymer materials for enhanced energy density, longer cycling lifetime, and improved safety of batteries.
Chen received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University in China. He was awarded a Student Science Talented Award (Tianjin University, 2007) and, a Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Ph.D. Students Studying Abroad (2011), the MRS Graduate Student Silver Award (2011), and the Department Outstanding Graduate Award (UCLA, 2012). Chen’s research focuses on material’s development for applications in electrochemical energy, flexible devices, and sustainable environments. He will teach courses across the core Chemical Engineering disciplines.
Yet Ming Chiang
Professor | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang is a Kyocera Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses primarily on advanced materials and their role in energy technologies. Prof. Chiang was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2009, and is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, the Materials Research Society, the American Ceramic Society, and the National Academy of Inventors. Prof. Chiang has published more than 300 scientific articles and holds more than 100 U.S. patents. He serves on numerous government and academic advisory committees and is recognized as an expert in materials science, energy technologies, and battery technology. Prof. Chiang is active in developing technology from basic research and has co-founded 7 companies based on work from his MIT research laboratory.
He currently holds leadership positions at Sublime Systems, a Somerville, MA company developing decarbonized cement products, Form Energy, a Somerville, MA company developing long-duration grid storage to smooth the output of intermittent renewables, and 24M Technologies, a Cambridge, MA company that is re-inventing lithium-ion battery design and manufacturing. He previously co-founded A123 Systems, a developer of monophosphate lithium-ion batteries, and American Superconductor Corporation, a developer of high-temperature superconductor technology. Other technology areas in which he is active include low-cost metal 3D printing, where he co-founded Desktop Metal.
Cindi Choi
Managing Director | TotalEnergies Ventures
Cindi is a Partner of Total Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Total SA ($127B). She is focused on finding, funding, and fostering high-potential start-ups globally in renewable energy, mobility, smart-grid, battery storage, energy data intelligence, energy efficiency, software analytics, and enabling technologies. She is a recent expatriate in Paris from San Francisco. With over 18 years of experience, including 15 in energy, Cindi’s prior professional experience includes the head of corporate development (M&A, investments, joint ventures, strategy) at SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR); electric vehicle battery start-up co-founder/CEO; investment banker in traditional oil & gas energy (JPMorgan, Stephens).
Cindi is an alumna of Harvard Business School, University of Queensland (MA, International Business), and Rice University (BA, Economics, Managerial Studies). In her spare time, she can usually be found on the trails, running or biking with her dog, on the slopes, or in a yoga studio.
Moshe Cohen
Founder & CEO | Ciconia Flights
Co-Founder and CEO of Ciconia Ltd. Led the development of the flight-tested C&CAS (Coordination & Collision Avoidance System), a decentralized, hybrid, midair conflict management system. The C&CAS bridges the technological, cultural, and operational gaps between all users of low-altitude airspace, enabling a far more intensive use of the airspace. Moshe (retired Col., Israeli Air Force) has logged over 5000 flight hours in complex operations as a helicopter pilot and commander. Before founding Ciconia, he held managerial positions in a several industries. Moshe holds a Master’s Degree in Financial Management from the Naval Post Graduate School (Monterey CA.) and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Haifa University, Israel.
Claire Curry
Head of Technology, Industry & Innovation | BloombergNEF
Claire is the strategic lead for BloombergNEF’s technology, industry & innovation research. BNEF is a research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy. Claire oversees BNEF’s coverage of industrial decarbonization and early-stage climate technology. As part of this role, Claire manages teams covering the decarbonization of steel, cement, and petrochemicals, the circular economy and biomaterials, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Claire has a particular interest in the role of startup innovation and how to scale first-of-a-kind projects. Claire is co-chair of the BNEF Pioneers program, Bloomberg’s annual climate-tech innovation competition.
Arrelaine Dameron
VP of R&D | Forge Nano
Dr. Arrelaine Dameron is the Vice President of research and development at Forge Nano. She is a world expert in thin film deposition, nanoscale assembly, and interface engineering. Arrelaine has over 15 years of experience in materials science and chemistry, and has produced more than 60 publications and patents. Arrelaine has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Creative Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Mohan Das Pai
Chairman of 3one4 Capital | Co-Founder & Chairman of Aarin Capital | Chairman of Manipal Global Education
Mohandas Pai is a Padma Shri Awardee and former CFO and Board Member at Infosys. He is also the co-founder of Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest midday meal program, and works actively with government and regulators on policy recommendations and guidelines. Mohan has served on the Board of SEBI and was a Board Member of the National Stock Exchange in India. He has emerged as one of India’s most prolific technology investors. He has helped start over 14 different funds in venture, growth, and public markets. He also leads a private equity fund – Aarin Capital – along with Manipal Group Chairman Ranjan Pai which invests in life sciences, technology, and education companies. A selection of the companies include Byju’s, Counsyl, ZoomCar, Praxify, YourStory, and Licious.
Haixia Deng
VP of Cathode | Ascend Elements
Dr. Deng has 15 years of experience developing cathode products, including NMC, High Ni NMC, Co-free cathodes, NCA, and LCO. Most recently, she held the position of Sr. Director of Battery Materials Development at eJoule, Inc. Before that, she served in roles at Enevate Corp, Envia Systems/Zenlab, and Argonne National Laboratory. She has significant expertise in lithium-ion battery development with a focus on NCA, Li-rich cathode, and 4.6V LCO, including Si-based anode materials development. She has successfully developed both PCAM and CAM products that are used by a variety of companies around the world today.
Dr. Deng joined Ascend Elements in 2022. Previously, she was Sr. Director of Battery Materials Development at eJoule. Haixia has authored over 30 publications and patents. She received the 47th R&D 100 Awards for her accomplishment in Li-ion cathode materials. Her past roles include Sr. Director of Battery Materials Development and Director of Battery Technology at eJoule Inc., Staff Scientist at Enevate Corp., Staff Scientist at Envia Systems/Zenlab, and Postdoctoral Scholar at Argonne National Laboratory. She earned her Ph.D. at the City University of Hong Kong.
Ellen Ehrenpreis
Partner | Orrick
Ellen has spent more than twenty years in the tech and venture ecosystem and leverages her broad network and deep understanding of both the tech sector and legal landscape to effectively and strategically advise emerging companies and investors on a wide range of critical needs.
On the company side, Ellen’s clients range from early startups to mature private companies. She advises companies and founders on formation, venture financings, governance, M&A transactions, corporate and securities matters, commercial transactions, and litigation strategy. Ellen’s approach is holistic and pragmatic. Her unique skill set and business-driven approach derive from her decades-long career as a Silicon Valley lawyer and her broad experiences earlier in her career as both a successful litigator and business owner. Over her career, Ellen has represented both private and public companies and has worked with both small startups and large multinational enterprises, as well as the executives, investors, and advisors involved in those businesses. As a result, Ellen draws upon a deep knowledge base and set of experiences and insights that allow her to offer practical and seasoned advice to her clients. Ellen also works closely with some of the leading venture capital and growth equity firms, whose principals she advises in connection with financings, equity structuring, and corporate governance. Ellen’s company clients have represented a broad swath of the technology ecosystem, including both hardware and software and, as a result, her industry experience is wide-ranging. Her clients have included companies in the semiconductor, SAAS, renewables, fintech, aerospace, digital retail, online sharing, biotech/biopharma, media, design, and data analytics fields, among others. Ellen has a passion for working with companies making an impact in the world.
Sam Foster
Partner | Environment Resources Management (ERM) Ltd
Sam Foster is a Partner within ERM Sustainable Energy Solutions and leads the team’s work on decarbonization in the Built Environment. He manages ERM’s work relating to decarbonization strategies for clients including building portfolio owners, property developers, cities and local authorities, public and private sector campuses, energy companies, network operators, and technology developers. While at Element Energy (which was acquired by ERM in 2021), Sam worked with the Greater London Authority on analysis to support the Net Zero 2030 target for Greater London.
More widely, Sam has delivered strategies for the decarbonization of commercial and residential real estate for global corporations including banks, private equity, and REITs. He has led high-profile thought leadership studies on low-carbon buildings for the UK, Irish and Moroccan Governments, the UK Committee on Climate Change, the UK National Infrastructure Commission, the Scottish Government, the European Climate Foundation, the World Bank, and others.
Sam holds a First Class M.Sci. In Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK), a Ph.D. in solar photovoltaics from Imperial College London, and spent time in R&D for Sumitomo Chemicals in Japan.
Peter Gajdoš
Partner & Co-Lead | Climate Tech at Fifth Wall
Peter Gajdoš is a Partner at Fifth Wall where he co-leads the Climate Technology Investment team. Before joining Fifth Wall, Peter was the Head of Venture Capital at IPM Group and Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Presidio Partners, where he focused on climate tech and biotech venture and growth investments. Peter has been involved in several public listings including Cnano Technology, Arcadia Biosciences, Auspex Pharmaceuticals, and others.
Peter started his career at J.P. Morgan’s Energy Group in New York before joining Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Green Fund in London. Peter is from Slovakia and currently resides in San Francisco. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his BS in Business Administration, and received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on Finance and Entrepreneurial Management.
Bob Galyen
Founder | Gaylen Energy
Former CTO | CATL
Serving on the EnergyX Advisory Board, Bob is an energy storage technology executive with experience in large corporations (ATL, CATL, Magna, Delphi, GM) and small entrepreneurial businesses (Tawas, Indy Power Systems, World Energy Labs). He is currently CTO of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited) the world’s largest battery manufacturer.
Specializing in clean technology, lithium-ion battery systems used in electric vehicles, and high-efficiency storage systems, he has held the Chairmanship of the SAE International Battery Standards Steering Committee for 5 years and is President-Elect for NAATBatt International. He also serves on Senator Lugar’s Advisory Board for Renewable Energy at IUPUI the Dean’s Executive Advisory Council at Ball State University and the National Fire Protection Agencies Board of Advisers.
Bob holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry and has 38 years of experience in battery technology. He was the first ever front cover individual feature story for Batteries International and has feature articles regularly.
Bob Galyen
Founder of Galyen Energy | Former CTO of CATL
Serving on the EnergyX Advisory Board, Bob is an energy storage technology executive with experience in large corporations (ATL, CATL, Magna, Delphi, GM) and small entrepreneurial businesses (Tawas, Indy Power Systems, World Energy Labs). He is currently CTO of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited) the world’s largest battery manufacturer.
Specializing in clean technology, lithium-ion battery systems used in electric vehicles, and high-efficiency storage systems, he has held the Chairmanship of the SAE International Battery Standards Steering Committee for 5 years and is President-Elect for NAATBatt International. He also serves on Senator Lugar’s Advisory Board for Renewable Energy at IUPUI the Dean’s Executive Advisory Council at Ball State University and the National Fire Protection Agencies Board of Advisers.
Bob holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry and has 38 years of experience in battery technology. He was the first ever front cover individual feature story for Batteries International and has feature articles regularly.
Matthew Gemello
Partner | Orrick
Matthew Gemello, a corporate partner in the Silicon Valley office, leads our global Corporate Business unit.
A seasoned deal lawyer, Matthew guides global technology companies and their financial sponsors through transformational domestic and cross-border transactions. These deals range from private company buyouts and public takeovers in the United States and around the world, to complex, multi-jurisdictional spinoffs and business carveouts.
Matthew has been recognized as a leading lawyer by numerous publications, including Legal 500, and he was selected by the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top 10 Innovative Corporate Lawyers in California.
Dania Ghantous
VP Technology | Qnovo
Technical executive with diverse and extensive expertise leading teams and organizations in successfully driving product concepts from the lab to market. Strong technical background in electrochemistry, materials development, battery development/testing, and charging algorithms.
Specialties: Lithium-ion batteries, lithium primary batteries, battery design/development/testing, materials development & processing, charging algorithms, nanotechnology, technology assessment/development & integration, operations implementation, staff/resource management & development.
Akshima Ghate
Managing Director | RMI India
Akshima serves as a Member of the Expert Advisory Group of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of Govt. of India on matters related to electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and other energy and emissions-related topics in the road transport sector. She was selected as one of the fifteen women globally for her contribution to the field of electric mobility in the ‘2022 Remarkable Women in Transport publication’ by TUMI and the Women Mobilize Women Initiative.
Before joining RMI India, Akshima was working as a Senior Fellow and Associate Director at the Transport and Urban Governance Division of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. At TERI, Akshima led policy research studies focusing on the promotion of sustainable and low-carbon development of transport systems for the Govt. of India, state governments, multilateral and bilateral financing agencies, and corporate organizations. She has contributed to several important reports of the Government of India and the UN. She was a contributing author of the ‘India Transport Report: Moving India to 2032’ prepared by the National Transport Development Policy Committee of the Government of India. She has published several policy briefs, articles, research papers, and reports on policy issues related to the promotion of sustainable transport. She also serves on several committees set up by the Govt. of India and international agencies.
In the past, Akshima has also been associated with TERI University as an Associate Faculty and has been taking guest lectures at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, the Institute of Urban Transport (India), and the International Center for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (ICED), Jaipur.
Nada Golmie, Ph. D.
NIST Fellow & Chief | Wireless Networks Division | National Institute of Standards & Technology
Nada Golmie received her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park. Since 1993, she has been a research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She is an IEEE and a NIST Fellow in the Communications Technology Laboratory. Her research in media access control and protocols for wireless networks led to over 200 technical papers presented at professional conferences, and journals, and contributed to international standard organizations and industry-led consortia. She is the author of “Coexistence in Wireless Networks: Challenges and System-level Solutions in the Unlicensed Bands,” published by Cambridge University Press (2006). She leads several projects related to the modeling and evaluation of future-generation wireless systems and protocols and serves as a chair for the Next5G Channel Model Alliance.
Alex Grant
Principal | Jade Cover Partners
Alex is the Principal at Jade Cove Partners. He was a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Energy for 2021, and Lithium Partner at Minviro where he built environmental impact models of lithium-ion battery supply chain mineral and metal conversion processes. He is a technology innovation advisor at Zelandez, a lithium brine-field services company with operations in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, and a research affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Alex co-founded Lilac Solutions, a lithium extraction technology company.
Alex has an M.S. from Northwestern University in Chemical Engineering and a B.Eng. from McGill University in Chemical Engineering & Philosophy. You can find Alex on Linkedin, Twitter, or by email. He is based in beautiful San Francisco, California. Alex is currently the CEO of a new technology company.
Clare P. Grey
Professor | University of Cambridge
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist | Nyobolt
Grey is a world leader in the use of solid-state NMR methods to study structure and function in inorganic materials. She has pioneered the use of a wide range of novel and often in-situ NMR approaches to examine devices under realistic operating conditions; these have significantly impacted several areas in environmental chemistry and energy, including catalysis, ion sequestration, batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. Noted for careful NMR experiments combined with a range of other structural characterization tools and relevant theoretical studies. She combines a strong understanding of NMR theory with a deep insight into materials chemistry.
She is chief scientist and cofounder of Nyobolt, a company that is developing ultrafast-charging batteries for electric vehicles. Neil Savage spoke with her about her work on energy storage materials and why she believes they are important to the future of the planet.
Matt Grob
Chief Technology Officer | XCOM
Matt Grob is the chief technology officer of XCOM which develops innovative wireless technologies. Matt previously spent over 26 years at Qualcomm in technology and engineering leadership roles. He served as Qualcomm’s EVP and CTO, overseeing R&D and managing a global team across various divisions worldwide, and later as EVP/Technology. Mr. Grob holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Bradley University and a M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
Swapna Gupta
Partner | Avaana Capital
Swapna Gupta is a Partner at Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund, leading Investments into technology-led start-ups catalyzing climate solutions and sustainability, and delivering exponential returns. Swapna has 13+ years of experience across investing, investment banking, and corporate finance in sectors including Supply Chains, Industry 4.0, Mobility, and Agri-tech. Before joining Avaana, Swapna led India investments at Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venture arm of global semiconductor technology major Qualcomm, where she invested in various companies including Shadowfax, Ninjacart, Locus, Zuddl, Moveinsync, Reverie, and Stellapps. Swapna’s stellar work in the ecosystem has been recognized worldwide, and she was also recently recognized by GCV as a Top 50 emerging leader in the corporate venture community and was the only one from India on the list. Swapna is also part of class 25 at the prestigious Global Kauffman fellows program. Previously, Swapna worked as a senior associate at Ernst & Young and as a corporate finance specialist at Vodafone India. She is an Engineer in ECE from NIT Nagpur and has specialized in MBA Finance from FMS Delhi.
Amanda Hall
CEO | Summit Nanotech
Amanda Hall is the CEO and Founder of Summit Nanotech. Amanda spent years in the oil and gas industry and identified the opportunity to make a significant impact with clean energy.
She is a graduate of the University of Toronto – Trinity College with a BSc Biology major and a double minor in Physics and English. She later graduated from the University of Calgary with a BSc in Geophysics and has a passion for the environment.
Amanda is on the Advisory Board for Canadian Energy & Climate Nexus (CECN) and sits on the Board of the Chilean Clean Technology Institute. She is a mentor for the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) and contributes to the arts as a member of the Board of Directors for the Calgary Opera.
Vivekananda Hallekere
Co-Founder & CEO | Bounce
Vivekananda Hallekere is the visionary co-founder and CEO of Bounce, a widely renowned mobility solutions company. With an astute understanding of the contemporary transportation landscape, Vivekananda has revolutionized urban mobility by spearheading the development of innovative shared mobility services. His relentless drive for innovation and commitment to creating sustainable and convenient transportation options has propelled Bounce to become one of the leading bike-sharing platforms in the world.
Under Vivekananda’s leadership, Bounce has transformed the way people commute in densely populated cities, providing hassle-free access to efficient and eco-friendly transportation. His visionary approach has not only revolutionized the way people travel but has also contributed significantly to reducing congestion, air pollution, and carbon emissions. With a deep passion for leveraging technology for societal impact, Vivekananda continues to drive Bounce towards a future where mobility is seamless, sustainable, and accessible to all.
Brittan Heller
Fellow | Atlantic Council
Brittan Heller works at the intersection of technology, human rights, and the law. She is currently a fellow at the Atlantic Council, with the Digital Forensics Research Lab, examining XR’s connection to society, human rights and privacy, and commerce. As former counsel in Foley Hoag LLP’s Global Business and Human Rights practice, Heller advised companies, investors, NGOs, and governments on integrating public safety and human rights. Heller was an inaugural AI and Technology Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, studying content moderation and security risks in VR/AR/XR and emergent media. Heller previously founded ADL’s Center for Technology and Society. Her key projects included creating AI to study hate speech and analyzing disinformation that targeted minority communities. Additionally, Heller prosecuted grave human rights violations at the U.S. Department of Justice and the International Criminal Court and initiated landmark anti-cyber harassment litigation. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.
John Hennessy
Chair of the Board | Alphabet Inc.
John Hennessy, a pioneer in computer architecture, joined Stanford’s faculty in 1977 as an assistant professor of electrical engineering. In 1981, he drew together researchers to focus on a technology known as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), which revolutionized computing by increasing performance while reducing costs. Hennessy helped transfer this technology to the industry in 1984 by cofounding MIPS Computer Systems, which had an initial public offering in 1989. In 1998, he cofounded Atheros Communications, a pioneer in Wi-Fi technology, and served as Chair of the Board until 2010. He is also the co-author (with David Patterson) of two internationally used textbooks on computer architecture.
Hennessy was the inaugural Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and served as chair of Computer Science, dean of the School of Engineering, and university provost, before being inaugurated as Stanford’s 10th president. He currently serves on the board of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Cisco Systems, and Alphabet (Google’s parent company), where he is currently chair of the board.
In early 2016, he announced the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, the largest fully endowed graduate-level scholarship program in the world, and after stepping down as president, he became the inaugural Shriram Family Director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program in September 2016. Scholars will receive full funding to pursue a graduate or professional degree in any of Stanford’s seven schools. The focus of their experience will be both knowledge and leadership development — to prepare a new generation of leaders to make a positive impact on the world.
Florian Holzapfel
Professor for Flight System Dynamics | Technische Universitat Munchen
Florian Holzapfel received the Engineering Diploma and Doctorate degrees in aerospace engineering from the Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, in 1999 and 2004, respectively. He is currently a Full Professor at the Department of Aerospace and Geodesy, Technische Universität München, where he is also the Director of the Institute of Flight System Dynamics. From 2004 to 2007, he was a Project Leader for flight simulation and flight control with IABG mbH, Munich, Germany. His current research interests include aerospace GNC applications, with a focus on transitioning novel methods to flight experiments and products. He is the Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Luft und Raumfahrt (German equivalent to the AIAA), past and present member of GNC TCs for AIAA, DGLR, and CEAS, past and present member of company advisory boards and expert boards of public institutions like NATO, BavAIRia, German Government Ministries.
Rebecca Hu
Co-Founder | Glacier
Rebecca is a former Bain consultant, where she worked with Fortune 500 industrials and consumer brand executives. She has held leadership and advisor roles at multiple tech startups and has dedicated her career to improving the circular economy as the founder of Glacier and a mentor for the Google Circular Economy Accelerator. Her team at Glacier builds AI-enabled robots to automate sorting at recycling facilities.
Qichao Hu
Founder & CEO | SES
Dr. Hu received his PhD in applied physics from Harvard in 2012.
In the fall of 2012, cofounded SolidEnergy Systems and spun it out of MIT. The goal was to develop next-generation battery materials and revolutionize the consumer electronics and electric vehicles industries. This was during the toughest time in the US advanced battery industry, with many large battery companies going bankrupt. After overcoming enormous adversity, led SolidEnergy to win a worldwide exclusive license on the MIT patent, Series A venture investment, became the first and only startup to form a strategic partnership with A123 Venture Technologies, built a world-class team, and developed prototypes that achieved almost 1400 Wh/L in energy density in less than one year. Created a beautiful “phoenix rising out of the ashes” story.
Qichao Hu
Founder & CEO | SES.ai
Dr. Hu received his PhD in applied physics from Harvard in 2012.
In the fall of 2012, cofounded SolidEnergy Systems and spun it out of MIT. The goal was to develop next-generation battery materials and revolutionize the consumer electronics and electric vehicles industries. This was during the toughest time in the US advanced battery industry, with many large battery companies going bankrupt. After overcoming enormous adversity, led SolidEnergy to win a worldwide exclusive license on the MIT patent, Series A venture investment, became the first and only startup to form a strategic partnership with A123 Venture Technologies, built a world-class team, and developed prototypes that achieved almost 1400 Wh/L in energy density in less than one year. Created a beautiful “phoenix rising out of the ashes” story.
Paul Jacobs
CEO & Chair of the Board | XCOM Labs
Paul E. Jacobs, Ph.D., founded XCOM in 2018 to #keepinventing and to invest with the world’s most creative engineers and businesspeople.
As former chief executive officer and executive chairman of Qualcomm Incorporated, Dr. Jacobs spearheaded its efforts to develop and commercialize fundamental mobile technology breakthroughs that fueled the wireless internet and smartphone revolutions. During his tenure as CEO, Qualcomm’s revenues quadrupled, and its market capitalization doubled. Dr. Jacobs is a prolific inventor with over 80 U.S. patents granted or pending in the field of wireless technology and devices.
He served as a director of Qualcomm Incorporated from June 2005 to March 2018, including as chairman of the board of directors from March 2009 to March 2018 and as executive chairman from March 2014 to March 2018. He served as Chief Executive Officer from July 2005 to March 2014 and as group president of Qualcomm Wireless & Internet from July 2001 to July 2005. In addition, he served as an executive vice president of Qualcomm Incorporated from February 2000 to June 2005.
Dr. Jacobs is a director of Dropbox, Inc., Arm Limited, and FIRST. He is an owner and vice chairman of the Sacramento Kings, who compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science, an M.S. in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science. He founded Berkeley’s Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation and was the university’s 2017 Alumnus of the Year. Dr. Jacobs is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Ben Johnson
Mayoral Head of Economics & Business Policy
Ben is the Mayor of London’s lead advisor on economic and business policy. In this role, he supports the Mayor and his deputies, and works with colleagues across the GLA to develop and implement policy in support of London’s growth, competitiveness and fairness.
Prior to working at City Hall, Ben worked on Sadiq Khan’s campaign to become Mayor of London in 2016, in particular playing a key part in drafting his manifesto. Previously, Ben was Head of Policy Development at The Labour Party, and has a background in transport, environment, housing and local government policy. He served as a councilor in the London Borough of Wandsworth between 2010 and 2016. He holds a B.Sc. in Public Policy, Government and Management from the University of Birmingham.
Originally from Warrington, Ben moved to South London in 2003 and still lives there today with his partner, Emma, and their daughter.
Sara Jones
Senior Vice President | New Vista Capital
Sara A. Jones currently serves as Senior Vice President at New Vista Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging technologies in Aerospace and defense. Before New Vista, Ms. Jones drove innovation investments, partnerships, and new venture initiatives in the future of mobility and emerging technologies at The Boeing Company, including serving as Innovation Director, Digital & Emerging Aviation in Boeing HorizonX. In addition, Ms. Jones has worked in corporate strategy and management consulting, developing research-driven business and customer strategies for Fortune 100 companies, including Microsoft, UPS, T-Mobile, and Nordstrom. She also has extensive experience in the start-up sector as a founder and advisor.
Anthony Jules
Co-Founder & CEO | Robust. Ai
A 30-year technology veteran with expertise in robotics, AI, machine learning, and business transformation. Anthony Jules is Co-founder and CEO of Robust.AI, where he is pioneering a vision of collaborative mobility in robotics. Anthony’s exceptional track record as a technology leader is based on his belief that complex problems like robotics require multidimensional and multidisciplinary solutions that are human-centered by design. Before joining Robust.AI, Anthony led several high-performance multidisciplinary teams building robotics products at Google. As part of Google Robotics and X, he was head of Product and Program Management for the Everyday Robot project. He joined Google through its acquisition of Redwood Robotics in 2013, at which he was COO and VP of Product.
Shayle Kann
Partner | Energy Impact Partners
Shayle Kann is a Partner at Energy Impact Partners, the leading venture capital fund investing in companies shaping the future of energy and infrastructure, where he leads the firm’s investments at the frontier of climate tech. He is also a member of the NYSERDA Investor Advisory Board, the PRIME Investor Advisory Council, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy. Previously, Shayle built and ran GTM Research, the market intelligence arm of Greentech Media, where he led a 30-person team tracking and forecasting the evolution of the electricity sector. Shayle oversaw this business through and beyond GTM’s 2016 acquisition by Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK).
Shayle is a renowned writer and speaker on the future of energy. He has spoken at conferences around the world, testified in front of U.S. Congress, and is regularly cited in outlets including the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, Economist, and Bloomberg. He is co-host of the popular energy podcast The Interchange.
Before GTM, Shayle was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, researching renewable energy project finance in Australia. He also worked at Conservation Services Group (acquired by ClearResult) and the California Public Utilities Commission. He graduated cum laude, phi beta kappa from Pomona College.
Shinpei Kato
Founder, CEO & CTO | TIER IV, Inc.
Shinpei Kato is the founder and chairman of the Autoware Foundation and a Project Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.
Shinpei was a postdoctoral scholar at Keio University, the University of Tokyo, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was an associate professor at the Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University from 2012 to 2016. His expertise includes computer architectures and operating systems for embedded and real-time systems as well as parallel and distributed systems.
Vinod Khosla
Founder | Khosla Ventures
Vinod is an entrepreneur, investor, and technologist. He is the founder of Khosla Ventures, a firm focused on assisting entrepreneurs to build impactful technology-based disruptive companies. Vinod grew up dreaming of being an entrepreneur, despite being from an Indian army household with no business or technology connections. Since the age of 16, when he first heard about the founding of Intel, he dreamt of starting his own technology company.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, Vinod failed to start a soy milk company to service the many people in India who did not have refrigerators. Instead, he came to the U.S. to further his academic studies and received a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His startup dreams led him to Silicon Valley, where he received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Upon graduation, Vinod co-founded Daisy Systems, the first significant computer-aided design system for electrical engineers. The company went on to achieve significant revenue, profits, and an IPO. Then, driven by the frustration of having to design the computer hardware on which the Daisy software needed to be built, he started the standards-based Sun Microsystems in 1982 to build workstations for software developers. As the founding CEO of Sun, he pioneered open systems and commercial RISC processors. Sun Microsystems was funded by Vinod’s longtime friend and board member John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB).
In 1986, Vinod joined KPCB as a general partner. While there, he played a crucial role in taking on Intel’s monopoly by building and growing a semiconductor company, Nexgen, which eventually was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Nexgen/AMD was the only microprocessor to have significant success against Intel. Thereafter, Vinod helped incubate the idea and business plan for Juniper Networks to take on Cisco System’s dominance of the router market. The company went on to give KPCB a 2,500x return on its early investment. Vinod also was involved in the formulation of the early advertising-based search strategy for Excite. He helped transform the moribund telecommunications business and its archaic SONET implementations with Cerent Corporation, which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1999 for $7.2 billion.
In 2004, driven by the need for flexibility to accommodate four growing children, the desire to be more experimental and to fund sometimes imprudent “science experiments,” Vinod formed Khosla Ventures to focus on both for-profit and social impact investments. His goals remain the same: work and learn from fun and knowledgeable entrepreneurs, build impactful companies by leveraging innovation, and spend time with a partnership that makes a difference. Vinod has a passion for nascent technologies that have beneficial effects and economic impact on society. He works closely with many KV companies as they face transitions or key decisions.
Vinod is driven by the belief that technology is a positive force multiplier to accelerate societal reinvention in food, health, climate, energy transportation, education, housing finance, media, retail, and entertainment for billions around the globe. His greatest passion lies in being a mentor to entrepreneurs who are building companies to tackle society’s largest challenges. He was also a supporter of several microfinance organizations in India and Africa.
Vinod sits on the board of Breakthrough Energy Ventures and is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals that was founded in 1992 and has more than 40 chapters in nine countries today. He is a founding board member of the Indian School of Business (ISB).
Vinod holds a bachelor of technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, India, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Satoshi Kitazaki
Producer | AIST Solutions
Dr. Kitazaki is a producer at AIST Solutions, which was established on April 1, 2023. His duty is to produce new services and products for the well-being of people, including mobility services, nursing, rehabilitation, and health care. The new services and products will be produced with a strong industry partnership based on outcomes of research on human science being conducted at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
Dr. Kitazaki received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Kyoto University, Japan, and his Ph.D. from the University of Southampton, UK. He worked for Nissan Motor as a human factors engineer from 1985 to 2012 for the safety and comfort of driving. He was a professor at the University of Iowa from 2012 to 2015 and researched the on-road safety of older drivers and medically impaired drivers. Dr. Kitazaki joined AIST in 2015 as the director of the Automotive Human Factors Research Center. He became the director of the Human-Centered Mobility Research Center in 2020.
In AIST, Dr. Kitazaki had been leading the national research project on human factors in automated driving from 2016 to 2022. The project was a part of SIP-adus, the Strategic Innovation Promotion Program on Automated Driving for Universal Services, supported by the government of Japan. He has also been serving as a co-chair of the Human Factors Working Group in the EU-US-JP Trilateral Cooperation on automated road transport, co-leader of Germany-Japan research cooperation on human factors in automated driving, and an expert in ISO/TC22/SC39/WG8.
Ajay Kochhar
President & CEO | Li-Cycle
Ajay Kochhar is the President and CEO, co-founder of Li-Cycle.
Responsible for strategic oversight of Li-Cycle’s various functional business units, which include Commercial, Technical (Health, Safety, Environment and Quality/HSEQ, Operations, Commercialization, Research and Development), and Shared Services. Additionally, Ajay supports the development of international growth initiatives for the company in collaboration with Li-Cycle’s Corporate Development team.
Before founding Li-Cycle, Ajay gained extensive technology and project development experience through progressive roles with Hatch’s industrial cleantech and advisory practices. While working in that space, he garnered in-depth engineering and project management experience through clean technology development in the lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, gold, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and rare earth metals industries. His technical expertise spans the entire project lifecycle, from conceptual and pre-feasibility studies to construction and commissioning.
Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, Ajay comes from entrepreneurial roots, having gained experience from a young age via a family business. An ardent music enthusiast, he is a classical guitarist who maintains the hobby even now for enjoyment.
Ajay is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Chemical Engineering
Clea Kolster
Partner & Head of Science | Lowercarbon Capital
Clea Kolster is a Partner and the Head of Science at Lowercarbon Capital and leads the firm’s technical research, development, diligence, and scientific strategy efforts. Clea’s distinguished career has always focused on solving climate emergencies through technology, business models, and policy innovation. Before joining Lowercarbon, she worked at San Francisco-based energy consulting firm, E3, where she developed electricity resource planning models and economy-wide decarbonization plans for entire states, utilities, and asset owners, with a focus on the role of hard science emerging technologies like hydrogen production methods, long-duration energy storage, biomass conversion, carbon sequestration, geothermal and advanced nuclear. She led the analysis on over 15 projects in her two years at E3, including “Achieving Carbon Neutrality in California” (link) for the California Air Resources Board, “Net-Zero New England: Ensuring Electric Reliability in a Low-Carbon Future” (link) in collaboration with the Energy Futures Initiative, and another on “Examining the Role of Nuclear for Decarbonizing the Pacific Northwest.” Clea also co-founded her own company focused on access to clean cooking fuels in West Africa, having previously worked on clean energy access and investment across emerging markets in East and North Africa.
Clea earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering and energy policy at Imperial College London. She was awarded the Grantham Institute’s full scholarship to conduct her Ph.D. and became the student representative of the Grantham Institute at the Paris COP21 Climate Conference. Clea conducted her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Imperial College London and was the only student selected to spend a year at Columbia University in New York.
Clea Kolster
Director of Science | Lowercarbon Capital
Clea Kolster is a Partner and the Head of Science at Lowercarbon Capital and leads the firm’s technical research, development, diligence, and scientific strategy efforts. Clea’s distinguished career has always focused on solving climate emergencies through technology, business models, and policy innovation. Before joining Lowercarbon, she worked at San Francisco-based energy consulting firm, E3, where she developed electricity resource planning models and economy-wide decarbonization plans for entire states, utilities, and asset owners, with a focus on the role of hard science emerging technologies like hydrogen production methods, long-duration energy storage, biomass conversion, carbon sequestration, geothermal and advanced nuclear. She led the analysis on over 15 projects in her two years at E3, including “Achieving Carbon Neutrality in California” (link) for the California Air Resources Board, “Net-Zero New England: Ensuring Electric Reliability in a Low-Carbon Future” (link) in collaboration with the Energy Futures Initiative, and another on “Examining the Role of Nuclear for Decarbonizing the Pacific Northwest.” Clea also co-founded her own company focused on access to clean cooking fuels in West Africa, having previously worked on clean energy access and investment across emerging markets in East and North Africa.
Clea earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering and energy policy at Imperial College London. She was awarded the Grantham Institute’s full scholarship to conduct her Ph.D. and became the student representative of the Grantham Institute at the Paris COP21 Climate Conference. Clea conducted her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Imperial College London and was the only student selected to spend a year at Columbia University in New York.
Dr. Georg Küegerl
Deputy General Manager, Technology & Intellectual Property HQ | TDK Corporation
Georg received his PhD in Physics at the University of Technology in Graz, Austria. In 1992, he joined Siemens Matsushita Components, which later became EPCOS and is now part of TDK Corporation.
Georg’s professional background lies in ceramics, where he was always involved in the development of new materials, components, and systems. Aside from conducting research and development, he was always interested in improving R&D methodology. This led him to agile development and lean startup methodologies.
Georg is now Deputy General Manager of the Technology and IP Headquarter of TDK Corporation. He also runs TDK Kindergarten which is TDK’s internal venture building program.
Rio Kurokawa
Director | IBM
RIO KUROKAWA Director, IBM Power & Metaverse lead, Technology Sales, IBM Japan Ltd. Rio has over 7 years of experience as a Hybrid & AI product leader, experience in launching new products and services, including Metaverse business launch with HW / SW / IaaS / SaaS marketing, experience in facing media interviews, and publishing corporate brand blogs and magazines (Power9, 10, Cloud Pak for Data, WKC, z15) and in collaboration with business partners. He enables translation of company strategy from technology strength to client value point of view and has had over 19 years of client-facing experience in Sales, with 3,000 clients including CxOs, Insurance Actuary community, 4 years of certified IBM Executive experience, 10 years of Thought Leader experience in Financial Markets industry. Rio holds a B. A. in Mandarin, Chinese society, and culture from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan, and an MBA from the London Business School Short MBA program – London, United Kingdom.
Shailesh Lakhani
Managing Director | Sequoia India
At Sequoia India, Shailesh primarily focuses on consumer technology, web3, fintech, and SaaS companies.
Currently, Shailesh Lakhani occupies the position of Managing Director at Peak XV Partners, he is also on the board of 17 other companies. In the past, he was Managing Director at Redknee (India) Technologies Pvt Ltd. Mr. Lakhani received an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from The University of Waterloo.
Joe Kit Chu Lam
Corporate Officer | TDK Corporation, Japan
General Manager | TDK China HQ.
Joe Lam is the General Manager of TDK China, Corporate Officer of TDK Japan, and the Executive VP of Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), the world’s leading producer and innovator of lithium-ion batteries. With a career spanning more than three decades, Joe is a seasoned executive who has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and strategic acumen. Over nineteen years with ATL, he held various positions within Sales & Marketing and Corporate Planning. Prior to his current role, he served as COO and VP of Corporate Affairs and Planning, contributing significantly to ATL’s growth and innovation. In past few years, Joe focuses on VC investments relating to battery technologies and materials, as well as M&A and JV projects at mega scale. Earlier in his career, Joe gained valuable experience in magnetic recording heads and optical communication components at SAE Magnetics and excelled as an Account Manager in San Jose, California. He holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with First Class Honors from The University of Hong Kong.
Tyler Lancaster
Principal | Energize Ventures
Tyler drives investment activity and portfolio management for Energize, focusing primarily on the intersection of software with the physical world.
Before joining the Fund, Tyler worked at Accenture Strategy, where he shaped new business models and investment plans for Fortune 500 electric utilities and private equity. His work focused on distributed energy resources, regulatory innovation, grid modernization, and transportation electrification. Tyler began his career building commercial solar PV and energy efficiency projects for an energy services company.
Tyler holds a B.S. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University, where he was an Egleston Scholar.
Tyler is a Board Director for Aurora Solar, Urbint, TWAICE, Patch, and Smartcar.
Julie Larson-Green
Chief Technology Officer | Magic Leap
Julie Larson-Green is Magic Leap’s Chief Technology Officer. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience leading engineering and design for top technology companies. Larson-Green oversees Magic Leap’s hardware, software, and product teams, and is responsible for the vision and execution of the company’s enterprise augmented reality technology platform. Before Magic Leap, Julie helped lead a new category of software called Experience Management (XM) at Qualtrics. Larson-Green was also Chief Experience Officer at Microsoft with an exceptional track record of design-led product development and inclusive leadership. Among her many roles, she led all Windows software and hardware engineering and the Office Experience Organization where she oversaw the Office 365 suite of products. Larson-Green currently sits on several boards, both for-profit and non-profit. She’s an active advisor and investor in the Seattle-area community.
Sang Won Lee
CEO & Board Member | TDK Qeexo
record of success in the technology industry. As the Chief Executive Officer
and Board Member of TDK Qeexo, a subsidiary of TDK Corp, Sang leads the
strategic vision, business development, and operational execution for the
company’s IoT initiatives. His leadership was instrumental in navigating the
integration process of Qeexo and TDK following the acquisition.
Prior to his role at TDK Qeexo, Sang co-founded Qeexo, a pioneering
company specializing in AI and Machine Learning solutions. Serving as CEO
and Board Member, he played a pivotal role in establishing Qeexo as a leader
in touchscreen interaction solutions, notably overseeing the global
commercial launch of FingerSense™ and EarSense™ technologies across
numerous smartphone models. Under his leadership, Qeexo achieved
significant milestones, securing substantial funding rounds and executing a
successful acquisition by TDK USA Corp.
Before Qeexo, Sang held key roles in leading technology companies such as
HTC America, SK Telecom, and Samsung Electronics.
Sang holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of
California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic and Electrical
Engineering from Pohang Institute of Science and Technology (POSTECH),
Republic of Korea.
With a passion for innovation and a wealth of experience spanning across
multinational corporations and startups, Sang continues to drive impactful
advancements in the technology sector, shaping the future of IoT and AI-
driven solutions.
Louis Lehot
Partner & Lawyer | Foley & Lardner LLP
Louis Lehot has handled some of the highest-profile matters in the tech, health care, and clean energy spaces. A partner in the firm’s Private Equity & Venture Capital, M&A, and Transactions Practices, as well as the Technology, Health Care, Life Sciences, and Energy Industry Teams, he advises entrepreneurs and their management teams, investors, and financial advisors at all stages of growth
Louis is skilled at taking clients from “garage to global,” helping them achieve hyper-growth, go public, and successfully obtain optimal liquidity events. He guides emerging private companies as they secure venture capital financing, prepare for IPO, de-SPAC, or M&A transactions, and navigate the exit. Clients routinely turn to Louis for his domain experience in public offerings and private placements of equity, equity-linked, and debt securities, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, spinoffs, strategic investments, and joint ventures, as well as corporate governance and securities law compliance matters. Additionally, Louis regularly represents U.S. and non-U.S. registrants before the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, and NASDAQ.
Louis draws on more than 20 years of global experience and leverages the latest legal technology tools to drive strategies and solutions that make sense. He has been recognized by peer-reviewed industry guides and leading practitioners as one of the most innovative, creative, and versatile corporate counsel. Chambers USA noted that he has considerable experience representing both emerging companies and investors in venture financings, stating, “Louis Lehot is known for the high quality of his advice, his responsiveness and passion for his clients.”
Hong Li
Professor | IPCAS
Co-Founder | WeLion & HiNa
Hong Li is a professor at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Li has studied materials for lithium-ion batteries since 1993, making important contributions including nano-Si anode, solid lithium batteries, and failure analysis.
His current interests are high-energy density lithium batteries, solid batteries, failure mechanisms, and fundamental solid-state ionic problems. Li has published over 383 papers in peer-reviewed journals with over 27000 times citations and the H-factor is 84. He was ranked as a highly cited scholar in 2018 and 2019.
Not only has he filed over 100 patents and 50 have been granted, but he also has delivered over 60 invited talks in international academic conferences.
Li is the regional editor of Solid State Ionics, Ionics, and Journal of Materiomics.
Also, he is the co-founder of three companies to produce Si anode materials， solid lithium batteries, and Na-ion batteries, and co-founder of two research institutes: Tianmulake Institute of Energy Storage and Yangtze River Physical Research Center.
He was awarded as a distinguished young scientist by NSFC. He serves as the scientific committee member of MOST and MIIT in China.
Hong Li is also a board member of the International Meeting of Lithium Batteries and the International Society of Solid State Ionics.
Ju Li
Professor | MIT
Ju Li is the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and a professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His group investigates the mechanical, electrochemical, and transport behaviors of materials as well as novel means of energy storage and conversion. Before coming to MIT, Li was a professor at Ohio State University and the University of Pennsylvania. He is an elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society and the American Physical Society. He has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a Materials Research Society Outstanding Young Investigator Award, and an MIT Technology Review TR35 Award. He earned a BS in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a PhD in nuclear science from MIT.
Veronica Li
Founding Member & Investor | Primavera Venture Partners
Veronica was born in Guangzhou, China, and moved to the U.S. at eight years old. A 2008 Laurel Springs grad, she attended Stanford University on a full scholarship and graduated with a BA and MA in four-and-a-half years
At Primavera, Veronica invests in early-stage and growth-stage technology companies across the private sector. She has invested in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Climate Tech, and Robotics, among other technical verticals.
Elana Lian
Investment Director | Intel Capital
Elana Lian is an Investment Director for Intel Capital located in the Bay Area. Elana focuses on investments in Commerce, IoTG, SaaS/Enterprise digitization and DeepTech. Companies. Elana believes there is a tremendous opportunity for disruption in legacy industries by unlocking insights into their data and creating new consumer experiences. Elana currently serves as board director or observer at Teikametrics and Fictiv. Before Intel Capital, Elana began her career working in Engineering, Product Development, and Business Development roles across the high-tech industry. She is a Kauffman Fellow and received her MBA from Kellogg School of Management, has a BS & MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto and Tufts University. In her spare time, she loves traveling to five continents, skiing, scuba diving, and spending time with her son.
Michael Liebreich
Chairman & CEO of Liebreich Associates | Co-Managing Partner of EcoPragma Capital
Michael Liebreich is chairman and CEO of Liebreich Associates and co-managing partner of EcoPragma Capital. He is a member of the UK’s Taskforce on Energy Efficiency, chairing the subgroup on industry, a member of the UK Board of Trade, an honorary fellow of the Energy Institute, and a visiting professor at Imperial College London. He is a former advisor to the UN on Sustainable Energy for All, a member of the board of Transport for London, and a founder of BloombergNEF.
Michael undertakes speaking and writing engagements through Liebreich Associates. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and panelist on all matters relating to the net-zero transition. He has addressed many major energy and other conferences, the UN General Assembly, and governmental panels and committees around the world. He still contributes a quarterly column as a Senior Contributor to BloombergNEF.
In July 2020, Michael started a podcast and YouTube channel called Cleaning Up, where he hosts in-depth conversations with leaders and experts in climate change and its potential solutions. Guests have included Tony Blair, Christiana Figueres, Ernie Moniz, Alex Honnold, Bill McKibben, Fatih Birol, Yanis Varoufakis, Mariana Mazzucato, Tony Abbott, Lord Browne, Lord Stern, Baroness Worthington, Lord Turner, Dan Yergin, Mark Carney, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Wathuti, Johan Rockström and many more.
In 2021, together with fellow Cambridge Engineers and Harvard Business School alumnus Henry Lawson, Michael set up EcoPragma Capital. This is a specialist provider of advisory services to companies and investors committed to the net-zero transition. Through EcoPragma Capital Michael provides strategic advice and supports fund-raisings and capital investments. Plans include raising a fund to invest in companies experiencing or on the cusp of explosive growth.
Helen Lin
Partner | At One Ventures
Helen Lin was formerly the Head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at FINCA Impact Finance (FIF), where she launched the Innovation Lab that sourced new fintech partnerships for FIF’s microfinance operations. Through running POCs, she evaluated new technologies to support FINCA Ventures in seed-stage equity financing. Helen drove FIF’s digital transformation strategy in its 20 subsidiaries across 4 continents. She has led the implementation and launch of strategic delivery channel initiatives in Africa including agency banking, mobile banking, and mobile savings and lending. Helen’s first role with FIF was Regional Analyst and acting Regional Financial Controller for Africa, responsible for budgeting, treasury, and business analytics for the region. Before FINCA, Helen worked for 7 years in Investment Banking and Private Equity, including two years in China launching a new growth equity fund investment in Greater China (Baird Capital Partners Asia). She executed investment, merger, and acquisition transactions, and helped scale and operationally streamline Baird’s portfolio companies. Helen previously spent a year as a volunteer teacher in the Marshall Islands through the Harvard Institute of International Development (WorldTeach). She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. She speaks Mandarin and French and enjoys practicing Swahili.
Helen Lin
Partner | At One Ventures
Helen invests in and supports portfolio companies that render humanity a net positive to nature. At One seeks innovative technologies that can upend the traditional industries contributing to climate change, with disruptive unit economics commercially and
environmentally.
Helen was formerly the Head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at FINCA Impact Finance (FIF), where she drove FIF’s digital transformation strategy in its 20 subsidiaries across 4 continents and has led the implementation of strategic initiatives in Africa including agency banking, mobile banking, and various fintech partnerships. Before FINCA, Helen worked for 7 years in Investment Banking and Private Equity, including launching a growth equity fund in China (Baird Capital Partners Asia).
Michal Lipson, Ph. D.
Professor | Columbia University
Prof. Michal Lipson is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Applied Physics at Columbia University. She completed her B.S., MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Physics at the Technion in 1998 and a Postdoctoral work at MIT in 2001. Lipson pioneered the field of Silicon Photonics, which today is recognized as critical for scaling computing. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was awarded the NAS Comstock Prize in Physics, the MacArthur Award, the Blavatnik Award, the Optical Society’s R. W. Wood Prize, the IEEE Photonics Award, EPFL’s Erna Hamburger Award, and the OSA/IEEE John Tyndall Award. She has also received an honorary degree from Trinity College, University of Dublin. Since 2014 every year she has been named by Thomson Reuters as a top 1% highly cited researcher in the field of Physics. She is the inventor of over 30 issued patents.
Ping Liu
Professor | UCSD
Co-Founder | TyFast
Dr. Ping Liu is a Professor of Nanoengineering and the Director of the Sustainable Power and Energy Center at UCSD. Before joining the Jacobs School faculty, Professor Liu was a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), where he initiated and managed research programs in energy storage for electric vehicles and thermal management technologies to improve building energy efficiency. He was the manager of the Energy Technology Department at HRL Laboratories (an industrial lab jointly owned by GM and Boeing) and was a research staff member with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Professor Liu received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Fudan University in China. He was a Distinguished Inventor for multiple years at HRL and won an R&D 100 award in 2009 for a battery technology developed at NREL.
Sonita Lontoh
Board Director | Sunrun & TrueBlue
Sonita Lontoh is an accomplished public company’s board director and a former Fortune 100 executive. Over her 25-year diverse global career, she has led and advised public companies and governments on innovative programs that have delivered positive impacts to businesses, consumers, and society. She is a purpose-driven thought leader with a passion for advancing more women leaders in technology and corporate boardrooms. She has been invited by the White House to speak at President Barack Obama’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit and to an event honoring AAPI Women Champions of Change. Sonita was recognized by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her pioneering work for TechWomen and was invited by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for a roundtable discussing digital transformations. She is an inductee to the US Asian Hall of Fame, and the US Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame, and is a notable MIT women’s alumna.
Joe Lowry
President at Global Lithium LLC
Joe Lowry is the founder of Global Lithium, which has clients on five continents providing lithium advisory services. Clients include lithium producers, major lithium users, cathode and battery producers, investors, hedge funds, and governments.
With over two decades of “Big 3” lithium experience living and working in the United States, Japan, and China, Joe has been dubbed by industry players as “Mr. Lithium”. He is considered one of the world’s leading lithium experts.
Involved in supplying raw materials to the lithium-ion battery space since the beginning of the industry in Japan, few have the depth of knowledge and contacts. In addition to his role as MD of Asia Pacific for FMC Lithium (now Livent); Joe also served as President of a Japanese-based battery materials JV and President of FMC Zhangjiagang Specialty Chemicals, LTD in China.
Xiaolin Lu
Fellow & Director of IoT | Texas Instruments
Xiaolin is a Fellow and Director of Texas Instruments Kilby Labs Sensing & Processing Group. She is responsible for R&D on connected sensors, embedded AI, timing, and clocking technologies for industrial internet and automobile applications. She has worked on various embedded processing and communication system programs, including Smart Sensing with edge computing, Intelligent Industrial Internet Sensor Network systems, embedded AI hardware acceleration, etc. She is the author/co-author of more than 60 U.S.-issued patents and the recipient of the special recognition awards: 2016 Asian American Engineer of the Year, Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and National Women of Color award in the Technical Innovation – Industry category.
Andy Lubershane
SVP | Research & Strategy | Energy Impact Partners
Andy Lubershane serves as Partner and Head of Research at Energy Impact Partners. His research is generating insight to guide both EIP’s investments and its partners’ strategy. He has over a decade of experience researching and analyzing the impact of new technology on energy markets.
Andy leads research at EIP, generating insight to guide both EIP’s investments and our partners’ strategy. He has spent the past decade researching and analyzing the impact of new technology on energy markets – beginning as a wind energy analyst at IHS, then pioneering research on energy storage & grid integration of renewables. At EIP, Andy works closely with subject matter experts & operational leaders from the firm’s strategic partners to develop market intelligence and strategic vision. He has won accolades for writing & speaking on topics ranging from the energy transition to the digital transformation of industry. Closer to home in South Portland, ME, Andy serves on the Maine Climate Council’s Energy Working Group.
Nruthya Madappa
Partner & Head of Growth and Capital Development | 3one4 Capital
Nruthya Madappa is the Partner and Head of Growth and Capital Development at 3one4 Capital.
She supports investments, topline, and capital growth for the portfolio at the firm, and works closely with global institutional and strategic investors to drive the growth of 3one4-portfolio companies. Her team partners deeply with portfolio companies in planning and achieving financial and strategic objectives including capital raises, revenue acceleration, M&A, and exits.
Over her career in the US and India, Nruthya led global teams across technology, finance, real estate, education, and economic policy. Before 3one4 Capital, Nruthya founded and led The CoWrks Foundry (a business accelerator for early-stage companies) as a Managing Partner, investing in over 25 companies and establishing global partnerships with Yale and Columbia University.
Before The CoWrks Foundry, she drove the Revenue and Growth teams at Cuemath. Throughout her career, Nruthya has designed and scaled products and raised capital for high-growth companies – strengths she brings to bear for the 3one4 portfolio.
Nruthya holds Bachelor’s of Science and Master’s of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sanjna Malpani
Chief of Staff | WeaveGrid
Sanjna Malpani has spent the past couple of years working at cutting-edge energy software companies that focus on grid modernization and DERs (primarily energy storage). She has also helped build one of the world’s largest Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) with AMS. Before this, she worked on Product Strategy at Geli, another VC-backed DER software company. Outside of her current day job, she manages a network of 200+ clean energy professionals in the Bay Area where I am Alumni Manager with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) – a non-profit that provides a training program and mentorship opportunities for exceptional leaders in the field of renewables. She is also a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum in the San Francisco Hub.
She graduated with a Masters in Environmental Management from Yale FES in 2017, where she focused on energy policy and finance. At CBEY, Sanjna wrote for the Clean Energy Finance Forum and served on the entrepreneurship team as a liaison between the School of Forestry and other entrepreneurial activities on campus. She also served as a OneEnergy Scholar as one of the six graduate students chosen from a pool of applicants across the U.S. for their dedication to advancing the field of renewables.
At the age of 19, she founded and ran a social venture known as “Jal Jyoti” (meaning water-light in Hindi), which provides cost and energy-efficient lighting solutions to densely packed urban slums in Mumbai using Alfredo Moser’s “Bottled Light” concept. The organization has lit over 130 homes in various slums across the city and has led to an annual average saving of Rs. 2500 per household. Jal Jyoti has also won two international awards, including the Walmart Women’s Empowerment grant. Sanjna spent one year in Madrid on scholarship where she studied business administration at ICADE – Comillas Pontifical University (and attempted to learn Spanish). She also gave a TEDx talk at TEDxUPComillas about her journey through the Mumbai slums. Her interests lie in redeveloping urban slum areas using solar energy. She has also spent some time in China, researching the potential of third-party financing for renewable distributed generation. She graduated with distinction from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai with a degree in Life Science and Biochemistry.
Jonathan Maxwell
Co-Founder & CEO | Sustainable Development Capital, LLP (SDCL)
Jonathan Maxwell is the Founder and CEO of Sustainable Development Capital, LLP (‘SDCL’), an independent investment firm with over US$2 billion of investment capital dedicated to energy efficiency. Jonathan has over 27 years’ experience in business and finance with 15 years at the helm of one of the UK’s only independent sustainability and climate-focussed investment firms, which is one of the largest and fastest growing firms of its kind in the world.
Ain McKendrick
CEO | Faction
Ain McKendrick is the founder and CEO of Faction. Prior to forming Faction, Ain was VP of Engineering at Starsky Robotics which became the first company to operate completely driverless semi trucks on public roads in North America. He was the Senior Director of Netflix’s partner products team which brought Netflix Instant Streaming to connected consumer products and has co-founded a number of startup technology ventures. Ain began his technology career as one of the founders of Palm Computing developing the original PalmPilot PDA and holds a degree in Computer Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Ain McKendrick
Founder & CEO | Faction
Ain McKendrick is the founder and CEO of Faction. He has a track record of developing cutting-edge consumer electronics products and technologies throughout his career at many startups. Before forming Faction, Ain was the VP of Engineering at Starsky Robotics which became the first company to operate completely driverless semi trucks on public roads in North America. He was the Senior Director of Netflix’s partner products team which brought Netflix Instant Streaming to connected consumer products and has co-founded several startup technology ventures. Ain began his technology career as one of the founders of Palm Computing developing the original PalmPilot PDA. Ain holds a degree in Computer Science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is a Y Combinator alumni, and has several patents issued and pending for handheld computing, user interface, DVR, networked storage, and driverless vehicle technologies.
Tarun Mehta
Co-Founder & CEO | Ather Energy
Tarun Mehta graduated from IT Madras with a degree in Engineering Design (Dual Degree
Along with Swapnil Jain, he conceptualized and started ‘Ather Energy’ in April
Ather has developed India’s first smart electric scooter that aims to revolutionize two-wheeler driving in India.
At IT, Tarun was associated with various product development teams and was actively involved with the entrepreneurship ecosystem (C-TIDES). He worked on more than a dozen prototypes over a wide range of topics and has six co-patents (pending), under his name. Driven by his core interest in electric vehicles, Tarun quit his job at Ashok Leyland in the year 2012 to start work on battery packs which is one of the biggest existing shortcomings in electric vehicles today. Eventually, realizing that the problem wasn’t just the battery pack, the team was drawn to the idea of designing and building a completely new electric vehicle.
As CEO at Ather, Tarun drives the strategic thinking for the company while being involved with the close-knit Ather team in reviewing every aspect of the vehicle development. He represented Ather in the ‘Technical Advisory Group for Electric Mobility’, to the Government of India. He also led the Electric Vehicle group in the Champions of Change program organized by Niti Aayog.
Swapnil Jain and Tarun were listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 and Fortune 40 under 40 list in 2017 & 2019 for their innovative product that is disrupting the Indian auto industry.
Shirley Meng
Professor | UCSD
Shirley Meng is a professor of molecular engineering at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. She also serves as the chief scientist of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) at Argonne National Laboratory.
Her work pioneers in discovering and designing better materials for energy storage by a unique combination of first-principles computation-guided materials discovery and design, and advanced characterization with electron/neutron/photon sources. Meng is the principal investigator of the research group – Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC). She has received several prestigious awards, including the Faraday Medal of the Royal Chemistry Society (2020), the International Battery Association Battery IBA Research Award (2019), the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists Finalist (2018), C.W. Tobias Young Investigator Award of the Electrochemical Society (2016), Science Award Electrochemistry by BASF and Volkswagen (2014) and NSF CAREER Award (2011). Meng is an elected fellow of the Electrochemical Society (FECS) and an elected fellow of the Materials Research Society (FMRS). She serves as the editor-in-chief for the Materials Research Society MRS Energy & Sustainability Journal.
Meng received her Ph.D. in Advanced Materials for Micro and Nano Systems from the Singapore-MIT Alliance in 2005, and her bachelor’s degree with first-class honors from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2000. She worked as a postdoctoral research fellow and became a research scientist at MIT from 2005-2007. Meng was the Zable Endowed Chair Professor in Energy Technologies at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) before joining PME at the University of Chicago.
Shirley Meng
Professor at University of Chicago | Chief Scientist of Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science
Shirley Meng is a professor of molecular engineering at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. She also serves as the chief scientist of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) at Argonne National Laboratory.
Her work pioneers in discovering and designing better materials for energy storage by a unique combination of first-principles computation-guided materials discovery and design, and advanced characterization with electron/neutron/photon sources. Meng is the principal investigator of the research group – Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC). She has received several prestigious awards, including the Faraday Medal of the Royal Chemistry Society (2020), the International Battery Association Battery IBA Research Award (2019), the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists Finalist (2018), C.W. Tobias Young Investigator Award of the Electrochemical Society (2016), Science Award Electrochemistry by BASF and Volkswagen (2014) and NSF CAREER Award (2011). Meng is an elected fellow of the Electrochemical Society (FECS) and an elected fellow of the Materials Research Society (FMRS). She serves as the editor-in-chief for the Materials Research Society MRS Energy & Sustainability Journal.
Meng received her Ph.D. in Advanced Materials for Micro and nano Systems from the Singapore-MIT Alliance in 2005, and her bachelor’s degree with first-class honors from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2000. She worked as a postdoctoral research fellow and became a research scientist at MIT from 2005-2007. Meng was the Zable Endowed Chair Professor in Energy Technologies at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) before joining PME at the University of Chicago.
Laurie Menoud
Partner | At One Ventures
Laurie is responsible for equity investments in early-stage companies with a focus on 3D Printing, Agtech, Future of Mobility, Material Informatics, Nutrition, and any digital technologies driving the sale of new chemicals and materials.
Biotechnologist by training, she spent her career working in innovation by supporting R&D commercialization strategy and startup acquisition at Solvay and leading the creation of a dozen new ventures at SRI International, with an emphasis on robotics, computer vision, and speech technologies. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, bringing her experience working at startups and corporate innovation groups to successfully commercialize innovation.
Douglas Monaster
Executive Director | UBS Private Markets Group
Douglas Monaster is on the team of advisors at UBS Financial Services in New York, NY. Douglas Monaster has been working for 12 years. Their current role is with UBS Financial Services. Douglas Monaster has previously passed the Series 63 examinations and is registered to provide investment advice in New York. Douglas Monaster may also provide advisory services in other states under an applicable state exemption from registration or notice filing.
Doron Myersdorf
Founder & CEO | StoreDot
Doron brings vast experience in business and technology management to StoreDot. Before founding the company, he served as senior director of SanDisk SSD Business Unit (NASDAQ: SNDK), establishing and managing the division in Israel, building product strategy, marketing, and business development, resulting in sales to leading laptop makers amounting to over $100M in revenue in under 3 years. Previously, he was VP of Flash and Operations of systems, a flash memory global leader, where he managed strategic sourcing of $1B annually, resulting in annual revenue of over $1.5B. Doron’s diverse record also includes the founder and CEO of InnerPresence, a Silicon Valley security software company, and co-founder and VP of business development of Siftology, a pioneer in interactive media search. Earlier, as a partner at Tefen – Semiconductor Operations Management, Doron managed West Coast US operations, in charge of the design and setup of over 40 semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and biotech manufacturing facilities worldwide. Doron holds a DSc in R&D Management (1994), an M.Sc. in information systems (cum laude, 1991), and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering Management (cum laude, 1989) – all from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Sophia Nadur
Managing Partner | bp Ventures
Sophia is a managing partner at BP Ventures, leading the sourcing of venturing deals in the Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern markets. She explores new opportunities that support BP’s scaling of advanced mobility, clean energy, and other tech-led business models that accelerate the transition to net zero. Sophia joined BP Ventures from BP’s advanced mobility team, having designed the company’s e-mobility strategy, helping the business to become a leading provider of integrated mobility solutions for a future world.
Sophia holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, a BSc in Physiology from McGill University, and an LLB(Hons) from University College London. Before joining BP, she worked as an innovator and business builder in the global consumer goods and services industry, ran her own award-winning business, and qualified as a lawyer. Sophia was recognized as a Global Corporate Venturing Emerging Leader in 2022.
She explores new opportunities that support BP’s scaling of advanced mobility and digital energy that help to accelerate the transition to net zero in India. She led BluSmart’s Series A fundraiser and currently sits on their board. Before joining BP, she worked as an innovator and business builder in the global consumer goods and services industry, ran her own award-winning business, and qualified as a lawyer.
Yuki Nakagawa
CEO, President & Founder | RT Corporation
Yuki Nakagawa RT Corporation CEO, President, Founder In 2005, she started RT Corporation, a company that develops, sells, and trains university students and professional engineers about service robots, and became its representative director. RT is the official ROS supporter of Denso Wave COBOTTA. RT is also a Jetson Education Partner. For Google ADK production and sales, RT became the first Japanese company to be introduced at the Google I/O in 2011. In 2015, she was selected as one of the “25 Women in the World You Should Know in the Robotics Industry” by ROBOHUB in Silicon Valley, USA. In 2017, the company received investment from the Mirai Sousei Fund as a lead investor to develop Foodly, a humanoid collaborative robot for food factories. It is also attracting attention as a rapidly growing venture. She has published many papers and books and writes a column for robotics or food magazines. She is also the executive director of the New Technology Foundation, which organizes Micromouse, a maze analysis robot competition, and a board member of ROSConJP, a general incorporated association.
Kozue Nakayama
Outside Director | Isuzu Motors, Ltd.
After completing her Master’s at the Graduate School of Sociology, Keio University, Ms. Nakayama joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in April 1982. In September 2010, she was named the company’s Deputy General Manager of its Global Brand Coordination Bureau. In April 2011, she took a position with the city of Yokohama government and became Director of its Culture and Tourism Bureau in 2012. In June 2018, she was named President and Representative Director of the city’s Pacific Convention Plaza. Also in 2018, Ms. Nakayama was selected as CEO and Director of Future Center Alliance Japan at the Yokohama International Peace Conference Center. In 2019, she became a Visiting Professor at the Tama University Graduate School, teaching an adult MBA course.
Ms. Nakayama specializes in management, marketing, branding, statistics, comparative culture, and tourism as well as being an advocate of the M.I.C.E. theory of motivation.
Rick Needham
Senior Advisor | Climate & Energy | The Rise Fund at TPG
Rick Needham is a Partner with The Rise Fund and the fund’s Sector Lead for Energy. Before joining The Rise Fund, Rick was the Director of Energy and Sustainability for Google, where he led teams that invested in transformative, large-scale renewable energy projects, explored ways to help accelerate energy access in emerging markets, and catalyzed actions to address climate change. Rick spearheaded Google’s renewables project investing, which channeled more than $2.5 billion into renewable energy projects around the world. Before joining Google in 2008, Rick was a business development executive and project manager at DEKA Research & Development Corp, where he led clean energy business development efforts and managed several technology development projects in clean energy, medical products, and robotics. Rick also worked as a consultant at Bain & Company and served for eight years as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy. Rick was on the Board of the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), a project company developing an offshore wind energy transmission backbone off the Mid-Atlantic coast. He was also a member of the Energy Systems Integration Technical Review Panel for NREL and a member of the Sustainability Expert Advisory Panel for P&G. Rick holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, where he attended as a Draper Fellow and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Marty Neese
CEO | Verdagy
Marty Tucker Neese serves as the Independent Director of the Company. Mr. Neese’s principal occupation is corporate director. He is also a co-founder of Nuvosil AS (silicon recycling). Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer of Velodyne LiDAR, Inc. (autonomous vehicles) from February 2017 to October 2017. Before that, Mr. Neese was Chief Operating Officer of SunPower Corporation (solar power equipment and services) from 2008 to 2017; responsible for Global Operations at Flextronics (electronics manufacturing services) from 2007 to 2008 following its acquisition of Solectron Corporation (electronics manufacturing services) where he was Executive Vice President from 2004 to 2007
Michael O’Kronley
CEO | Battery Resourcers
Michael O’Kronley is a dynamic business leader with 25+ years of diverse industry experience, in multiple functional areas, including new business development, program management, product development, manufacturing operations, and business planning & strategy development. Possess strong leadership, team building, and business acumen skills resulting in value creation within organizations.
Michael O’Kronley was named CEO of Ascend Elements in March 2020 and has served on the company’s board since 2017. Before Ascend Elements, he was Head of Corporate Strategy at A123 Systems. He has worked in the automotive and EV battery industries for over 25 years with previous business development, operations, and engineering roles at Metaldyne Corp. and Robert Bosch. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Albert Ong
Corporate Officer and CEO of Magnetic Heads Business Company | TDK Corporation, Japan.
Albert Ong is a seasoned C-Level executive with a remarkable track record on a global scale, marked by his exceptional leadership and strategic acumen. With extensive experience in leading multicultural teams and managing complex strategies, Albert’s career is defined by a relentless pursuit of success, marked by his ability to drive revenue growth, navigate intricate M&A events, and consistently achieve successful outcomes.
As the CEO of TDK Corp’s Magnetic Heads Business Company (MHBC), Albert manages a $2 billion business with 20,000 employees worldwide, expanding market share and revenue significantly. At Magnecomp Precision Technology (MPT), he led growth from $60 million to over $650 million, successfully navigating 8 M&A events, including acquisitions and divestments.
Hiroku Osaka
Head of Marketing, Asia | LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions
As LNIP’s Asian marketing head, Hiroko is responsible for managing markets in Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. Her experience includes market intelligence, cross-border business development, technology startups, and management of global executive training programs.
Hiroko is a graduate of Keio University in Japan and holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the USA.
Ray Owen
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing | TDK-Lambda Americas
Ray Owen is Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at TDK-Lambda Americas. Part of the TDK Energy Solutions Business, TDK-Lambda is a global leader in power conversion products for a broad range of industrial applications. Ray is based at TDK-Lambda Americas headquarters and manufacturing facility in Neptune, New Jersey. Having joined TDK-Lambda Americas in 2002 and previously spending 13 years in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry, Ray brings substantial experience in high power and high voltage power supplies which has been valuable in interacting with a number of TDK Ventures Portfolio Companies who need high power and high voltage for their applications.
Michael Pachos
Managing Director | Samsung Ventures America
Michael Pachos is a Managing Director at Samsung Ventures. He joined Samsung in 2008, first working out of the Seoul headquarters, and then transferring to the Menlo Park office in 2013. He focuses on Consumer, Display, and IT-related investments.
Before joining Samsung Ventures, Michael worked in the Samsung Group’s Global Strategy Group (GSG). GSG was established under the Chairman’s Office to address strategic and operational issues at the CEO level of Group companies. Michael worked on projects involving M&A, convergence digital media strategy, and channel strategy. Before joining Samsung Michael was a CPU architect at DEC, Compaq/HQ, and Intel. Michael is also a co-founder of Global Velocity; an enterprise security-related Hardware Company.
Michael earned his M.B.A. at the Wharton School and completed law-related coursework. Michael holds his B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis
Ajit Pai
Partner | Searchlight Capital Partners
Ajit Pai, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is a partner at Searchlight Capital Partners, a global investment firm, where he focuses on investments in the telecommunications, media, and technology sectors. Concurrently, he is a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he addresses issues about technology and innovation, communications policy, and market-based incentives for investment in broadband deployment. Ajit’s distinguished career at the FCC includes two leadership roles following presidential appointments. He was appointed commissioner by President Barack Obama in 2012, designated chairman by President Donald Trump in 2017, and twice confirmed by the US Senate. While at the helm of the FCC, Ajit had a transformative impact on the future of US technology and communications policy, implementing major initiatives to help close the digital divide; advance US leadership in 5G and other wireless technologies; promote innovation; protect consumers, public safety, and national security; and make the agency itself more open, transparent, and data-driven.
Andrew Perry
Director of Energy Transition and Environment | Faculty
Andy leads the Faculty’s Energy Transition and Environment business unit, which designs, builds, and deploys bespoke AI solutions for businesses across the sector. Faculty is Europe’s leading applied AI firm with a 10-year history of developing AI-based solutions for clients. His particular focus is on helping companies use decision intelligence to develop new ways of operating in a rapidly changing environment, enabling the essential transition of the energy system.
Andy has spent the past 14 years at the forefront of change and innovation in energy transition through senior roles in consulting, start-up and Government organizations.
Dr. Derek Peterson
CTO | Boingo Wireless
Dr. Derek Peterson, CTO, Boingo Wireless Derek Peterson, Ph.D., is chief technology officer at Boingo Wireless, a global leader in connectivity. At Boingo, he is responsible for the company’s technical vision and strategy. Under his leadership, Boingo is pioneering the adoption and deployment of the latest wireless network technologies including 5G, CBRS, Passpoint, edge computing, network virtualization, and convergence. He is directly responsible for building and operating Boingo’s core technologies and systems, including web applications, client software, networks, authentication, billing, advertising, IPTV, business intelligence, and IT infrastructure.
Linh Pham
CEO | VinFast/VinES
Lihn Pham is the CEO of VinES, the battery arm of VinGroup, the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam, a top 50 Asian company. In this role, she leads the company from strategy to execution in achieving its mission to become a global EV battery maker Incorporating global disruptive new battery technologies into the in-house supply chain. Lihn also serves as Deputy CEO of VinFast, the mobility arm of VinGroup. VinFast was established in 2018 and envisioned to drive the movement of the global smart electric vehicle revolution. In this role, she leads global partnerships to combine with in-house R&D capabilities, to bring the most advanced technologies in ADAS, AD, Infotainment, and the Internet of Energy, to the company’s first generation of electric cars for global markets.
Gianfranco Pizzuto
CEO | Automobili Estrema
Gianfranco Pizzuto is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of international business experience. In 2007, he was Fisker Automotive’s first investor and co-founder. His role was instrumental as he developed the sales and after-sales network in Europe counting 30 retailers. He spent the last 17 years in the automotive industry working as a consultant and covering senior positions specializing in PHEV, EV, battery pack design, and zero emissions mobility projects around the world.
Gianfranco founded Automobili Estrema in 2020, a new boutique high-end electric vehicle car manufacturer based in Modena, the heart of the Italian Motor Valley and home to the most iconic supercar brands.
Michael Pocsatko
Corporate Officer and Sr. VP & General Manager of Corporate Marketing & Incubation | TDK Corporation, Japan.
Michael Pocsatko serves as a Corporate Officer and the Senior Vice President, General Manager of Corporate Marketing & Incubation at TDK Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. In this role, he acts as a vital link between TDK and the market, focusing on fostering innovation and introducing new products and solutions to enhance the company’s portfolio. Michael also serves as the Managing Director at TDK Management Services GmbH in Munich, Germany, to provide essential HR, Corporate Communications, and Corporate Marketing & Incubation services to TDK Corporation, Japan. With his leadership skills, strategic insight, and unwavering commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, Michael plays a pivotal role in shaping TDK’s reputation as a pioneering force in the industry, driving the company towards a future marked by growth and positive social impact.
Previously, Michael held various leadership positions within TDK Corporation, Japan, and EPCOS Ltd., which was acquired by TDK Corporation in 2009, where he served as President & CEO and then Chairman of the Board.
Katie Rae
CEO & Managing Partner | The Engine
Katie is the CEO and Managing Partner of The Engine. She serves as a Board Member for Boston Metal, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy, Sublime Systems, and Via Separations.
Previously, Katie was a founder and Managing Director at Project 11 Ventures and Managing Director of Techstars Boston. Katie spent her early career building significant Internet businesses as the Head of Product for Microsoft Startup Labs and SVP of Product at Eons. Katie has advised hundreds of founders and invested in over 100 companies. Key investments include Pillpack (acquired by Amazon for $1 billion), Bevi, GrabCad, Synack, Zagster, NBD Nano, Neurala, and Amino.
She holds an MBA from Yale and a BA in Biology from Oberlin College.
Aruna Ramkrishnan
Co-Founder & CTO | Copernic Catalysts
Aruna has over a decade of experience in chemical engineering R&D and strategy and has held technical leadership positions at Linde and ExxonMobil. She has expertise in the development of emissions mitigation technologies like biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and has authored fifteen patents in the fields of sustainable materials and processes. She holds a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from IT, Bombay, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Christian Ramsauer
Professor | Graz University of Technology
Christian Ramsauer is a full professor at the Department of Innovation and Industrial Management at Graz University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. focusing on production management from TU Graz in 1996 and spent two years conducting research on process development as a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, working with Professor Stefan H. Thomke. He worked for five years with McKinsey & Company Germany as a management consultant, focusing on product and process development and strategic issues, mainly with automotive and steel companies in Europe, the United States of America, and Mexico. As a shareholder and CEO of a “green technology” company in Salzburg, he developed his company into a fast-growing and profitable enterprise. After working in the private equity sector in Munich he joined Graz University of Technology in 2011. He is chairman of the supervisory board of the two start-ups Panthronics AG and Reactive Reality7 AG in Austria.
Suruchi Rao
Co-Founder | Ossus Renewables
Suruchi Rao is a dynamic and innovative co-founder of Ossus Biorenewables, a pioneering company in the field of sustainable biotechnology. With an unwavering passion for harnessing the power of nature, Suruchi has spearheaded Ossus Biorenewables’ mission to develop cutting-edge bio-based solutions for a more sustainable future. Her deep knowledge of biotechnology coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit has enabled Suruchi to drive the company’s success in the field of biorenewable chemicals and materials.
Through Suruchi’s visionary leadership, Ossus Biorenewables has revolutionized the industry by utilizing advanced biological processes to produce sustainable alternatives to traditional chemicals and materials. Under her guidance, the company develops innovative solutions that not only reduce environmental impact but also offer superior performance and economic viability. Suruchi’s commitment to sustainability, combined with her ingenuity, has positioned Ossus Biorenewables at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution, paving the way for a more sustainable and bio-based future.
Vinay Ravuri
CEO | EdgeQ
Vinay Ravuri, CEO of EdgeQ, has 25+ years of experience as a distinguished industry executive and general manager for high-tech corporations in computing, communications, and networking. As an executive, he has navigated companies to key strategic inflections in areas of cloud computing, machine learning, and 5G. As Vice President at Qualcomm, Vinay played an integral part in the establishment of its Data Center server and Machine-Learning technology and drove their advanced mobile software product management. He obtained a Master of Science from Georgia Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Engineering at the City University of New York, and holds 12 US patents.
Kate Reimer
VP of Technology | Redaptive Inc.
Kate Reimer is the current VP of Technology at Redaptive. Before joining Redaptive, Kate served as the Director of Software Product Management at Sunrun, leading the development of a new software platform to manage Sunrun’s residential solar & battery fleet. Before their time at Sunrun, Kate was Head of Product at Advanced Microgrid Solutions, where they played various roles in product management and engineering leadership. Kate started their career in the software industry as a Product Manager at AutoGrid Systems. Throughout their career, Kate has excelled in communicating requirements internally and externally, product demos, and delivering customer training. Her experience with various M2M protocols (OpenADR 2.0, SEP2.0, SSN suite, Schneider) has been instrumental in their success in managing and developing software platforms.
Kate Reimer has a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in Engineering from Stanford University.
Aaron Mellinger – Senior Manager of Engineering & Data Science, Ambar Bokare – Senior Manager, Software report to Kate Reimer. Their manager is Arvin Vohra, CEO. They are on a team with Liane Dietrich – SVP, of Portfolio Programs, John Schinter – SVP, of Strategic Accounts, and Rob Hornish – Chief Sales Officer.
Maryam Rofougaran
Founder & CEO | Movandi
Maryam Rofougaran is the founder and CEO of Movandi, a leader in new 5G RF and millimeter wave technology that is commercializing multi-gigabit, 5G millimeter wave networks. Movandi is breaking through the coverage and network challenges of 5G millimeter wave networks. Their BeamXR active repeater and system solutions solve today’s real-world 5G deployment challenges – by increasing 5G coverage and capacity, while reducing infrastructure costs by 50%, and accelerating large-scale 5G commercialization. Before co-founding Movandi, Maryam was instrumental in starting and building the wireless business at Broadcom and in growing it to annual revenues of more than $3 billion. She is an Inventor and co-inventor on 280 U.S.-issued patents, 85 U.S.-filed patents
Padmaja Ruparel
Co-Founder at Indian Angel Network | Founding Partner of IAN Fund
Padmaja is nationally recognized as a key player in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem and has helped co-found many of the relevant institutions, besides being an active Angel investor herself. Her operating experience spans large corporates, M&A, and startups/early-stage companies. She has been awarded as one of the ‘Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune India, listed in Forbes India’s W- Power Trailblazers and “30 Most Powerful Women in India” by Business Today
Co-Founder and president of Indian Angel Network (IAN), India’s first & now possibly one of the world’s largest group of business angels, comprising the who’s who of successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs from India and overseas. She built IAN from inception, making it within a decade, a unique institution globally, with close to 500 investors from 12 countries and a portfolio of 135+ companies in 7 countries, spanning 17 sectors, with operations across 6 cities & London. The IAN model is a full-service model for investors – from the pipeline of investment opportunities to divestment. She is the Founding Partner of the IAN Fund, a uniquely differentiated Rs. 450 crores (~$70mn) Fund which along with IAN, is set to create the largest horizontal platform in India for investing in seed and early-stage ventures.
Padmaja is a Co-Chair of the Global Business Angel Network (GBAN). She also operationalized TiE Delhi has been ranked as the Number One chapter globally for the last 4 consecutive years. She played a key role as Executive Director in building the Indian Venture Capital Association, India’s oldest and largest association of VC and PE firms. In addition, she helped the creation of the Lankan Angel Network in Sri Lanka. She is actively engaged with the Indian Govt.
Avnish Sabharwal
Managing Director | Accenture Ventures & Open Innovation
Avnish is an innovator, disruptor, strategist, and technology evangelist with more than 30 years of extensive experience and a track record around Advisory, Innovation, Digital Transformation, Corporate Strategy, and Leadership Development for Top Fortune 500 clients in both mature and emerging markets.
Avnish’s current role includes scaling Accenture’s digital and innovation capabilities by leveraging the Indian and Global deep-tech start-up ecosystem. He is responsible for partnering, investing, and acquiring leading-edge digital technologies and platforms in areas around AI, Industry 4.0, AR/VR, Blockchain, Big Data, Automation, Robotics, and Quantum computing. Avnish is also leading Accenture’s Venture building program where he helps take internal startups from idea to scale. Avnish is very passionate about Sustainability and works with disruptive startups in the space of Transition to Net Zero, Sustainable value chains, Green Cloud, and IT and ESG Measurement. He has set up the Accenture Sustainability Value Accelerator and Women Founders Fund.
Before Accenture, Avnish worked with IBM in India and the United Kingdom for almost a decade in various leadership roles.
Avnish is a highly sought-after speaker on the Future of Technology, Digital Transformation, Leadership, Building High Performing Teams, the Future of Work, and Making Innovation Work, and he is a regular blogger on Linkedin. He regularly writes on Emerging Technologies, the State of the start-up eco-system in India, Corporate Innovation, Intrapreneurship, and Leadership. He is also an angel investor and has made multiple investments in both Indian and Global startups.
Avnish is a Mentor of Change, Atal Innovation Mission, part of the Board of Governor for IMT- Nagpur, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Israel CoE at IIM-Bangalore, Centre for Research on Startups and Risk-Financing (CREST) at IIT-M and on Start-up committees for FICCI, CII, and Nasscom.
Avnish was awarded the Most Innovative Corporate Leader Award in 2018 and 2021. His mission is to make India a global innovation and deep-tech powerhouse.
Avnish has an MBA (With Distinction) from Warwick Business School, UK, and a Specialization in Strategy from Harvard Business School and INSEAD and in Innovation from MIT and Stanford.
Avnish has served in the Indian Armed Forces for seven years and has performed the role of Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Head of the State (Madhya Pradesh).
Dipender Saluja
Managing Director | Capricorn Investment Group
Dipender Saluja is Managing Partner of The Technology Impact Fund, and Managing Director of Capricorn Investment Group, an investment firm founded to demonstrate that it is possible to invest profitably while driving sustainable positive change. Capricorn manages about $7 billion in assets and strives for extraordinary investment results by leveraging market forces to accelerate large-scale impact. Capricorn’s past and current investments include Tesla, Planet Labs, QuantumScape, Redwood MAterials, Innovium, SpaceX, Twitter, and Saildrone. Before Capricorn, Dipender was Chief of Staff at Cadence, a global market leader in electronic design, where he built and managed businesses that worked closely with electronics companies around the world. Before that, he was at Data General (EMC), Honeywell, ROLM (IBM), and the GF Energy Research Center. He is an electrical engineer by training and attended UND, Univ of Minnesota, and Stanford. Dipender serves on the boards of AST, Innovium, Joby Aviation, Navitas Semi, NuVia, QuantumScape, Raxium, Saildrone, and SummerBio, and the investment committee of PRIME.
Henry Sanderson
Author & Journalist | Executive Editor at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Henry Sanderson is an author and journalist focusing on clean energy. He is the author of Volt Rush, the Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green, which was chosen as a book of the week by the Observer, and one of the best science and environment books of 2022 by The Times. A former journalist for the Financial Times and Bloomberg, he is currently the executive editor of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on the battery supply chain.
Vishal Sarin
President | Analog Inference
Vishal is the Founder, President, and CEO at Analog Inference. He has over 25 years of experience in semiconductor industry with extensive success building product lines from inception. Visal has been leading teams creating ground-breaking technology in analog/slc/mlc/tlc/qlc non-volatile memory, associative memory compute architectures for network processors, analog & in-memory compute processors for AI, at such companies as Micron, Fast-Chip, Information Storage Devices, SST/Microchip, and National Semiconductor. He has successfully built product lines with over billion dollars in revenue. Vishal holds over 100 patents, an MSEE from University of Michigan and an MBA from UC Berkeley.
Raphael Scheps
CEO & Founder | Converge
Raphael is CEO and founder of Converge, a construction technology company that leverages AI and smart sensors to tackle the industry’s largest emissions challenge: the decarbonization of concrete. At Converge, Raphael has raised over $25M to pioneer novel applications of AI in computational material science, to optimize concrete mixes and concrete operations. He holds a master’s in Mathematics and a bachelor’s in Physics from the University of Cambridge and previously worked as an algorithm engineer at Mellanox (acquired by Nvidia). He’s been featured on ULI’s new real estate vanguard series and has lectured at the MPA, on the use of digital technology in major infrastructure.
Alicia Seiger
Managing Director | Stanford University Sustainable Finance Initiative | Precourt Institute for Energy
Alicia Seiger is a lecturer at Stanford Law School and leads sustainability and energy finance initiatives at Stanford Law, Graduate School of Business, and the Precourt Institute for Energy. Alicia serves as Managing Director for both the Stanford Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance and the Sustainable Finance Initiative. Her work focuses on business and financial innovations to accelerate the transition to a decarbonized, equitable, and climate-resilient global economy.
In 2018, Alicia was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to serve on the first-ever Decarbonization Advisory Panel for the $209 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund. She also serves on the boards of Ceres and PRIME Coalition and co-founded Stanford Professionals in Energy (SPIE). In 2014, she created Investing in a New Climate, an investor workshop series to help asset owners manage climate risk and capitalize on innovation opportunities.
A serial entrepreneur and pioneer of new business models, Alicia has been designing and executing climate and energy strategies for businesses, foundations, investors, and NGOs since 2004. She has served on the management teams of multiple startups, including TerraPass, a pioneer of the US carbon offset market, and Flycast Communications, one of the world’s first web advertising networks.
Alicia holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she also worked as a case writer for the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and a BA in Environmental Policy and Cultural Anthropology from Duke University. A native of Silicon Valley, Alicia lives in Menlo Park with her husband and two daughters.
Chelsea Sexton
Senior Consultant | Transportation at DOE Loan Programs Office (DOE)
Chelsea Sexton is an electric transportation industry pioneer with decades of unrivaled insider experience, from deploying the General Motors EV1 to guiding VantagePoint Capital Partners’ early investment in Tesla Motors, skillfully directing an automotive XPRIZE, and co-founding Plug In America, the nation’s largest consumer advocacy group for electrified transportation.
Chelsea continues to work toward making the movement of people and goods cleaner, safer, and more accessible, primarily as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, which finances the manufacturing and deployment of large-scale advanced technology vehicle and innovative energy projects. She tilts at windmills as a lifestyle choice and excels at friendly conspiring for good.
Jigar Shah
Director Loan Programs Office | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Jigar Shah was most recently co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a-service financing. Before Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.
Nilay Shah
Professor of Process Systems Engineering at Imperial College | Director of Zero Petroleum Ltd.
Nilay Shah is a Professor of Process Systems Engineering at Imperial College and Director of Zero Petroleum Ltd, a synthetic fuels business. He works on the analysis and design of low-carbon energy and industrial systems and is a member of the UK Government’s Hydrogen Delivery Council the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Science Expert Group.
Sanyogita Shamsunder
Head of Global Edge Networking | Google
Sanyogita Shamsunder Head of Global Edge Networking Sanyogita Shamsunder heads Global Edge Networking at Google, where her team is responsible for various cloud networking products, solutions, and systems supporting Google’s Global Network. Previously, she was the VP of Product Strategy and Operations at Verizon where she was responsible for incubating enterprise and consumer products driven by emerging technologies. Previously, she led the industry-leading 5G network and technology development. Sanyogita’s work experience spans all areas of the wireless business, including silicon, network technology development, and spectrum strategy. Earlier in her career, she held various R&D and development roles at Lucent-Bell Labs, Sandbridge Technologies, and Stanford Telecom.
Barath Shankar
Partner | Accel
Barath Shankar Subramanian joined Accel in 2012 and is a Partner. He has been in the healthcare domain for over a decade, having previously been a senior consultant at Frost & Sullivan where he covered the healthcare and life sciences domains across North America, Europe, and Asia. As a part of the investment team at Accel, Barath is on the board or actively works with management teams at Axio, Consure, Medigo, Onco.com, PharmaCCX, Portea, SigTuple, and other early-stage companies. Barath grew up in Madurai and has a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from BITS, Pilani, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.
Meghan Sharp
Global Head of Decarbonization Partners | BlackRock & Temasek
Meghan Sharp, Managing Director, is Global Head of Decarbonization Partners, BlackRock’s joint venture with Temasek that will invest in the next generation of innovative decarbonization solutions and businesses to accelerate global efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In this role, she is responsible for leading the overall vision and investment strategy for the venture and its funds. Mrs. Sharp oversees deal origination, investment execution, and value creation for Decarbonization Partners’ portfolio companies, and leads the global team to further develop its capabilities and partnership network.
Before joining BlackRock, Mrs. Sharp was Global Head of BP Ventures, BP’s global corporate venture arm. During her time there the team made over 70 investments across the decarbonization sector including advanced mobility, bio and low carbon products, power and storage, and carbon management. Mrs. Sharp has significant experience in venture capital investing and the technology industry.
Meghan holds a PhD in microbial genetics from the University of California, San Francisco, an MBA from Columbia University, and post-doctoral experience from the Carnegie Institute, Stanford.
Lie Shi
CEO | AM Batteries
Lie Shi is the CEO of AM Batteries. Prior, Shi served as President of Celgard, a world-renowned battery separator company that invented and commercialized a solvent-free process to produce microporous membranes for lithium-ion batteries. Over his twenty-six-year stint at the company, he worked his way from technical manager, leading its lithium battery material development, to Vice President of R&D, to Chief Technology Officer, to Chief Operations Officer, and ultimately, ascending to President. He also served as the Global Head of Separator Business Development for Asahi Kasei Corporation, Celgard’s parent company. Shi received his B.S. in Physics from Kyoto University, Japan, M.S. in Physics from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.
Tal Sholklapper
Co-Founder & CEO | Voltaiq
Dr. Tal Sholklapper is a co-founder of Voltaiq and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Before cofounding Voltaiq, Dr. Sholklapper was the lead engineer on a DOE ARPA-E-funded project at the CUNY Energy Institute, developing an ultra-low-cost grid-scale battery. Before his work at CUNY, Tal cofounded Point Source Power, a low-cost fuel-cell startup based on technology he developed while at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and UC Berkeley. Dr. Sholklapper has a BS, MS, and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Akshay Singhal
Chief of Climate Action | Log9 Materials
Akshay Singhal, the Chief of Climate Action at Log9, is a visionary leader whose passion lies in addressing the pressing issue of climate change. With a relentless drive to find sustainable solutions, he spearheads Log9’s initiatives in combating environmental challenges. Akshay firmly believes that combining cutting-edge technologies with a forward-thinking mindset can pave the way for a greener and more sustainable future.
With a deep understanding of the intricate nuances of climate action, Akshay’s expertise in developing and implementing innovative strategies sets him apart. Through his impeccable blend of creativity and analytical thinking, he has been instrumental in driving tangible impact at Log9. Akshay’s unwavering commitment to climate resilience has garnered recognition for both him and Log9, positioning them as industry pioneers in the fight against climate change. With his guidance and leadership, Log9 continues to push boundaries and set new benchmarks in sustainable innovation.
Rema Subramanian
Co-Founder & Managing Partner | Ankur Capital
Rema Subramanian is a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Ankur Capital. She serves as Board Member at BigHaat. Prior to Ankur, Rema has three decades of experience in building and scaling operations across various sectors like financial services, education, IT, packaging, etc. in India. She has headed several companies across various sectors growing many from scratch to large-scale businesses. She has deep domain experience in the education and outsourcing sectors. She brings the unique capabilities of having been an entrepreneur and worked across sectors. She is a management accountant from AICWA, Inter-Company Secretary, and systems management from ICFAI.
Rajesh Swaminathan
Partner | Khosla Ventures
A Partner at Khosla Ventures, Rajesh has two decades of experience assisting and investing in deep tech startups. He manages many of the firm’s investments across renewables generation, storage, hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, plastics, food-tech, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.
Previously, Rajesh was the head of Applied Ventures LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, where he managed a portfolio of 85 deep-tech startups globally, as well as two deep-tech funds in Korea and Taiwan. He led investments and helped build companies, many of which had strong exits, including Enphase Energy, Solid Energy, Rockley, Infinite Power Solutions, Adaptive3D, Tango, Inpria, PlayNitride, and Norsk Ti. Rajesh was recognized amongst the top 100 global CVCs on the Global Corporate Venture (GCV) Powerlist.
Earlier, he worked at Third Point Ventures and at Lucent’s Bell Labs, where he drove technical assessments and partnerships for several optical, MEMS, and RF device startups, and also led DFR programs for the successful deployment of Lucent’s 10Gb/s and 40Gb/s systems.
While pursuing his MBA at Harvard Business School, he worked on Deutsche Bank’s cleantech banking team and also worked with KV on companies in solar and water. Previously, Rajesh earned a master of science degree from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, where he was awarded the Shankar Dayal Sharma (President of India) Medal for overall excellence.
Julia Song
Co-Founder & CTO | ESS
Dr. Song is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of ESS Inc. In this position, she has spearheaded the transition of the iron flow battery technology to becoming a commercial energy storage system. Before joining ESS Inc., Dr. Song was the Vice President of Research and Development at ClearEdge Power Inc., where she led over 20 cross-functional scientists and engineers on all corporate R&D projects and the commercialization of the 5 kW Combined Heat and Power Fuel Cell system. Dr. Song started her career at Milliken & Co. as an Industrial Research Chemist. Dr. Song has authored approximately 20 peer-reviewed publications and over 10 patents and patent applications. Dr. Song holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She specializes in fuel cells, batteries, electrochemistry, and the catalysis properties of nanoparticles.
AK Srouji
Chief Technology Officer | Romeo Power
Dr. Srouji directs all technical and technological developments, including IP strategy, roadmaps, and future products, internally and in collaboration with strategic partners. Before being promoted to CTO, he was responsible for R&D and Cell Technology at Romeo. Before joining Romeo, he was developing advanced physico-chemical battery models at Robert Bosch’s Research & Technology Center in Silicon Valley. He also worked on novel battery component development, spanning from next-gen lithium-ion to all-solid-state batteries. Throughout his energy storage technology career, he has successfully brought to market multiple programs funded by the US Department of Energy. He holds an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a PhD in Energy & Mineral Engineering with a focus on electrochemistry from The Pennsylvania State University.
Russell Tham
Head of Emerging Technologies | Temasek International Pte Ltd
Mr. Russell Tham is Head of Emerging Technologies at Temasek, focused on investing globally in deep tech ventures grounded in STEM innovation. Prior to joining Temasek in 2020, Russell was President of New Enterprises and Ventures at ST Engineering.
Russell has over two decades of experience building and scaling new markets for Applied Materials, a Silicon Valley headquartered technology MNC, where he was President, Applied Materials Southeast Asia and concurrently held global corporate-level business development responsibilities for new markets. Russell led the regional business, where he oversaw the company’s Singapore infrastructure expansion into manufacturing, supply chain, R&D and product development for global markets.
In addition to serving on the board of SGX listed and private companies, Russell serves as Chairman of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Board.
Russell holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.
Marie Thompson
Partner | Powerhouse Ventures
Marie Thompson serves as Principal at Powerhouse Ventures (Oakland). She performs sourcing and diligence for Powerhouse Ventures as well as portfolio engagement and post-investment support. Previously she worked in strategic planning at Apache Corporation and sales strategy at Bloom Energy. She holds an MBA from Berkeley Haas.
Professor Chen Tsuhan
Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), Distinguished Professor | National University of Singapore
Professor Chen Tsuhan is Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), a position he has held since 1 April 2023. He was Deputy President (Research and Technology) from June 2018 to March 2023, and was appointed Distinguished Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 1 June 2018. From 2017 to 2023, he served as the Chief Scientist of AI Singapore, a national programme in artificial intelligence hosted at NUS.
A renowned expert in pattern recognition, computer vision and machine learning, Prof Chen has driven efforts at strategising NUS research, mentoring researchers, and increasing NUS’ competitive research funding, which has risen by about 30% over five years. He is a strong proponent of collaborative research, launching the Reimagine Research Initiative in 2021. The initiative, which provides seed funding for interdisciplinary project ideas, seeks to encourage researchers to work across diverse fields of expertise to find solutions to the most pressing problems of our time.
Prof Chen joined NUS from the Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States, where he was the David E. Burr Professor of Engineering from 2009 to 2018. From 2015 to 2017, Prof Chen was the Cheng Tsang Man Chair Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering (CoE) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the Director of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell.
Tem Tumurbat
Co-Founder & Managing Partner | Nomadic Venture Partners
Tem is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Nomadic Venture Partners, where he focuses on fund strategy, fundraising, portfolio construction, valuation, and financial analysis.
Before co-founding NVP, Tem was an investment professional at Resource Capital Funds (RCF), a mining-focused private equity investment firm, managing early to late-stage investments. He de-risked companies, commercialized their businesses and completed M&As that delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to investors.
Before RCF, Tem worked for Newmont Mining Corporation as a mining engineer and then project engineer. Tem also co-founded MNG Summit, a non-profit organization supporting Mongolian students and early career professionals.
He started his professional career as an entrepreneur where he started and operated a transportation company in college to help pay for college tuition and support extended family.
He served as a board member and treasurer of the Colorado Chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) as well as a board member of the Ulaanbaatar-Denver Committee for the Denver Sister Cities. Tem received his B.S. in Mining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. During his free time, he likes to golf, hike, cycle, and spend time with his wife and two kids.
Marc van den Berg
Foudneer | MVDB Advisers
Mr. Marc Van Den Berg serves as Managing Director of Venture Investments at OGCI Climate Investments. Mr. Marc Van Den Berg served as a Venture Partner at DBL Partners. He served as a Board Member at Superior Sensor Technology. He served as a Board Member at ZincFive and Achates Power. He was also a Managing Director at 40 North Ventures. Before joining, he spent 15 years in venture capital as a Partner at DBL Partners and a Managing Director at VantagePoint Ventures. He also serves as a Board Member at Svante Technologies. Before his venture capital career, he spent 25 years in both venture-backed startups and multinational public companies here in Silicon Valley and abroad, which included a career stint in advanced excimer lasers, industrial water treatment, and advanced semiconductor materials and equipment. He has held numerous director positions at semiconductor and clean energy companies and enjoys assisting entrepreneurs in their quests to grow exciting new companies. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He serves as a Board Member at Clarke Valve.
Sanjay Varkey
Director | Shell Mobility India
Sanjay’s leadership and depth of expertise have positioned Shell Mobility as a global thought leader in the mobility space. Through strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, his team is actively shaping the future of sustainable transportation. Sanjay’s commitment to driving the transition to cleaner transport systems, such as electric vehicles and alternative fuels, has not only positioned Shell as a frontrunner in the industry but also catalyzed a broader movement towards a more sustainable energy ecosystem.
Outside of his role at Shell Mobility, Sanjay remains an advocate for sustainable mobility solutions and actively participates in industry forums, sharing his insights and expertise with peers. His collaborative and forward-thinking approach has earned him the respect and admiration of colleagues and industry leaders alike.
Professor Kamakoti Veezhinathan
Director | IIT Madras
Kamakoti Veezhinathan received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Madras. He joined the faculty of IIT Madras in 2001 and took over as its Director in January 2022.
He specializes in the area of Computer Architecture, Information Security, and VLSI Design. He heads the Microprocessor Development Program and the Information Security Education and Awareness Program at IIT Madras, funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. He is a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He was also the Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. At IIT Madras, he has served as the Chairman, JEE, and Associate Dean, Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research.
He has over 150 publications in International Journals and Conferences, guided many research scholars in their Ph.D. and Master of Science (by research) programs. He has coordinated and successfully delivered close to 50 projects from Industry and Government R&D establishments. He serves on the Technology committees of the National Stock Exchange and Reserve Bank of India.
Dr. Kamakoti is the recipient of the DRDO Academic Excellence Award, Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association Techno Visionary Award, ‘Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship,’ ACCS Lifetime Achievement Award, IBM Faculty Award, and VASVIK Industrial Research Award.
Ritu Verma
Co-Founder & Managing Partner | Ankur Capital
Ritu Verma is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Ankur Capital – an early-stage fund that focuses on technology innovations for the next billion. The fund has a large focus on Agtech and Food, and Ritu has a keen interest in this area, especially on how technology can be leveraged to increase efficiencies and disrupt agriculture and food.
Ritu is passionate about bringing innovations from the lab to market. Before setting up Ankur, she worked with BASF on sourcing opportunities for renewable energy, agri-biotech, and materials. For over a decade before that, she played different roles at Philips and Unilever across the globe bringing innovations to the market.
She holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s from Middlebury College, Vermont.
Mike Vildibill
VP/GM | Cloud Edge AI | Qualcomm
Mike Vildibill leads Qualcomm’s Cloud Edge AI business unit responsible for AI cloud computing in cloud edge servers, datacenters, and enterprise end-to-end solutions. Products include a family of Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 accelerators and software that accelerate AI/ML inferencing applications. These systems are deployed worldwide in environments ranging from edge to cloud. Mike has extensive experience in high-performance and data-intensive computing and has held executive positions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Data Direct storage systems, Sun Microsystems, and the University of California, San Diego. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Open Scalable File Systems open-source project. His varied executive responsibilities have included Product Management, Server and software Product Development, Sales leadership, Marketing, Advanced Development, and Academic Research.
Arun Vinayak
Co-Founder | Exponent Energy
Arun Vinayak is a visionary co-founder at Exponent Energy, where he spearheads the development of sustainable energy solutions. With an unyielding commitment to combat climate change and promote renewable energy adoption, Arun has played a crucial role in establishing Exponent Energy as a leading player in the industry. His expertise lies in identifying innovative approaches to harness renewable resources, such as solar and wind power, to power communities and facilitate the transition to a decarbonized future.
Exponent Energy has implemented cutting-edge projects that generate clean, reliable, and cost-effective electricity. Arun’s strategic vision and deep understanding of the renewable energy landscape have enabled Exponent Energy to contribute significantly to sustainable development, driving the adoption of clean energy alternatives in various sectors. With a relentless dedication to environmental stewardship and a knack for innovation, Arun continues to propel Exponent Energy forward.
Steven Vassiloudis
Founder & CEO | Novalith Technologies
Steven is an experienced chemical engineer specializing in process scale-up and commercialization of novel technologies. Steven has worked with several clean tech start-ups to develop their novel technologies including the Hazer Group, AquaAerem, and Sicona Battery Technologies.
Steven is also a Director of Kemplant, a global chemical engineering & process plant provider. Kemplant specializes in the design & supply of process plants and equipment, including equipment for the lithium and battery chemicals industries.
Venkat Viswanathan
Associate professor | CMU
Venkat Viswanathan is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Viswanathan’s research focus is on identifying the scientific principles governing material design, inorganic, organic, and biomaterials, for novel energy conversion and storage routes. The material design is carried out through a suite of computational methods being developed in his group, and validated by experiments. Some key research thrusts include identifying principles of electrolyte design (organic material) that can tune electrode catalysis, identification of new anode, cathode (inorganic materials), and electrolyte materials for next-generation batteries, and new electrocatalysts (inorganic) and biomaterials for energy storage and separation applications. In addition to material design, his group is involved in several cross-cutting areas such as battery controls, electric vehicle security, and GPU-accelerated computing.
Viswanathan received the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2019, the Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry in 2018, the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2016, the American Chemical Society PRF Young Investigator Award in 2014, and the Electrochemical Society Daniel Cubicciotti Award in 2010. He was a finalist for MIT TR Innovators Under 35 in 2014 and was an Electrochemical Society Herbert H. Uhligh Summer Fellow in 2009.
Phoebe Wang
Investment Partner | Amazon Climate Pledge Fund
Phoebe Wang is a cleantech venture capitalist who serves as an Investment Partner at the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund. Previously, she was an Investment Director at Shell Ventures where she led investments in early- and late-stage startups working on technologies to accelerate the energy transition, including in the areas of hydrogen, carbon management, energy storage, mobility, and power. She also chaired Shell Ventures’ early-stage investment committee and co-led its diversity and inclusion task force.
During her 10-year tenure as a venture capital investor, Wang has invested more than $150 million in frontier technology startups such as Antora, Celadyne, ZeroAvia, Veros Systems, Ionomr, Li Industries, Aurora Hydrogen, Bluware, Quanterra, South 8 Technologies, Connected Freight, FreeWire, Xpansiv, NIO Capital, PowerShare, MaaS Global, and many others. She sits on the boards of ZeroAvia, Veros Systems (acquired by Baker Hughes), Ionomr, Aurora Hydrogen, Bluware, Quanterra, and South 8 Technologies, and she is a member of the Rocky Mountain Institute Third Derivative Corporate Founding Partner Advisory Board, the Global Corporate Venturing Leadership Advisory Board, the Counter Club Advisory Council, and the Rice Alliance Energy Advisory Board.
Wang has more than a decade of experience in cleantech with a strong passion for fighting climate change for future generations. In addition to her investment experience, she was also an entrepreneur who built a start-up in technology commercialization and—earlier in her career—as an engineer in the chemical and semiconductor industries. Wang is a frequent guest lecturer at Brandeis University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rice University, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Wang holds an MBA concentrated in Climate and Finance from Rice University and a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Yan Wang
Professor | WPI
Co-Founder | Battery Resources
Co-Founder | AM Batteries
Yan Wang is William Smith Foundation Dean’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Since joining WPI, Wang has been very active in research. Currently, his lab focuses on the study of new electrodes and materials for energy storage, including lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, flow batteries, battery manufacturing, battery safety and recycle, and fundamental electrochemistry. This research can lead to energy storage with high energy density, high power density, long life, low cost, and high safety. In addition to fundamental research, Wang has commercialized the technologies developed in his lab.
Yan Wang
Professor at WPI | Co-Founder of Ascend Elements | Am Batteries
Yan Wang is William Smith Foundation Dean’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Since joining WPI, Wang has been very active in research. Currently, his lab focuses on the study of new electrodes and materials for energy storage, including lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, flow batteries, battery manufacturing, battery safety and recycling, and fundamental electrochemistry. This research can lead to energy storage with high energy density, high power density, long life, low cost, and high safety. In addition to fundamental research, Wang has commercialized the technologies developed in his lab.
Pete Warden
Founding Member | TensorFlow
Pete Warden was the founder of the TensorFlow Lite Micro open-source project at Google, and previously CTO of Jetpac, a machine-learning startup acquired in 2014. He’s an author of the TinyML book from O’Reilly, has taught embedded machine learning at Stanford and Harvard, and has an EdX online course. He occasionally blogs at petewarden.com [petewarden.com], and is on Twitter as @petewarden.
Rebecca Wolkoff
Co-Founder & CTO | ChargeNet Solutions
With a background in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Rebecca Wolkoff has been involved in numerous large energy projects. These include Parker Hannifin’s hybrid hydraulic trucks, General Compressions’ compressed energy storage system, and Tesla’s electric car production. Before becoming a CTO at ChargeNet, she gained significant expertise in energy storage optimization for both behind-the-meter and front-of-meter use cases at Enel X. As a co-founder of ChargeNet Stations, she leads the development of ChargeNet’s electric car charging application as well as the energy management software. In her spare time, Rebecca facilitates the Battery Brunch JEDI discussions (Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) and mentors local high school robotics teams.
Holly Wu
Head of North America Tech M&A | Venture & Partnerships | Mercedes Benz
Holly is Head of North America Tech M&A, Venture, and Partnerships at Mercedes Benz. In the past, she worked as Chief of IR at GrubMarket Inc., Investment Principal at SAIC Capital, Investment Banking Associate at Guggenheim Studios, Equity Research at Gabelli Funds, Investment Banking Analyst at KBW, and Master of Business Administration.
Holly Wu has a (MBA) at Columbia University – Columbia Business School, a MBA Exchange Program at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, and a BS from NYU Stern School of Business.
Yen Yeh
Executive Director | Volta Foundation
Yen Yeh is a talented and experienced Materials Scientist with a passion for clean energy and innovation. Their career began at Apple in hardware engineering before moving to Enovix Corp as a Senior Cycle Life Engineer. Yen then co-founded Batterybits and served as Editor-In-Chief before joining the Clean Energy Leadership Institute as a Fellow. In 2016, Yen took on the role of Senior Applications Engineer at Voltaiq, an energy analytics company that helps businesses develop efficient battery solutions. Through their extensive work in renewable energy and materials science, Yen was appointed Venture Partner at Outliers Fund. With an undergraduate degree from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yen Yeh has garnered a wealth of expertise in the delivery of clean energy services, publishing, and the development of advanced batteries.
Laurie Yoler
General Partner | Playground Global
Laurie Yoler is a General Partner at Playground Global. An ambitious problem-solver and prolific connector by nature, Laurie has decades of experience building, scaling, and advising companies from seed-stage startups to multinational corporations.
Previously, Laurie was a board member and active strategic advisor for autonomous mobility leader Zoox from its earliest days until it was acquired by Amazon in August 2020. Before that, Laurie was President of Qualcomm Labs at Qualcomm, focused on organic internal growth and inorganic growth for the world’s mobile technology leader. Before that, she was a founder and Managing Director at GrowthPoint Technology Partners, a pioneering technology investment bank, where she helped entrepreneurs and their boards complete strategic M&A transactions and fundraises.
Laurie was a founding investor and board member at Tesla for almost a decade. Laurie was also a founding executive at Packet Design, focused on building new networking and security companies. Packet Design created a network performance management software company which was later acquired by Ciena.
Throughout her career, Laurie has served as a director and advisor on more than 25 boards spanning public companies, startups, and nonprofits. Currently, she serves on the boards of Bose, Church & Dwight, Leaf Logistics, Lacuna, Branch, Saltbox, and the Computer History Museum, and the advisory boards for Accenture, TTI/Vanguard, and AI4All.
Dedicated to a lifetime of learning, Laurie enthusiastically continues her education at Stanford in subjects such as board governance, biotechnology, biochemistry, neuropsychology, neuroscience, and geology. She also guest lectures for the Engineering, Law, and Business Schools at Stanford.
Linda Zhong
President | LiCAP Technologies, INC.
Linda Zhong is an accomplished and visionary leader, serving as the President of LiCAP Technologies. With her extensive experience and expertise in the field of clean energy and advanced materials, Linda is at the forefront of driving innovation and advancing sustainability in the industry.
In her role at LiCAP Technologies, Linda leads a highly skilled team dedicated to revolutionizing energy storage solutions. Under her guidance, the team develops cutting-edge Lithium-Carbon (Li-C) batteries that offer high energy density and improved safety. Linda’s strategic vision and commitment to sustainability have positioned LiCAP Technologies as a key player in the clean energy sector, driving the transition to a greener and more efficient future.
Kim Zou
CEO & Co-Founder | Sightline Climate
Kim is the CEO and Co-founder of Sightline Climate, the market intelligence platform for the new climate economy built off the CTVC newsletter. She was previously a climate tech investor at Energy Impact Partners, a venture capital firm with $3 billion AUM, focused on propelling a sustainable future. Kim has made significant contributions towards shaping a greener world.