Symposium + Innovation Expo
Thanks for everyone who participated and made such a great event! Videos and pictures will soon be available
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The Event
The BERC Energy Symposium is the premier energy event at UC Berkeley and the largest student-run energy conference on the West Coast. Key players from the research, business development, policy and economics communities interacted and explored innovative ideas. This year the Symposium has brought together over 700 attendees to discuss energy innovation, and this year we anticipate even higher participation!
This year's two-days event brought together hundreds of world-class researchers, clean technology entrepreneurs, policy makers, industry leaders, and students to discuss and find ways to act upon the most pressing energy challenges of our time. The conference included:
- Innovation Expo (Thursday 6-9pm, Oct 20th): a showcase of the latest energy and resources breakthroughs in the fields of science, engineering, policy, economics, and others presented by researchers at UC Berkeley, LBNL and from our colleagues across the U.S. and beyond.
- Energy Symposium (Friday 8am-6pm, Oct 21st): featuring nine engaging and in-depth panel discussions and two keynote addresses followed by a post-conference reception.
Agenda
Download our full agenda: 2011_Symposium&IE_Agenda.pdf
2011 BERC Innovation Expo
- Date: Oct 20th, 2011 - Thursday
- Time: 6-9pm
- Location: Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley
| Time | Event | Location |
| 6:00 - 7:30pm | Registration and Poster Session | Main Atrium |
| 7:30 - 8:15pm | Keynote Speech: Jigar Shah – CEO, Carbon War Room | Museum Theater |
| 8:15 - 8:45pm | Poster Session (continued) | Main Atrium |
| 8:45 - 9:00pm | Award Announcements & Closing | Main Atrium |
2011 BERC Energy Symposium
- Date: Oct 21st, 2011 - Friday
- Time: 8am-6pm
- Location: MLK Student Union Bldg, Berkeley
| Time | Event | Location |
| 8:00 - 8:40am | Registration and Breakfast | MLK - 3rd Floor |
| 8:40 - 8:50am | Event Kick-off with BERC Co-Presidents | Pauley Ballroom |
| 8:50 - 9:00am | Introduction of the event by UCB Chancellor | Pauley Ballroom |
| 9:00 - 9:10am | Welcoming Remarks by Gavin Newsom | Pauley Ballroom |
| 9:10 - 10:00am | Morning Keynote: Arun Majumdar – Director of ARPA-E | Pauley Ballroom |
| 10:10 - 11:20am | Panels 1 to 4 | MLK and Eshleman Library |
| 11:30 - 12:15pm | Poster Viewing | MLK - 3rd Floor |
| 12:15 - 1:30pm | Lunch | Pauley Ballroom |
| 1:30 - 2:30pm | Lunch Keynote: Ann Marie Sastry – CEO, Sakti3 | Pauley Ballroom |
| 2:30 - 3:40pm | Panels 5 to 8 | MLK and Eshleman Library |
| 3:50 - 5:15pm | Plenary Panel | Pauley Ballroom |
| 5:15 - 5:30pm | Closing of Event | Pauley Ballroom |
Post-Conference Reception
- Date: Oct 21st, 2011 - Friday
- Time: 6pm-10pm
- Location: Eshleman Library
Keynotes
Innovation Expo, Oct 20th - Keynote
Jigar Shah – CEO, Carbon War Room
A renowned visionary, Jigar Shah is committed to renewable energy and sustainable solutions that enable prosperity beyond the carbon economy. As CEO of the Carbon War Room, Jigar is dedicated to identifying business-as-usual practices and replacing them with low-carbon solutions.
Prior to the Carbon War Room, Jigar founded SunEdison in 2003. Under his leadership, SunEdison revolutionized the solar industry by introducing a business model to sell solar as a service. The transformation to solar power service agreements is responsible for turning solar services into a multi-billion dollar industry.
Jigar is also an expert on energy project finance, changing energy policy, working with entrenched stakeholders, and convincing individuals to embrace energy technology. He works closely with entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors around the world to develop, incubate, and implement sustainable solutions. Jigar holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MBA from the University of Maryland. Jigar sits on the boards of SB NOW and Greenpeace USA.
Energy Symposium, Oct 21st - Morning Keynote
Arun Majumdar – Director of ARPA-E
Dr. Arun Majumdar became the first Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), the country's only agency devoted to transformational energy research and development, in October 2009. Dr. Majumdar also currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Secretary.
Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Majumdar was the Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His highly distinguished research career includes the science and engineering of energy conversion, transport, and storage ranging from molecular and nanoscale level to large energy systems. In 2005, Dr. Majumdar was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for this pioneering work.
At Berkeley Labs and UC Berkeley, Dr. Majumdar helped shape several strategic initiatives in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy storage. He also testified before Congress on how to reduce energy consumption in buildings. Dr. Majumdar has also served on the advisory committee of the National Science Foundation's engineering directorate, was a member of the advisory council to the materials sciences and engineering division of the Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences, and was an advisor on nanotechnology to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Additionally, Dr. Majumdar has served as an advisor to startup companies and venture capital firms in the Silicon Valley. He received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989.
Energy Symposium, Oct 21st - Lunch Keynote
Ann Marie Sastry – CEO, Sakti3 and Professor, University of Michigan. Ann Marie Sastry is CEO of Sakti3, an ad- vanced battery manufacturing startup, recognized by MIT Technol- ogy Review as one of its top 10 technology companies (2011).
Prior to co-founding the company, Sastry, as the Arthur F. Thurnau Processor of Engineering at University of Michigan, led teams working in applied and fundamental problems in mathematics, mechanics, biology and electrochemistry. She founded two research centers, in battery and biological technolo- gies, and also founded the nation’s first graduate program in clean energy technologies at UM.
She holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from Cornell, and a B.S. from the University of Delaware, all in Mechanical Engineering
Panels
Panel 1 - Electric Vehicles - No longer an idea of the future?
What impact will the development and cost of various types of batteries have on the emerging market for electric vehicles? How much progress can we hope to see in the next decade, and what critical barriers will need to be overcome along the way?
Moderator:
- Jit Bhattacharya - Mission Motors
Panelists:
- Mohit Singh - SEEO
- Andrew Leutheuser - Tesla Motors
- John Newman - UCB ChE
- Byron Shaw, GM Ventures
Panel 2 - The Role of Nuclear Power in a Green Energy Landscape
Nuclear power is the largest global non-greenhouse gas-emitting source of electricity. In light of renewable energy expansion, should nuclear be included in 'clean', 'sustainable', or 'green' energy strategies? How are recent events shaping the perceptions of and prospects for nuclear power? As the green energy sector grows, should nuclear grow with it?
Moderator:
- Lance Knobel - Berkeleyside
Panelists:
- Jean-Claude van Duysen - EDF
- Eugene Rosa - Washington State University
- Per Peterson - UCB/NE
- Lucas Davis - UCB/Haas
Panel 3 - Bridging the Valley of Death: Financing and Partnership Options for Energy Start-Ups
Cleantech product development has proven to be challenging because, among other things, innovations tend to be capital intensive and require specialized manufacturing abilities to achieve full-scale commercial models. As part of this process, strategic cleantech equity injections and acquisitions by larger players have become one of the more important forms of capitalizing start-ups.
Moderator:
- Bev Alexander - UCB
Panelists:
- Stuart Bernstein - Goldman Sachs
- Steve Hahn - Dow Ventures
- Robert Lawson - Codexis
Panel 4 - Behavior Change: Drivers for the New Energy Market
This panel will examine how to drive individual behaviour towards more efficient practices and contextualize the total amount of energy savings possible in the larger energy market. Panelists will represent Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, public utilities and a consumer energy reduction company.
Moderator:
- James McMahon - LBNL
Panelists:
- Annika Todd - LBNL/Stanford Precourt Center
- Nadeem Sheikh - OPOWER
- Karen Zelmar - PG&E
Panel 5 - Toward TeraWatt Solar: Growing The Pie Together
This panel discussion includes perspectives from Suntech, SunRun, Sunpower, and the Sunshot Initiative on the topic of how solar can be scaled towards Terawatt capacities. This panel brings together module developers, solar finance experts, and government program managers to discuss how actors from across the value chain can cooperate and develop effective strategies to expand solar’s contribution to the energy mix.
Moderator:
- Dan Kammen - World Bank
Panelists:
- Polly Shaw - Suntech
- Matt Campbell - Sunpower
- Matt Eggers - Sunrun
- Ramesh Ramamoorthhy - DOE
Panel 6 - Resource Limitations: Ensuring Sustainability of Clean Energy Technologies
As alternative energy technologies continue to develop, the limited availability of a category of critical materials is becoming a real concern. This panel will outline the energy critical materials how science and business leaders are approaching and solving their specific resource limitation challenges.
Moderator:
- Kurt House - C12
Panelists:
- Delia J. Milliron - LBNL
- Randal Grow - Simbol Materials
- Mohit Singh - SEEO
Panel 7 - The Globalization of Renewable Energy: Can International Cooperation Power a Green World?
International environmental problems have historically been approached in various ways. Sometimes international cooperation, such as treaties or trade agreements, has helped reach international goals such as stopping depletion of the ozone layer. Do such strategies have the potential to help spread renewable energy on a global scale?
Moderator:
- Allan Marks - Milbank
Panelists:
- Gavin Purchas - Climateworks Foundation
- Kurt Kornbluth - UC Davis
- Matt Cheney - CleanPath Ventures
Panel 8 - Impact of Renewable Energy in the Developing World
Most developing countries have abundant renewable energy resources as well as the ability to manufacture the relatively labor-intensive systems that harness these. This panel will discuss the promise and obstacles that lie in the path of introducing renewable energy in the developing world.
Moderator:
- Heather Fleming - Catapult Design
Panelists:
- David Williams - CleanPath Ventures
- Warren Hogarth - Sequoia Capital
- Ashok Gadgil - UCB / LBL EETD
- Patrick Walsh - Greenlight Planet
Plenary Panel - The Role of the University in Addressing Today's Energy Challenges
Moderator:
- Ilan Gur - ARPA-E
Panelists:
- Daniel Nocera - MIT
- Brook Porter - KPCB
- Jennifer Granholm - UC Berkeley
- Alex Luce - UC Berkeley
Conference Material
Let's be green! Download our program and bring to the event on your phones and tablets.
Location
Oct 20th, 2011 - Thursday
- 2011 Berkeley Innovation Expo
- Location: UC Berkeley Art Museum
- Address: 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720 - (510) 642-0808
Oct 21st, 2011 - Friday
- 2011 BERC Energy Symposium
- Location: MLK Student Union
- Address: Martin Luther King Jr Student Union Building, Berkeley, CA 94720
Parking
There are two options of parking around both venues:
- Street Parking - click here for more information
- Public Parking Lots - see below
View UC Berkeley Parking Lots/Garages in a larger map
Sponsors
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Become a sponsor of the 2011 BERC Energy Symposium.
Contact Adam Boscoe: sponsorship@berc.berkeley.edu
Contact
Send your questions to: symposium@berc.berkeley.edu
For questions about the Innovation Expo, contact: expo@berc.berkeley.edu
