Bigger Than Us

Marcus Lehmann, serves as the CEO of CalWave Power Technologies Inc. Marcus founded CalWave in2014 and uses his experience in systems engineering, energy systems and entrepreneurship, to lead a diverse team of engineers, advisers, and industry partners to unlock the vast and steady carbon-free power from ocean waves.

Prior to CalWave, Marcus held research positions at UC Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering, the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and was a project lead at the Cyclotron Road program. Marcus holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Technical University Hamburg, graduated from Technical University Munich with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and received an honors degree in technology management from the Center for Digital Technology and Management.

Peter Kelly-Detwiler has 30 years of experience in the electric energy arena. He writes for Forbes.com and other publications on topics related to disruptive innovation and its impact on the electricity infrastructure. He provides strategic advice to clients and investors, helping them to navigate this transitional period. Peter is also the author of The Energy Switch - a book about how companies and customers are transforming the electrical grid and the future of power.

Mr. Kelly-Detwiler has spent much of his career in various areas of competitive power markets. As Senior Vice President at Constellation Energy, he oversaw creation of VirtuWatt – a market leading platform to facilitate real-time awareness of electricity pricing and consumption and bidding of assets into competitive markets. He is currently writing a book on the transformation of electric power markets, to be published by Prometheus Books in the Spring of 2021.

Dr. Shuchi Talati is an emerging climate technology governance expert and the founder of The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering. She is also currently a co-chair of the Independent Advisory Committee to oversee SCoPEx, an effort to provide oversight for the potential outdoor solar geoengineering experiment proposed by Harvard University. Dr. Talati is a Visiting Scholar at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and a Scholar in Residence at Forum for Climate Engineering at American University. She most recently served as a Presidential Appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration as Chief of Staff of the Office of Fossil Energy & Carbon Management at the U.S. Department of Energy where she was focused on creating just and sustainable frameworks for carbon dioxide removal.

She was also previously the Deputy Director of Policy at Carbon180 and the Fellow on geoengineering research governance and public engagement at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dr. Talati was a AAAS/AIP Congressional Science Fellow in the U.S. Senate and served at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama. Dr. Talati earned a BS in environmental engineering from Northwestern University, an MA in climate and society from Columbia University, and PhD from Carnegie Mellon in engineering and public policy.

Scott Tinker brings industry, government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations together to address major societal challenges in energy, the environment, and the economy. Dr. Tinker is Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, the State Geologist of Texas, and a professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. With Director Harry Lynch, Tinker co-produced the award-winning documentary films Switch and Switch On, which have been screened in over 50 countries. Dr. Tinker founded the nonprofit Switch Energy Alliance, whose educational materials appear from schools to board rooms globally. Tinker is the host of PBS Energy Switch, an energy and climate talk show appearing on over 200 PBS stations nationwide, and Earth Date, featured weekly on over 450 public radio stations in all 50 United States. In his visits to some 60 countries, Scott has given over 1000 keynote and invited lectures. Dr. Tinker presented a TEDx talk on The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment.

Scott serves on public company boards and science councils, Trinity University’s Board of Trustees, and is an angel investor who has helped bring companies from startup to acquisition. His writing has appeared from Forbes to Fortune to Scientific American. Dr. Tinker has served as president of several international professional associations and is an AGI Campbell Medalist, AAPG Halbouty Medalist, GCAGS Boyd Medalist, AIPG Parker Medalist, and a Geological Society of America Fellow.

Priyanca Ford is the Founder & Executive Board Member of Kronos Fusion Energy Incorporated, a company committed to developing algorithms and machine learning simulations for creating fusion energy generators and other clean fusion energy products that will have a lasting impact on future generations. As a lover of nature and an avid advocate for clean and limitless fusion energy,

Priyanca's passion for sustainable energy began during her childhood in India, where she dreamt of building a company that serves the best interests of the poorest humans on this planet. Currently, she is dedicating her life to achieving Q40 fusion energy mechanical gain.A Harvard Business School graduate with an Executive MBA, Priyanca has a strong background in mathematics, product management, and structuring large data sets to build innovative technology.

As a game theorist and minimalist, Priyanca's interest in fusion energy technology was sparked when she led end-to-end energy simulations at Edison International, which resulted in a new world ERP system that paved the way for a smarter grid and advanced smart meter technology.With over 17 years of experience driving monetization through statistical algorithms and predictive modeling in diverse industries, Priyanca has collaborated with innovative companies, gaining expertise in product development, statistical data analysis, machine learning, and managing executive team priorities. She applies game theory concepts, market positioning, product management, M&A experience, data and process analysis, and business intelligence to strategic executive decision-making.

Throughout her career, Priyanca has held various positions at prominent companies such as Samsung Electronics, The Walt Disney Company, Live Nation Entertainment/Ticketmaster, and Deloitte Consulting. In addition to her professional roles, she has engaged in independent consulting, serving as a C-suite analytics and product strategy consultant for numerous companies, including fusion energy research ventures and Southern California Edison.

Priyanca has pursued non-degree programs in innovation and entrepreneurship at Stanford University, game theory at Yale University, and holds a BS in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Moreover, she founded a company called 3dbuildbot and served as an investor and board member for Brainmix Capital, an AI-focused fund.

Jeff Hardy is a Global Change Agent, International Healthcare Facility Futurist and Planner, and founder of a nonprofit global health development foundation.

He has recently released a book where he is sharing his insights on how to create positive change for our planet and society, though a new paradigm to develop a sustainable future.

John has over 30 years of experience taking novel solutions from conception to reality across the energy, semiconductor and supercomputer industries. Prior to founding Rondo, John served as co-founder and vice president of development for GlassPoint Solar, the leading provider of solar thermal energy for industry worldwide. He is also the former founder and president of Ausra, Inc., a pioneer in solar thermal and solar electric systems. John launched his career as the lead engineer for Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national lab, where he designed award-winning technology to support real-time fusion experiments. He is a published author of numerous technical papers and holds more than 20 patents in the U.S. and internationally. John earned a B.Sc. with Special Distinction in Computer Science from Yale University.

Matthew David LeDucq, Chief Executive Officer, has 15+ years of experience in renewables business, has overseen $5B+ in transactions in EPC, OEM, and long-term investments, and bountiful experience leading transactions for utility scale solar, community solar, standalone storage, electric vehicle, fuel cell & microgrids. Prior to becoming CEO of Forum Mobility, Matt was the Executive Director of NextEra Energy’s distributed generation team where he oversaw all greenfield origination, land acquisition, early-stage development, and M&A. His team built the distributed generation pipeline to nearly $2B in owned assets. Matt has also held various leadership roles with Suntech, Yingli, EI Solutions, and PowerLight, where he started his career as a construction manager in 2003. He holds a BA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Walter L. McLeod is a recognized expert and thought leader in clean technology policy, finance, and development. He is an angel investor, entrepreneur, and Professor of Practice (Energy) in the College of Science at George Mason University. Walter is also the author of The Carbon Creed. Walter resides in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with his wife Laurel.

Durreen Shahnaz is a global leader in social impact and a pioneer in impact investing. She is also the founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and IIX Foundation. IIX is the home of the world’s first social stock exchange and one of the world’s largest crowdfunding platforms for impact investing. IIX is also a leader in impact assessment methodology and innovative financial structures, such as the world's first gender-focused social bond, the Women's Livelihood Bond Series. IIX connects the Back Streets of underserved communities to the Wall Streets of the world by innovating financial solutions and structures for women empowerment, climate action, and community resilience, thus driving Sustainable Development Goals. IIX and IIX Foundation’s work has unlocked nearly US$300 million of private sector investment capital and impacted over 150 million direct household lives.

Shahnaz is the recipient of the UN Women’s 2020 Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) award, the 2019 Sustainability Superwoman award from CSR Works, the 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award, often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize for Business’, the 2017 Global Steering Group for Impact Investment Impact Market Builder of the Year award, the 2016 Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award, in addition to the prestigious 2014 Joseph Wharton Social Impact Award given by the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania. Recently, Shahnaz was named in the Forbes 50 over 50 list as a notable leader in the financial industry. Shahnaz has recently authored a book entitled The Defiant Optimist, which just had a global launch.

Shahnaz holds a BA from Smith College and a joint degree – an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a MA from the School for Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.

Corey Tyree is the co-founder and CEO of Trillium Renewable Chemicals. He raised $16M in financing from venture, strategic, and government sources in the Company’s first 18 months. He built an experienced team and secured partnerships with Solvay, Hyosung, HELM, and others. He started his career as a chemical plant operator and went on to serve in various roles in engineering, plant management, and executive leadership. He holds a BS and PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Tim Hade is the COO and Co-Founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions, where he focuses on developing sustainable distributed generation technologies to serve mission-critical facilities. Tim brings his 12+ years of deep energy knowledge and experience to the clean energy projects being developed at Scale and can offer valuable insight into the operational requirements and challenges commonly encountered during the development of clean energy microgrid projects. Tim believes the greatest challenge humanity faces in the 21st century is the need to build a cleaner and more resilient energy system that is affordable and accessible for all, with unprecedented speed. He founded Scale Microgrid Solutions with the aim of achieving this end by building distributed energy systems for businesses and electric vehicle transit fleets throughout the country. More recently, Tim has been invaluable in helping close projects with a public transit fleet, indoor vertical farming facilities, a water utility, a school district, a food production facility and a leading university.

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired, an award-winning magazine he co-founded Wired in 1993. He is co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, a membership organization that champions long-term thinking. He is the founder of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily for 20 years. He is also the author of multiple best-selling books about the future of technology. His newest is Excellent Advice for Living, a book of 450 modern proverbs for a pretty good life. He is best known for his radical optimism.

Larry Keeley is a renowned innovation scientist with over forty years of experience in the field. He co-founded Doblin, the leading global firm focused on enhancing innovation effectiveness, and has nurtured over 700 alumni through the organization.

Keeley's contribution to academia is noteworthy. He has been a professor at the IIT Institute of Design for 39 years, a board member, and a leading employer of graduates. He also held a professorship at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management's MMM Program for 12 years, earning the title of Distinguished Professor in 2015. Throughout his academic career, he has helped educate over 5,900 Masters or PhD students as innovators, creating a robust global network of colleagues.

Adding to his achievements, Keeley is the author of the #2 all-time best-selling book on innovation, "Ten Types of Innovation," which has been translated into 15 languages. His outstanding contributions to the field earned him recognition by BusinessWeek as one of the top seven global "gurus" of the innovation field, and one of the top 27 designers in the world.

In 2021, the Bankinter Foundation in Spain appointed Keeley as the new director of their famed Future Trends Forum, which is conducted bi-annually in Madrid. Despite retiring as a Managing Director from Deloitte (the firm that now owns Doblin) in late 2020, Keeley continues his mission to advance the methods of innovation through research, currently with Keeley Innovations LLC.

Keeley is a frequent lecturer on innovation at the Berkeley Haas Business School and an EY Luminary, where he works on cases and capabilities that are reshaping the field of innovation. His dedication and passion continue to have a profound impact on the innovation landscape.

Brittany Zimmerman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yummet. Brittany is the CEO of a globally recognized organization with a diverse team of over 300 graduate-level experts hailing from over 50 countries. This organization has bridged the gap between space technology and terrestrial applications by bringing advanced solutions to meet the needs of humanity on earth. By mimicking the natural process of mother nature, Yummet's innovative, proven, and patent-pending technological approach breaks down waste, disassembles the molecules, and rebuilds them into valuable resources, minerals, soils, water, and clean air - just as nature does. In doing this they produce the strongest, most net-negative concrete ever tested made entirely from waste. They produce biochar that serves as a sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers, restoring soil health and purifying water. They desalinate water and treat waste water with no production of brine or other waste products. They produce Green hydrogen at costs that rival dirty hydrogen, providing an alternative to fossil fuels.

Ms. Zimmerman was selected early in her career as the Youngest National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Principal Investigator. She served as Principal Investigator (PI) for three NASA Programs.

She served as Program Manager and Lead Engineer for the NASA Integrated water Recovery Assembly (IRA) designed to reclaim water from planetary surface habitats for NASA. As Lead Systems Engineer for the Brine Processor Assembly (BPA), currently on the International Space Station, Ms. Zimmerman spent years designing, analyzing, testing, and managing programs that utilize membrane distillation for water recovery during on-orbit and planetary surface operations. This includes her role as Program Manager and Lead Engineer for the Boeing Starliner Humidity Control System (HCS) ammonia testing campaign, and her role as a PI, Lead Engineer, and Inventor of the NASA Condensate Separator for Microgravity Conditions (COSMIC).

Ms. Zimmerman’s role as Lead Engineering Analyst for the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) RAIDER program showcased her strength at mathematical analysis of thermal and fluid solutions. She has supported the development of the environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) for a single person spacecraft and has been instrumental in the design of many extreme environment United States Department of Defense (DoD) ECLSS solutions.

Ms. Zimmerman earned her B.S. of Mechanical Engineering in 2011, followed by an M.S. in Space Studies focused on bioregenerative physical-chemical hybrid life support systems for long-duration spaceflight. Ms. Zimmerman specialized in the ecology of closed environments and biospherics, for which she designed the greenhouse module for the NASA Inflatable Lunar/Martian Habitat (ILMH).

Ms. Zimmerman has been a crew member on several analog Mars missions, including a mission to the Mars Desert Research Station, as an officer of Mission 171. She served in the ILMH, leading Crew 3, the first all-female crew.

Her background also includes rocket design, robotic launch systems, and high-altitude ballooning.

Achievements:

• Patented the most sustainable concrete ever tested

• Exceeded $85 Million in Awarded Grants

• Youngest NASA Principal Investigator

• Principal Investigator for 3 NASA Programs

• Patents and/or technologies developed for the ISS, spacesuits, spacecraft, U.S. Department of Defense, Artemis Program returning human's to the Moon, habitats for Mars, and private space industry life support systems.

• 20 Under 35 Awardee from the Space and Satellites Professional International

• 2020 Promise Award recipient identifying her as a leader in the space industry

• Future Space Leader Awardee

• Analog Astronaut: Commanding Crew 3 in Inflatable Lunar/Martian Habitat

• Analog Astronaut: Mission 171, Mars Desert Research Station

John Cleland is Co-founder and CEO of RenewWest, an environmental asset developer that addresses climate change through the development of natural working land emission reduction projects.

Preston Bryant is a graduate of SMU Cox School of Business with a B.A. in Economics, specializing in energy. In college, he established an oil and gas company in memory of his late father. Preston furthered his expertise in commodities recovery at the firm LPI, where he uncovered a groundbreaking critical materials processing method called Membrane Solvent Extraction. After obtaining exclusive licensing rights from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab, he founded Momentum Technologies with the mission to revolutionize the way metals were recovered by challenging the conventional norms that processing facilities must be large, expensive, and centralized.

NJ Ayuk is the Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, CEO of pan-African corporate law conglomerate Centurion Law Group, and the author of Big Barrels as well as Amazon and Wall Street Journal’s bestselling Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals. His experience includes advising major companies and governments on energy issues and investment strategies. NJ graduated from the University of Maryland College Park and earned a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology.

Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector, including a proven track record in the development and commercialization of fuels and chemicals technologies. Prior to LanzaTech, Jennifer was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. Under her management, UOP technology became instrumental in producing nearly all of the initial fuels used by commercial airlines and the military for testing and certification of alternative aviation fuel. Today, under Jennifer’s guidance, LanzaTech is working towards deploying carbon capture and reuse facilities globally to make fuels and chemicals from waste carbon.

Josh Brooks is a partner with WayBright, LLC, with office in Jacksonville, FL, Asheville, NC, and Torreon, Mexico. WayBright is a project development, finance, and management platform designed to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean water, and other infrastructure services across the U.S. and Mexico.

Prior to WayBright, Josh served as aide to Amory Lovins, founder and former Chief Scientist of RMI, a world-leading energy and economy think tank. There, Josh focused on implementing integrative design across the energy-intensive sectors: transportation, industry, buildings, and electricity generation as well as utility business model innovation and energy regulatory reform which resulted in numerous successful legislative initiatives.

Prior to RMI, Josh served as Project Developer for NTE Energy, a private sector energy production company, where he directed the company’s renewables development and related wholesale customer programs in multiple national markets. His work with NTE and other regional utilities produced some of North Carolina’s first community solar installations and one of the nation’s most diverse public generation portfolios at Appalachian State University, Josh’s alma mater.

Today, along with his work at WayBright, Josh services as an advisor to the Council for New Energy Economics, which participates in electric-utility resource planning processes across the country and sits on the Board of Blue Link Pro, LLC, the first full-service partner for water and sewer utility infrastructure management, monitoring, renovation, and upgrade, including financing as beneficial to the utility.

Josh Dorfman is a sustainability entrepreneur and brand builder dedicated to scaling mission-driven ventures. He is co-founder & CEO of Plantd, a carbon-negative building materials company pioneering a new path to reach gigaton-scale carbon capture. Previously, Josh led Vine.com, an Amazon business unit specializing in natural, organic, and sustainable products. He has founded two award-winning modern design sustainable furniture companies: Vivavi, named to Inc. Magazine's "Green 50" as a pioneer accelerating the green economy, and Simbly, recognized by the National Wildlife Federation for its sustainable practices to preserve forest ecosystems. Earlier in his career, Josh was the author and host of The Lazy Environmentalist reality TV series on Sundance Channel, radio show on SiriusXM, and book series designed to make sustainable living easy, convenient, and delightful. Josh served for four years as the national spokesperson for Brita’s FilterForGood campaign to reduce bottled water waste. He currently serves on Governor Roy Cooper’s North Carolina Entrepreneurship Council.  Josh holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sanjay Shrestha joined Plug Power as Chief Strategy Officer in 2019. Prior to joining Plug Power, Mr. Shrestha served as the CIO of a global solar IPP and President Sky Capital Americas since 2015.  Under his leadership, Sky Capital America built and acquired over 100MW of operating solar assets and secured pipeline over 100MW.  He also sourced various types of financing solutions to support this growth including project debt, construction equity and long-term equity. He brings almost two decades of experience in the broader clean tech sector to our team. Before global solar IPP, he led the renewables investment banking effort at FBR Capital markets. During 2014, and under his leadership, the firm was ranked among the top renewable energy underwriters in the U.S.

Prior to joining FBR, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years as the global head of renewables research coverage at Lazard Capital Markets. During his tenure at Lazard Capital Markets, he was a member of the Institutional Investor All America Research team and was also ranked as one of the top five stock pickers on a global basis. Prior to Lazard Capital Markets, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years at First Albany Capital, where he built the firm’s renewables and industrial research practice. Starmine/Forbes Magazine ranked him the number 1 stock picker and the number 1 earnings estimator during his tenure at First Albany Capital. Mr. Shrestha serves as an independent director on the board of directors of Fusemachines, an AI company.

Peter Kelly-Detwiler has 30 years of experience in the electric energy arena. He writes for Forbes.com and other publications on topics related to disruptive innovation and its impact on the electricity infrastructure. He provides strategic advice to clients and investors, helping them to navigate this transitional period. Peter is also the author of The Energy Switch - a book about how companies and customers are transforming the electrical grid and the future of power.

Mr. Kelly-Detwiler has spent much of his career in various areas of competitive power markets. As Senior Vice President at Constellation Energy, he oversaw creation of VirtuWatt – a market leading platform to facilitate real-time awareness of electricity pricing and consumption and bidding of assets into competitive markets. He is currently writing a book on the transformation of electric power markets, to be published by Prometheus Books in the Spring of 2021.

Get motivated to step into 2023 with advice from our 2022 guests. 

John has over 30 years of experience taking novel solutions from conception to reality across the energy, semiconductor and supercomputer industries. Prior to founding Rondo, John served as co-founder and vice president of development for GlassPoint Solar, the leading provider of solar thermal energy for industry worldwide. He is also the former founder and president of Ausra, Inc., a pioneer in solar thermal and solar electric systems. John launched his career as the lead engineer for Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national lab, where he designed award-winning technology to support real-time fusion experiments. He is a published author of numerous technical papers and holds more than 20 patents in the U.S. and internationally. John earned a B.Sc. with Special Distinction in Computer Science from Yale University.

Dr. Gruber, CEO and Board Member of Gevo, has spent over 30 years developing and commercializing renewable biobased technologies to replace petrochemicals. His teams have developed and commercialized several renewable resource-based products, including organic acids, plastics, fibers, advanced alcohols, hydrocarbon fuels, and the like.  Gruber led the development and commercialization of PLA at Cargill and co-founded Natureworks.  As CEO of Gevo, Dr. Gruber leads the business to commercialize Isobutanol for gasoline blendstock, renewable, low carbon jet fuel, and low carbon renewable gasoline.

Dr. Gruber received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Gruber has received numerous awards including: The George Washington Carver Award from BIO, The Presidential Green Chemistry Award, The Discover Award for Environmental Innovation from Discover Magazine, The Lee W. Rivers Innovation Award from CDMA, an Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of MN in 2011,  The Julius Stieglitz Award from the University of Chicago, The Kirkpatrick Award from Chemical Engineering, Design and Engineering Award from Popular Mechanics, Technology of the Year Award from Industry Week, Technology of the Year Award from United States DOE,  and numerous others.  Dr. Gruber was the editor of the two-volume book “Biorefineries—Industrial Processes and Products,” and holds more than 60 US patents, with several others pending.