Cleantech to Market (C2M)
History & Mission
C2M Co-Directors
Key Objectives
Course Credit
Application Process & Timeline
Commercialization Projects -- Spring 2010
Time Commitment
C2M in the News
History & Mission
Cleantech to Market (C2M) is a partnership between UC Berkeley graduate students and scientists to bring clean energy technologies to market.
The mission of C2M is to develop leaders capable of addressing critical energy and climate change issues, while at the same time commercializing low carbon energy technologies.
C2M accomplishes this by creating cross-disciplinary teams of graduate students who work with scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the UC Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing. The students experience firsthand the challenges and rewards of transferring new technologies to the marketplace, while the scientists gain valuable business feedback on their research. The result is a powerful engagement of students in bridging the gap from invention to market.
C2M was spearheaded by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative, and ran as a pilot during 2008-09. The pilot was so successful that Haas hired two co-directors who will work with students on expanding the program and offering a class in Spring 2010. The co-directors bring extensive experience in new venture creation, solar research, and energy industry operations.
Cleantech to Market Co-Directors
Beverly Alexander is Co-Director of Cleantech to Market and has been involved in clean energy and air quality for almost 30 years. In her 7 years as a Vice-President at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, she was in charge of the largest energy efficiency, solar, and demand response programs in the United States. Those programs won over 75 awards, including the United States Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency "Energy Star Sustained Excellence" award. She was also in charge of business customer services, customer research, rates, and tariffs, and was very active in leadership development and strategic planning. Before that she was Chief Counsel to the Distribution Business Unit and held financial, business, and regulatory Director positions in power generation, gas transmission and electric transmission. After PG&E, Bev consulted on clean energy solutions, including sustainable communities. She received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and her J.D. from UC Berkeley where she was Editor-In-Chief of the Ecology Law Quarterly. She clerked on the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and practiced law for 6 years. The National Law Journal recognized her as one of the top 40 attorneys under the age of 40 in the United States for her innovative work. Bev also specializes in business leadership coaching and development.
Cyrus Wadia holds a dual appointment as: Co-Director of Cleantech to Market at the Haas School of Business and Guest Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He has spent the last six years at UC Berkeley and LBNL in pursuit of new low cost photovoltaic technology using earth abundant metal sulfides. Leveraging his knowledge in both the natural and social sciences, Cyrus’ research covers both exhaustible resource economics and the aqueous chemistry of nanoparticles. His work has resulted in two provisional patents and four peer reviewed journal articles. Cyrus was recently honored for this ground breaking work in renewable energy as a recipient of the MIT Technology Review Young Innovator award. Prior to his doctoral studies, Cyrus spent over 7 years in Silicon Valley launching new technology to market. First as an engagement manager with R.B. Webber & Co where he worked with over 15 different venture backed startups; and next as a Senior Product Manager with AvantGo, where he completed several successful new product introductions. More recently, Cyrus founded a boutique Internet services startup specializing in complex data analysis for which he now serves as Chairman of the Board. Cyrus earned his PhD in Energy & Resources from UC Berkeley and holds both an M.S. and S.B. in Chemical Engineering from MIT.
C2M students will have access to both co-directors as well as nationally renowned scientists, UC Berkeley faculty, and other mentors with energy market and business expertise. Within the limits of confidentiality, the C2M teams may also consult with venture capitalists, business attorneys, and potential licensing or collaborative research partners to assess interest.
Key Objectives
- Educate students on technology evaluation and business development.
- Provide greater exposure for promising technologies.
- Foster connections with the entrepreneurial/venture capital community.
- Spur the creation of new ventures and licensing or research partnerships.
- Provide market/business feedback to scientific inventors.
- Supply technology departments with useful marketing materials.
Course Credit
The Haas Management of Technology Program will offer a 3-unit course (MBA 290T, ENG 290) this Spring 2010 on Tuesday/Thursday from 11-12:30. Applicants will be chosen from graduate programs in Business, Law, Policy, Science, Engineering, and the Energy and Resources Group.
C2M Events, Application Process & Timeline
- C2M Application, Technology List, and Brown Bag Presentation available in Attachments Section below.
- Completed applications and resumes due by midnight October 12.
- C2M applications reviewed, October 13-25.
- Initial offers, October 26.
- Responses due on inital offers, October 30.
- Offers from waitlist, October 31-November 5.
- Final participant list, November 6.
- Final technology list, December.
Commercialization Projects -- Spring 2010
This spring, C2M will focus on solar, battery, smart grid and biofuel technologies from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the UC Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing. A preliminary list of technologies is provided in the attachment section below.
The teams will be structured to give students an “enterprise” view of the commercialization process as well as deeper exposure to specific technologies and their markets. By the end of the semester, students will have worked on:
- Technology Descriptions: A summary of each technology’s applications and the advantages that distinguish it from existing technologies. Target audience is typically industry business development professionals, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists.
- Market Analyses: A full “go to market” analysis, which will include some or all of the following:
- Analysis of market considerations such as revenue potential, commercialization challenges, and IP protection.
- Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis.
- Cost sensitivity analysis.
- Target customer profiles.
- A list of possible venture or industry partners. The team may also contact potential licensing or research partners to gauge interest in the technology or actually bring a licensing or research partner to the negotiation table!
- Final Presentations: The teams present their findings to professional audiences.
Time Commitment
3-unit course with 45 hours of in-class time and 135 hours of work outside class. Each week 1.5 hours of class will be devoted to instruction and 1.5 hours will be devoted to in-class team meetings with oversight and assistance from the C2M co-directors.
C2M in the News
- Financial Times -- Students Test Clean Energy by Degrees
- AZOCleantech -- Scientists and MBA Students Team Up to Commercialize Cleantech
- Haas -- From Patent to Elevator Pitch: Students and Scientists Team up to Fast-track Clean Tech
- Local ABC 7 news interviews Co-Director, Cyrus Wadia on his recent advances in using earth abundant materials for solar cells.
- Co-Director, Cyrus Wadia's work in bring solar energy to 7 Billion people as reported in Popular Mechanics and China International Business.
- Bringing Solar Energy to 7 Billion People (recorded lecture on youtube)
- Cyrus on a Lester Center Panel Discussion (segment begins at ~37min)
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| C2MApplication.doc | 98.5 KB |
| C2MTechnologies-1_final version.doc | 40 KB |
| Cleantech to Market.pdf | 2.93 MB |
| C2MSyllabusIntroduction.doc | 72.5 KB |
| DSC_0623.JPG | 1.3 MB |
