UT Energy Week 2024
What Starts Here Energizes the World
Speakers and Panelists
Lucy AtkinsonAssociate Professor, School of Advertising & Public Relations, University of Texas at Austin; Associate Director, UT Global Sustainability Leadership Institute
Energy’s Got an Image Problem: Why Does It Matter, and Can It Be Fixed?
Dr. Lucy Atkinson is an Associate Professor in the School of Advertising & Public Relations in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research looks at communication in the context of sustainability and the environment. She focuses on the ways message components (like visual elements, argument frames, source factors) in environmental communication influence environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Past and current projects have explored stakeholder acceptance of carbon capture and storage projects, investigated public hesitancy regarding new health technologies, and tested new communication technologies including augmented reality and virtual reality to communicate about poorly understood scientific phenomena like the Deep Seas. She has been PI or co-PI on grants totaling more than $8M from government and industry sources. These grants support research exploring stakeholder communication around sustainability and climate change issues. Current grants include $7M (as co-PI) from the NSF to explore environmental justice and resilience in underserved communities and $100K (as PI) from the City of Austin to examine multilingual AI-assisted emergency preparedness among underserved communities.
Her work has appeared in top-ranked flagship journals, like the Journal of Advertising, Health Communication, Environmental Communication, Science Communication, and New Media & Society. Her research has been covered in international and national news media, including The Guardian (UK) newspaper, the CBC Radio show Ideas, and National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and On Point with Tom Ashbrook. She also serves as Associate Director of the UT-Austin Global Sustainability Leadership Institute, which trains students to be leaders around issues of environmental communication, responsible innovation, and corporate sustainability. She is also a senior fellow with the Texas Immersive Institute and a senior faculty research affiliate with the Center for Media Engagement, both in the Moody College of Communication.
Matthieu Auzanneau
Executive Director
The Shift Project
Decarbonization Strategies: From Science to Practice
Matthieu Auzanneau first joined The Shift Project in 2014 as Public Affairs and Forecasting Manager and then became its executive director in September 2016. Prior to that, he had worked for more than ten years as a journalist, notably for the French daily newspaper Le Monde and the television network Arte. Albeit sporadically, he still pursues his work as a journalist, which is situated at the crossroads of economics and ecology. Since 2010, Matthieu has been a guest blogger on Le Monde’s website through his blog “Oil Man, chronicles of the beginning of the end of oil.” Also an author, he wrote Or Noir – La grande histoire du pétrole (ed. La Découverte, 2015), which was awarded the Special Prize of the Association of Energy Economists (AEE) in 2016. His Twitter account is @OIL_MEN.
Omeed Badkoobeh
CEO, Yotta Energy
Keynote: A Journey of Energy Entrepreneurship and Discovering the Solar Trifecta
Omeed Badkoobeh is a trailblazer in the energy technology sector, serving as the founder and CEO of Yotta Energy. Under his leadership, Yotta Energy has developed a cutting-edge, distributed, and decentralized solar+storage architecture tailored for commercial and industrial buildings. This innovative approach meets the growing demand for distributed energy generation while transforming these structures into valuable grid assets and virtual power plants.
Before establishing Yotta Energy, Badkoobeh gained over 16 years of experience in the energy transition sector. His expertise covers various aspects of the industry, including significant work with Tesla in the electric vehicle field and extensive involvement in the solar industry. Badkoobeh’s dedication to advancing sustainable energy solutions has established him as a key influencer in shaping the future of energy. His professional philosophy emphasizes the importance of technology and wealth serving the global community, which has been a driving force behind his passion for the solar PV industry.
Bill Barnes
Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
NRG
Panel: ERCOT Grid Resilience & Distributed Energy Resources
Bill Barnes is Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs for NRG, located in Austin. He is responsible for covering Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market design issues for the retail and wholesale electricity markets, providing market analysis, commercial advice, and regulatory advocacy. Barnes represents NRG at the Texas Legislature, Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and in the ERCOT stakeholder process. He has over 20 years of experience in the U.S. power industry. Prior to joining NRG, Barnes worked at Goldman Sachs, ERCOT, and Accenture.
Luke Bassett
Senior Advisor, Director of Policy and Program Impact, Inflation Reduction Act Program Office
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Between Two Cacti
Luke H. Bassett is a Senior Advisor and the Director of Policy and Program Impact at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Inflation Reduction Act Program Office. Previously, as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, he advised Chairman Joe Manchin III (D-WV) on climate, renewable energy, energy tax, and research and development policy. In that role, he drafted or negotiated major provisions of the Energy Act of 2020, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Prior to joining the Energy Committee, Bassett was Associate Director of Domestic Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress and previously served as an appointee at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Bassett has master’s degrees in environmental management and ethics from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Yale Divinity School, a bachelor’s degree from Emory University, and is originally from Milton, West Virginia.
Nick Clausi
Vice President of Research
ExxonMobil
Between Two Cacti presents The Case for Collaboration: Bridging the Gap Between Industry and Academia to Advance Energy Research
Nick Clausi is the Vice President of Research for ExxonMobil. In this role, Clausi leads a team of scientists and engineers whose collective mission is to develop the next generation of products and lower-carbon energy technology solutions, including advanced biofuels, carbon capture and storage, natural gas technologies, and energy-efficient processes. As part of their research, Clausi’s team works with leading research and technology companies, national labs, universities, and others around the world involved in breakthrough energy and product research.
Clausi received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1994, followed by a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined ExxonMobil in 1998 and has held roles across the corporation in chemicals, refining, and technology. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Global Chemical Technology, Senior Vice President of Performance Derivatives, and Vice President of Engineering before assuming his current position in April 2022.
Carson Crawford
CEO, Co-Founder, Pike Robotics
Startup Spotlight Talk
Connor D. Crawford, MSE, has a track record of innovation, leadership, and attainment of business results in mechatronics design and manufacturing for both the aerospace and energy industries. He has over eight years of technical, operations, and strategic leadership experience related to bringing concepts from the drawing board to realization. His work at Lockheed Martin helped the company execute on foreign and domestic aircraft and spacecraft contracts. Through his work as a graduate student, entrepreneur, and current CEO role at Pike Robotics, he has taken robotic technology from scholarship to practice, enabling a novel path forward for petrochemical storage tank inspections which eliminates the need to send humans into dangerous, confined spaces.
Dorian Cockrell
Vice President – Global Philanthropy
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
When Community Engagement Works: Success Stories & Best Practices
Dorian Cockrell is the Vice President and Central Program Officer for Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase, covering the Houston, Central Texas, and Oklahoma markets. He sets the strategic direction and oversees Chase’s philanthropic investments in these regions. Prior to joining JPMC, he was the Workforce Operations Manager for Houston-Galveston Area Council. As operations manager, Cockrell was responsible for providing strategic planning and direction for the workforce investment board that serves the 13-county Houston-Galveston region. He also worked at United Way of Greater Houston as Senior Manager for Workforce Development. During his time at United Way, he led United Way THRIVE’s workforce efforts to help hard-working families improve their incomes, build savings, and acquire assets to help them secure better futures. Cockrell serves on several statewide education and workforce advisory councils and boards in Texas. He is a prestigious Houston Business Journal 40 Under 40 Honoree, and a Senior Fellow (Class 55) of the American Leadership Forum. He is also a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Alpha Alpha. Cockrell earned both his Master of Public Administration and bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Arlington and is a proud Graduate Archer Fellow.
Liz Ramsay Dalton
Co-Founder, Partner, Mission Strategies; Executive Director, HyVelocity Hub
HyVelocity: Rapidly Scaling Clean Hydrogen Supply and Demand in Texas and Beyond
Liz has spent her career developing strategies and partnerships at the intersection of clean energy technology, policy, and finance.
Prior to co-founding Mission, Liz was a Senior Vice President with Boundary Stone Partners, where she co-led the Clean Energy, Fuels, and Buildings and Industrial Decarbonization practices. Concurrently, Liz served as Operating Partner of Overture VC, a climate-focused venture capital fund. Before joining BSP, Liz held multiple positions in the clean energy innovation sector. She led corporate and investor partnerships as the Vice President of Strategy at Powerhouse and was the Executive Director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI).
Liz served as an executive political appointee in the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. In this role, Liz executed the DOE’s grid modernization research and development portfolio, transmission permitting, emergency response operations, and energy cybersecurity programs. Previously, Liz helped direct $900 million in nuclear energy RD&D funding as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
Liz served on the Appointments Team for the Biden-Harris Transition at the U.S. Department of Energy and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the University of Texas’s Energy Institute, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Directorate, the Atlantic Council’s Veterans Advanced Energy Project, and CleanTX.
An Arkansas native, Liz began her career in public service working for U.S. Congressman Marion Berry (D-AR). She holds a Master’s in Leadership from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and received her B.A. in Political Science from the College of Charleston.
JR DeShazo
Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Progress Toward Energy Independence: 50 Years Since the Oil Embargo
JR DeShazo is the 12th dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He previously served as the founding director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, one of the nation’s leading environmental policy research centers, which influenced the design of many state and utility-scale innovative clean energy policies. He is a distinguished scholar focusing on clean technology policies, policy designs that enhance environmental equity, methods for valuing changes in environmental quality, and the performance of public agencies.
Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman
CEO, Pecan Street
Ensuring an Equitable Energy Future
Dr. Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman is Chief Executive Officer for Pecan Street, where she works closely with the board of directors and senior leadership team to lead resource and partnership development, guide strategy, and ensure the delivery of programs that achieve measurable results at the intersection of climate solutions, technology innovation, and social justice. She has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, resource development, social impact research, and working at the nexus of big data and place-based social justice. She will apply her equity-centered research and policy approaches from the education sector to help design an equitable climate transition.
Her business development efforts have yielded over $750M in state and federally funded grants. Dickerman has held various senior positions in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, including chief program officer, executive vice president, chief strategy officer, and chief of staff. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin with a graduate portfolio in Mexican-American studies.
Ira Ehrenpreis
Founder, Managing Partner, DBL Partners
Between Two Cacti
Ira Ehrenpreis is Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, a leading impact investing venture capital firm currently managing more than $1 billion of capital. DBL invests in companies that can deliver top-tier financial returns while simultaneously driving social or environmental change.
Ehrenpreise is a recognized leader in the venture capital industry, having served on the Board, on the Executive Committee, and as Annual Meeting Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). He currently serves as the Chairman of the VCNetwork, the largest and most active California venture capital organization, and is President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC), the oldest venture capital organization in California.
For his contributions to the Venture Capital and Impact industries, Ehrenpreis has been honored with several prestigious awards. He was awarded the NACD Directorship 100 for being “one of the most influential leaders in the boardroom and corporate governance community.” He was also named one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Men Under 45″ (alas, in a galaxy far, far away when in fact he was under 45!). For his pioneering work and leadership in sustainability innovation, Ira was inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame. Most recently, the Japan Society of Northern California honored Ira with its 2023 Visionary Award for his “Pioneering Leadership in Impact Investing and the Global Sustainability Community.”
Ira serves on the board of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and currently leads DBL’s investments in several companies, including Airspace, Apeel, Boring Company, Mapbox, Menlo Micro, Planet (NYSE: PL), R-Zero, and SpaceX.
In the energy innovation and sustainability sector, Ehrenpreis has served as the Founder and Chairman of the World Energy Innovation Forum (WEIF). He has been named to several industry boards, including the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (ERAC), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Advisory Council, the Clean-Tech Investor Summit (Chairman for nine years), the Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF) West (Co-Chairman for 10 years), the Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF) Wall Street (Co-Chairman for five years), the Cleantech Venture Network (Past Chairman of Advisory Board), and ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy).
Ehrenpreis has served as the Chairman of the Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (SVIEF) for four years. He is also an active leader at Stanford University, where he has served on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. He is currently on the Advisory Board of the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE) Advisory Council and for many years served on the Advisory Board of the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). Ehrenpreis has also been a guest lecturer, including helping to teach a course on Venture Capital. In addition, he served for many years on the Advisory Board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE).
Ehrenpreis received his JD/MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of Stanford Law Review. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude.
Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/iraehrenpreis/
Sunil Felix
Nuclear Counsellor, French Atomic Commission – US Embassy (Washington, DC)
Panel: A Nuclear Carol: The Future of Nuclear via the Past and Present Perspectives of France, U.S., and Texas
Dr. Sunil Felix took on the position of Nuclear Counsellor at the French Embassy in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2020. After completing his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies in Mathematics, Felix joined the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA – France) in 1990. Since then, he has been working as a research engineer in the field of Structural Analysis. He also served as Nuclear Counsellor at the French Embassy in various countries, including South Korea, India, and Japan. In addition, he acted as Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) during the GIF’s French Presidency, from 2006 to 2010. Felix was awarded the National Order of Merit by the French National Authorities in 2015.
Juliana Felkner
Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin
Panel: Rethinking Materials: Embodied Carbon & Beyond
Dr. Juliana M. Felkner is a tenure-track assistant professor at the School of Architecture, Community and Regional Planning, at the University of Texas at Austin, where she also serves as faculty and research advisor in the Graduate Program for Sustainable Design. Felkner studied Architecture and Spatial Planning at the University of Kansas and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, and Environmental Management at Aalborg University, Denmark. She then worked for Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris before moving to Zurich to conduct her Ph.D. research at the ETH Zurich in the Chair of Structural Design and the Chair of Structural Mechanics. In her doctoral thesis, she developed a multi-objective optimization algorithm for the design of building structures and facades with the lowest possible operational and embodied energy under various constraints and specific to four different climate zones. She is a member of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA).
Felkner’s research and expertise have appeared in various outlets including the Journal of Architectural Engineering, receiving the best paper award; Bloomberg Tech; CISBAT’s Carbon Neutral Cities and Carbon Resilient Cities; and PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture). She has served on the editorial board of Building Research Information since 2018. She has presented her work at the Austin Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects.
Her research, work, and teaching address the societal and environmental challenges that come with increasing urbanization of the world. As up to 40% of global GHG emissions are attributed to the built environment, she focuses her research on strategies to deliver on climate change goals set forth by the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through modeling required reductions of operational and embodied carbon from the built environment—using life-cycle assessment, grid mix forecasting, energy modeling, and based on climate scenarios up to the year 2100—she presents decarbonization pathways for urban environments.
Felkner acts as a consultant to local architects and builders on low-carbon design strategies and ways to mitigate the effects of climate change and urban heat islands. These include findings on the interplay of material choice for building structures and facades, site planning, shading, technology adoption, land use, greenery, energy management, urban transformation, and policy. She aims to bridge academic findings with built works by engaging with stakeholders from the urban to the national and international levels. She is currently investigating the need for further inclusion of the role of inequity and environmental justice in setting carbon emission pathways.
Robert Ferry & Elizabeth Monoian
Founding Directors, Land Art Generator Initiative
Panel: Planet Texas 2050 presents Beautiful Energy: Public Art for Sustainable Cities
The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) was founded in 2008 by Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry to leverage the power of art and design to accelerate the global response to climate change. LAGI works with communities around the world to design public art installations that cleanly generate renewable energy, water, and provide other human support systems at a variety of scales. In 2019 the LAGI archives were acquired by the Nevada Museum of Art’s Center for Art + Environment.
Elizabeth Monoian is the founding co-director of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), where she is developing global partnerships between private and public entities around projects that address issues of climate and sustainability through the lens of creativity. She works closely with cities, universities, corporations, arts organizations, and community groups to design customized approaches to renewable energy installations. Monoian has published, exhibited, and presented globally on the aesthetics of renewable energy and the role of art and design in providing solutions to climate change and the energy transition. She holds an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and is the recipient of several global awards such as the JMK Innovation Prize, the Premio Brote Artístico, the Nick Reeves Award for Arts and the Environment, and the Zayed University Provost’s Research Fellowship.
Robert Ferry is a registered architect and LEED accredited professional with decades of professional practice experience on both consultant and client sides. He has worked as design manager and project manager on sustainable new urbanist developments across the United States and spent four years as a consultant on large commercial projects in Abu Dhabi, where his focus shifted to ways in which buildings can move beyond net-zero and contribute to the energy needs of the surrounding city. His concept designs pushing the envelope of building-integrated renewable energy technology have been published widely. Through the Land Art Generator, he helps support the critical role of architecture and urban design as part of a comprehensive solution to climate change. Ferry is the co-founder of the Land Art Generator, partner at Studied Impact Design, and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.
Elizabeth and Robert’s publications include Land Art as Climate Action (Hirmer Publishing), Land Art of the 21st Century (Hirmer Publishing), Return to the Source (Prestel Publishing), Energy Overlays (Hirmer Publishing), New Energies (Prestel Publishing), Powering Places (Prestel Publishing), Regenerative Infrastructures (Prestel Publishing), The Time is Now: Public Art of the Sustainable City (Page One Publishing), and A Field Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies.
Aaron Fitzgerald
CEO, Mars Materials
Startup Spotlight Talk
Aaron Fitzgerald is a carbon removal entrepreneur. He’s a three-time founder and Breakthrough Energy Fellow. His past experiences also include fellowships with Prime Coalition and Carbon 180 and a stint in politics working in the United States Senate. As CEO at Mars, he’s motivated by the company’s mission to remove and sequester greenhouse gasses into the industrial supply chain. Outside of his work in carbon removal, Fitzgerald provides business mentorship to black women, queer people of color, and other underrepresented groups.
Laurie Fitzmaurice
President, Carbon Removals, Drax Group
Thursday Morning Keynote Address
Laurie Fitzmaurice has over 30 years of experience in business development, specializing in energy infrastructure development globally. Working on new market entry with companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500. She also has a deep knowledge of international energy markets and has been actively involved in USD $7.5 billion in energy infrastructure development.
Fitzmaurice is the President of a new business unit launched by the Drax Group in 2024 which is focused on becoming the global leader in large-scale carbon removals. The business oversees the development and construction of Drax’s Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) facilities in the U.S. and internationally, working with a coalition of strategic partners to focus on the goal of removing million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually.
Prior to her current role, Fitzmaurice was Business Development lead for Renewables and New Energies in the Americas at Amazon Web Services. She has also held several senior roles at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), EDF Renewables, Cielo Wind Chile, and CE2 Capital Partners, among others. Fitzmaurice is also a board member for Saavi Energía energy experts in Mexico, generating and trading electric power to satisfy the country’s energy demand.
Faye Gerard
Energy Transition Director, International Association of Oil & Gas Producers
Decarbonization Strategies: From Science to Practice
Dr. Faye Gerard joined the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) in November 2023 as Director of the Energy Transition Directorate. Seconded from bp, she is based at IOGP’s Houston office. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Tuskegee University.
Gerard has worked in the oil and gas industry for 32 years, and at bp for the last 16. Her previous roles at bp include Senior Federal Government Affairs Director; Vice President of Low Carbon and Sustainability at bpX Energy (an onshore oil and gas production subsidiary of bp); and other leadership roles in environmental engineering, projects, HSE, regulatory, and safety and operational risk management. Gerard began her career at Marathon Oil Company, where she held process engineering and leadership roles in HSE, diversity, and public/community affairs over 16 years.
Gerard has three children, and her interests include philanthropic planning, reading, volunteering, and traveling. She serves on several University advisory boards and as a board member of various community and civic organizations. In her free time, she enjoys writing and giving presentations on leadership and STEM.
Jimmy Glotfelty
Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas
Panel: A Nuclear Carol: The Future of Nuclear via the Past and Present Perspectives of France, U.S., and Texas
Governor Greg Abbott appointed James Glotfelty to serve as a commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas on August 6, 2021, for a term set to expire on September 1, 2025. Before his appointment, he served as Founder and Executive Vice President of Clean Line Energy.
Glotfelty’s public sector experience includes serving as Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Energy Policy Director to Texas Governor George W. Bush, and Legislative Director to Congressman Sam Johnson. He founded and led the Office of Electricity at the U.S. Department of Energy, led the joint U.S.-Canadian Power System Outage Task Force, and served on the White House Task Force to Streamline Energy Permitting.
Glotfelty’s private sector work also includes various Executive and Managerial roles at Calpine Corporation, ICF Consulting, and Quanta Services.
He served as Chairman of AWEA on the Transmission Committee and held board positions on ConservAmerica, Texas Housing Finance Corporation, and Group NIRE. He regularly participated in the Aspen Institute Energy Forum, the Harvard Energy Policy Group, and the Keystone Energy Forum.
A former Committee Chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership and an Alumni of the Texas Lyceum, Glotfelty received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Marketing from Texas Christian University.
Russell Gold
Senior Editor, Texas Monthly
Energy’s Got an Image Problem: Why Does It Matter, and Can It Be Fixed?
Senior Editor Russell Gold was born somewhere east of the Sabine River, but has lived in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio since 1996. He has spent most of that time writing about energy in its many forms. He has dodged polar bears on Alaska’s North Slope, climbed a wind turbine in Oklahoma, and spent time on frac pads from Carrizo Springs to Fort Worth and Odessa to Carthage. He worked at the San Antonio Express-News before joining the Wall Street Journal, where he worked from 2000 to 2021. Gold has won multiple business-writing awards and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his coverage of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the electric line–caused Camp Fire in California. His 2014 book, The Boom, was long-listed for the FT Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year prize. His 2019 book, Superpower, wasn’t—but it is even better. It profiles Houstonian Michael Skelly’s attempt to build a very, very long extension cord. Gold joined Texas Monthly in 2021 to write about the business of Texas. He lives with his wife in Austin.
Nagruk Harcharek
President, The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat
When Community Engagement Works: Success Stories & Best Practices
Nagruk Harcharek was born and raised in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. He attended Honolulu Community College and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, where he attained an Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science, and Commercial Pilot Certificates. He worked as a commercial pilot for three years in western Alaska before joining Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) Science in 2013. During his nine years at UIC, Nagruk served as UIC Science General Manager, Director of Barrow Operations, Vice President of Lands, UIC Construction Operations Manager, and Vice President of Arctic Development and Private Equity. He joined the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat in October 2022 as President.
Jay C. Hartzell
President, The University of Texas at Austin
Opening Remarks
Jay Hartzell is the 30th president of The University of Texas at Austin. Since becoming president in 2020, he has mobilized the campus with a 10-year plan to make UT the world’s highest-impact public research university. He previously served as dean of UT’s McCombs School of Business.
Raised in Tulsa, Hartzell earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Trinity University and his Ph.D. in finance from UT. After teaching at New York University, he returned to Austin to join the UT faculty in 2001. His research focuses on real estate finance, corporate finance and corporate governance, and leading journals in the field have published his writing.
Hartzell currently serves on the boards of directors for MGIC Investment Corporation and Austin Habitat for Humanity. He has served on the board of directors for the Texas Exes and the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
Marilu Hastings
Executive Vice President, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
When Community Engagement Works: Success Stories & Best Practices
Marilu Hastings is Executive Vice President (EVP) of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation in Austin. As EVP, Hastings leads and is a catalyst for enhancing the programmatic direction of the foundation. She guides the conception and implementation of programs and initiatives with the program teams to ensure that the foundation’s priorities align with the mission and values of benefactors George and Cynthia Mitchell. She also directs CGMF’s Mitchell Innovation Lab, a varied portfolio of breakthrough sustainability ideas and opportunities that the foundation develops and incubates.
Hastings serves as a member of the National Petroleum Council at the U.S. Department of Energy. She is chair of the University of Texas’s Energy Institute Advisory Board; chair of Environmental Defense Fund’s Texas Advisory Board; a member of the Advisory Board of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin; and a trustee of the Regional Endowment for Sustainability
Science. She is a fellow of the Houston Advanced Research Center and a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability.
Hastings earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Duke University, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.
Drew Higgins
Board Chair, Texas Electric Transportation Resource Alliance (TxETRA)
Fireside Chat: Decarbonization Roadmapping: The Why/What/How
Drew Higgins is driven by a singular passion: to create products and services that don’t just meet customer needs but exceed them, sparking inspiration and delight. With a seasoned career spanning over 17 years, he is a recognized industry leader who places the betterment of people’s lives at the center of his innovation strategy.
An alumnus of the United States Naval Academy and the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, Higgins also completed the University of Idaho’s prestigious Energy Executive Course. His academic credentials are complemented by executive roles at high-profile organizations such as USAA, General Motors, and CPS Energy. In these capacities, he has honed his skills in agile decision-making and strategy formulation, qualities that are essential for leadership in today’s ever-changing fiscal and technological landscape.
A prolific innovator, Higgins has launched a diverse array of over 30 products in sectors ranging from automotive to energy and finance. His commitment to cutting-edge innovation is further demonstrated by his portfolio of multiple patent filings, six of which have been granted.
In addition to his core work, Higgins has displayed sector-wide leadership as an inaugural member of the Texas PUC Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource Task Force. His governance skills are evident from his board memberships with the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) and the Alliance for Transportation Electrification (ATE), along with his current role as the Board Chair for the Texas Electric Transportation Resource Alliance (TxETRA).
Currently, Higgins serves as a sought-after advisor to automakers and utility companies, guiding them in the development of next-level products and services that not only satisfy but delight their customer base. His ability to drive strategic innovation while keeping an eye on long-term scalability underscores his leadership in the electrification space.
JR Howard
Founder, Texas Solar Sheep
Sunshine, Wine, and Wool: Agrivoltaics in Texas’ Energy Transition
JR Howard owns and operates Texas Solar Sheep LLC, which provides vegetation management and agrivoltaics services across 2.5 GW of solar in Texas, with that number to double in 2024. Texas Solar Sheep currently runs over 5,000 ewes grazing, cuts hay, and plants no-till crops on utility scale solar sites across Texas. Howard is an advisory board member for the American Solar Grazing Association.
David V. Iannelli
Partner, Hudson Pacific
Energy’s Got an Image Problem: Why Does It Matter, and Can It Be Fixed?
David brings thirty years of public opinion research and public affairs consulting experience to Hudson Pacific. Using this experience and expertise, he provides leaders an objective perspective on their communications and reputation opportunities and challenges, recommending strategies to help achieve their goals.
His work spans a range of industries, from energy to financial services, automotive and food and beverage. His public opinion research work is grounded in the fundamentals of political polling, having spent the first ten years of his career working with some of the pioneers in the industry, seven of those as part of the bipartisan Hart-Teeter polling team conducting the NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll. Prior to Hudson Pacific, David was president for global research at Research+Data Insights, a research company owned by Hill+Knowlton Strategies, and a managing director of Public Strategies, Inc.
David is a graduate of Northwestern University, the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Nicole Iseppi
Director of Energy Innovation, Bezos Earth Fund
Startup Night Keynote
Nicole Iseppi is the Director of Energy Innovation at the Bezos Earth Fund. Iseppi was previously at ENGIE—a leading global energy company—for over 12 years, where she was a Senior Executive Advisor and Managing Director for Operations & Performance for Global Transformation. Before ENGIE, Iseppi was a Senior Advisor and Project Manager for Global Energy Infrastructure at Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). During her time in Japan, she was also appointed as adviser and coordinator for the creation of the green financial institution, Japan Carbon Finance (JCF), launched by the Japanese Ministry of Finance. Iseppi has previously been appointed both by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to co-lead a global renewable initiative for the industry and as a member of the Management Committee of Terrawatt Initiative (TWI), an independent global nonprofit foundation established from the COP21 Paris Agreement.
Iseppi serves on industry advisory committees and boards, focusing on accelerating solutions for the global energy transition. She is the recipient of multiple awards from her industry peers. In 2022, she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Monash University for her contribution to international sustainable energy development and transformation.
Joshua Johnson
Co-Founder, Horizen
Getting a Head Start: Insights from Student Energy Startup Founders
Josh Johnson is a senior business management major at Prairie View A&M University. He is also an entrepreneur and the founder of Horizen, a startup focusing on innovative ways to lower greenhouse gas emissions and create energy storage. Johnson is a passionate anime watcher, a video game connoisseur, and an avid explorer. He strives constantly to improve himself, explore the world around him, and acquire new skills. Recently, he has taken up crochet. He believes that a company reflects its founder, and he brings his values of innovation, disruption, and authenticity into his work.
Monica Karamagi
NAM Biofuels Development Lead, Shell
Panel: Low-Carbon Aviation Solutions: Is the Sky the Limit?
Monica Karamagi is a Regional Business Development Manager for the Shell Low Carbon Fuels business, based in Houston, Texas. She has worked for the last 25-plus years in various technical and commercial roles and now leads the Advanced Biofuels team. This team is scaling novel technologies to produce commercial quantities of low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel from sustainable feedstocks. She has master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Howard University, and a General Management certificate from the University of Texas.
Dirk Kestner
Senior Principal, Walter P Moore
Panel: Rethinking Materials: Embodied Carbon & Beyond
Dirk Kestner is Director of Sustainable Design at Walter P Moore, where he provides overall guidance and resourcing to ensure that all of the firm’s designs incorporate industry-leading expertise in sustainable strategies. His project work, teaching, and coaching throughout the firm and broad-reaching influence in the industry help maintain Walter P Moore’s status as a national leader in sustainable approaches and outcomes.
Kestner was founding chair of the Sustainability Committee of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and he is widely acknowledged as a national thought leader in the advancement of sustainable structural solutions. He publishes and lectures frequently on topics that range from durability and deconstructability to salvaged structural steel and life cycle analysis. As a past Chair of the LEED Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group of the U.S. Green Building Council, he helped guide the important technical criteria of the LEED rating system.
Kestner is a professional engineer in Texas and Georgia and is LEED Accredited in Professional/Building Design + Construction. He holds a Master of Science in Structural Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.
Carey King
Assistant Director, Research Scientist, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
Decarbonization Strategies: From Science to Practice
Dr. Carey W King performs interdisciplinary research related to how energy systems interact within the economy and environment as well as how our policy and social systems can make decisions and tradeoffs among these often competing factors. The past performance of our energy systems is no guarantee of future returns, yet we must understand the development of past energy systems. Carey’s research goals center on rigorous interpretations of the past to determine the most probable future energy pathways.
Carey is Research Scientist at The University of Texas at Austin and Assistant Director at the Energy Institute. He also has appointments with the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy within the Jackson School of Geosciences and the McCombs School of Business. He has both a B.S. with high honors and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He has published technical articles in the academic journals Environmental Science and Technology, Environmental Research Letters, Nature Geoscience, Energy Policy, Sustainability, and Ecology and Society. He has also written commentary for American Scientist and Earth magazines as well as major newspapers such as the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and Austin American-Statesman. Dr. King has several patents as former Director for Scientific Research of Uni-Pixel Displays, Inc.
Dale Klein
Professor; Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin; Former Commissioner of Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Panel: A Nuclear Carol: The Future of Nuclear via the Past and Present Perspectives of France, U.S., and Texas
Dr. Dale E. Klein rejoined The University of Texas at Austin in September of 2022, after serving eight and a half years as Presidential Appointee. Dr. Klein also served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for research at The University of Texas System from January 2011 through August 2022. Dr. Klein was sworn into the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2006, and was appointed Chairman by President George W. Bush, serving in that role from July 2006 to May 2009. As Chairman, Dr. Klein was the principal executive officer and official spokesman for the NRC, responsible for conducting the administrative, organizational, long-range planning, budgetary, and certain personnel functions of the agency. Additionally, he had the ultimate authority for all NRC functions pertaining to an emergency involving an NRC licensee. The remainder of this term was as Commissioner of the NRC from May 2009 to March 2010.
Before joining the NRC, Dr. Klein served as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. He was appointed to this position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2001. In this position, he served as the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology for all policy and planning matters related to nuclear weapons and nuclear, chemical, and biological defense.
Previously, Dr. Klein served as the Vice-Chancellor for Special Engineering Programs at The University of Texas System and as a Professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering (Nuclear Program) at The University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure at the university, Dr. Klein was Director of the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory, Deputy Director of the Center for Energy Studies, and Associate Dean for Research and Administration in the College of Engineering.
Honors and awards Dr. Klein has received include Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Nuclear Society, Engineer of the Year for the State of Texas, the University of Missouri Faculty-Alumni Award, and the University of Missouri Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Klein holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has published more than 100 technical papers and reports, and co-edited one book. He has made more than 400 presentations on energy and has written numerous technical editorials on energy issues that have been published in major newspapers throughout the United States.
In addition to his academic assignments, Dr. Klein serves on the Board of two publicly traded companies: the Southern Company and the Board of Pinnacle West/Arizona Public Service Company. He also serves on the Committee for Nuclear Power in the United Arab Emirates and chairs the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee for the Tokyo Electric Power Company following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Dr. Klein also serves on the Boards of two private companies: AVANTech and LATA (Los Alamos Technical Associates).
Brian Korgel
Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin; Rashid Engineering Regents Chair Professor, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; Director, Solar Powered Future 2050
HyVelocity: Rapidly Scaling Clean Hydrogen Supply and Demand in Texas and Beyond | Between Two Cacti presents The Case for Collaboration: Bridging the Gap Between Industry and Academia to Advance Energy Research | Between Two Cacti with Ira Ehrenpreis | Between Two Cacti with Luke Bassett
Brian A. Korgel is the Director of The University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute and the Rashid Engineering Regents Chair Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. He also directs the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for a Solar Powered Future (SPF2050), the Nanotechnologies area of the UT Austin Portugal Program at UT, and serves as Associate Editor of the journal Chemistry of Materials. He is a former Fulbright Fellow and has been Visiting Professor at the University of Alicante in Spain, the Université Josef Fourier in France, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Korgel received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in 1997 and was a post-doctoral fellow at University College Dublin, Ireland, in the Department of Chemistry. He has given more than 260 invited talks and published more than 280 papers. He is also an artist, exploring language and human/technology cohabitation.
Korgel has co-founded two companies, Innovalight and Piñon Technologies, and received various honors including the 2012 Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and election to Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Joselyn Lai
Co-Founder and CEO, Bedrock Energy
Startup Spotlight Talk
Joselyn Lai is co-founder and CEO of Bedrock Energy, a technology startup transforming the heating and cooling of buildings, using geothermal energy to radically reduce costs for people and the environment. By dramatically reducing the cost, space, and time requirements of constructing geothermal heat exchangers, and improving the confidence and creditworthiness of geothermal heat pump systems, Bedrock is unlocking geothermal HVAC as a scalable, investment-grade clean energy asset class that can be deployed widely in urban environments. With a team hailing from the top tiers of oilfield R&D and operations, Bedrock is also creating a pathway for high-quality domestic jobs in the energy transition.
Doug Lewin
Texas Energy and Power Newsletter
Panel: ERCOT Grid Resilience & Distributed Energy Resources
Doug Lewin authors the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter and hosts the Energy Capital Podcast. He is a nationally recognized energy expert, particularly in the electric grid, renewable energy, energy efficiency, demand response, utility regulation, and pollution reduction. Lewin founded Stoic Energy, a Texas consulting firm specializing in grid and energy issues, in 2018. Previously, he led government and regulatory affairs work for CLEAResult, an energy efficiency program implementer for over 250 utilities in 40 states and provinces. Prior to joining CLEAResult, Lewin was the founding Executive Director of the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER) and worked at the Texas Legislature for five years as a legislative aide, primarily on energy, environment, and climate issues for three different elected officials in the House and Senate.
Silviu Livescu
Co-Founder, CTO; Bedrock Energy
Got Heat? The Earth as a Versatile Energy Source
Dr. Silviu Livescu is co-founder and chief technology officer of Bedrock Energy, a geothermal technology company with the mission to transform the heating and cooling of buildings, to radically reduce costs for people and the environment. Previously, Livescu was a tenured professor of Geoenergy Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, pressure pumping chief scientist at Baker Hughes, and a research engineer at ExxonMobil, with extensive research, product development and technology deployment, multidisciplinary innovation, strategy, and intellectual property experience. Livescu earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware and transitioned into the energy industry while conducting postdoctoral research at Stanford University.
Clay L. Looney
Assistant Director of Utilities Operations, Utilities & Energy Management, The University of Texas at Austin
Campus Energy Tour
Clay Looney is the Assistant Director of Operations for UT Austin’s Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) department. With over 30 years of experience in plant operations management in the chemical and utility industries, Looney brings a wealth of expertise to his role at UEM.
Over the last 17 years, Looney has held various positions within UEM, including Energy Manager and Operations Manager. He is passionate about operational excellence, safety, reliability, efficiency, full engagement, and creating a work environment that allows broad participation and open communication.
In addition to his career tenure, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.
Looney’s current projects include improvement efforts to UEM’s safety programs, organizational structure, developmental opportunities, and efficiency. He is also a leader in the areas of safety, leadership, incident-free operations, business administration, organizational development, and team building.
Looney’s areas of expertise:
- Safety
- Leadership
- Incident-free Operations
- Business Administration
- Organizational Development
- Team Building
Ryan Macaluso
Manager, New Energies & Sustainability, Motiva Enterprises LLC
Fireside chat: Decarbonization Roadmapping: The Why/What/How
Ryan Macaluso leads efforts in carbon management and investments in new energies markets at Motiva, operator of the largest refinery in North America, in Port Arthur, Texas. He has 15 years of experience in refining, petrochemicals, consulting, and energy transition markets. His current role is to develop ways to assess, reduce, and manage Motiva’s emissions footprint; create investment strategies for the company in new energies markets; direct Motiva’s business development activities with Sustainability partners; and run project management on those Sustainability initiatives Motiva is progressing. Macaluso is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Matt McDaniel
Engineering Project Manager, Carbon Direct
Decarbonization Strategies: From Science to Practice
Matt McDaniel is a mechanical engineer by training who has spent over a decade successfully delivering innovative, well designed engineering facility projects in the chemicals manufacturing industry, in addition to optimizing processes for complex organizations and managing focused business portfolios. His background in business, coupled with extensive capital project experience, allows him to clearly communicate with clients and help them make crucial connections between macroeconomic market trends and developing physical assets. Matt’s passion lies in helping build successful teams with a focus on creating a strong culture, particularly with regards to sustainability and driving quality resolutions within carbon markets.
Danielle McLean
CEO, Founder, HYSKY Society
Panel: Low-Carbon Aviation Solutions: Is the Sky the Limit?
Danielle McLean is a pioneering engineer and entrepreneur at the forefront of hydrogen aviation. As the founder and CEO of HYSKY Society, a 501c3 nonprofit established in January 2023, she is dedicated to propelling the hydrogen aviation sector forward. McLean’s leadership in founding and chairing the H2eVTOL Council at the Vertical Flight Society, which later evolved into HYSKY Society, underscores her innovative spirit and commitment to sustainable aviation.
Before founding HYSKY, McLean made significant contributions to Spirit Aerosystems (SPR) as an engineer, where she led the eVTOL research team to groundbreaking achievements, earning the Innovation Award. Her transition from stress engineering to a hydrogen aviation evangelist reflects her deep expertise in aerospace engineering and her vision for a cleaner aviation future.
Blake Mendez
Board President, CleanCo Energie, Inc.
Sunshine, Wine, and Wool: Agrivoltaics in Texas’ Energy Transition
Blake Mendez helps farmers harvest the sun twice. He represents family vineyards and farms when hosting solar opportunities and organizes agrivoltaics project consulting resources. His project owner representative resources and talents serve family farms, community organizations, rural electric cooperatives, water districts, and city/county governments.
Elizabeth Monoian
Co-founder, Land Art Generator
Panel: Planet Texas 2050 presents Beautiful Energy: Public Art for Sustainable Cities
(See Robert Ferry & Elizabeth Monoian, above.)
Matthew Nemerson
Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Budderfly
Can Business Models Accelerate Sustainable Energy Transitions in the Commercial Sector Without the Need for Government & Utility Incentives or Feed in Tariffs? The Budderfly Case-Study
For the last five years, Matthew has been part of the team creating the Energy Efficiency commercial building outsourcing company Budderfly, handling roles such as strategy, marketing, client sector selection and sales targeting. For the past year he has led the company’s business transition from equipment upgrades based on new but conventional packaged HVAC RTU to replacements based on Air Source Heat Pumps.
Budderfly has grown to over $120M in annualized revenue with over 275 employees and is one of the fast-growing sustainability firms in the country, reaching number 10 on the 2021 Inc 5000 list. It is now part of the Founders Group private equity family of global businesses.
A graduate of Yale and Columbia, Matthew has had leadership positions in Government, technology start-ups, trade associations and real estate development. He lives with his professor wife in New Haven CT.
John Padalino
General Counsel, Chief Administrative Officer, Bandera Electric Cooperative
Panel: ERCOT Grid Resilience & Distributed Energy Resources
John Padalino is a public policy and utilities expert. He joined Bandera Electric Cooperative in 2019 as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer. In his role, Padalino represents the cooperative in all legal, legislative, and regulatory matters, including overseeing the corporate services division. He has significant experience in developing and managing renewable energy, distributed energy, energy efficiency, and energy analytics projects. In 2022, he was appointed to the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources ERCOT Pilot Project Task Force by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Padalino spent over six years working for the United States Department of Agriculture and served as the Administrator of the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service from 2012 to 2014. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Rutgers School of Law.
Alexis Pascaris
Agrivoltaics Researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sunshine, Wine, and Wool: Agrivoltaics in Texas’ Energy Transition
As an applied social scientist, Pascaris is interested in how the intersection of social dynamics and technological innovation shapes the energy transition. Her research portfolio centers on minimizing the social and environmental impacts of solar development through stakeholder engagement, cross-sector collaboration, and innovative energy-water-land nexus solutions.
Crystal Perkins
Senior Regional Advisor, U.S. Department of Energy
HyVelocity: Rapidly Scaling Clean Hydrogen Supply and Demand in Texas and Beyond
Crystal Kay Perkins is a Senior Regional Advisor, in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Perkins was most recently a strategy and fundraising consultant for progressive campaigns and organizations. She served as the South Central Regional Finance Director for Biden for President and the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Before joining the Biden campaign, she served as Executive Director of the Texas Democratic Party. She has experience in fundraising and management roles on all levels of government, federal, state and local. She previously held positions at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
She grew up on the south side of San Antonio, TX and graduated from Texas State University.
Jack Phillips
CEO and SVP of Engineering, MACH Transit
Getting a Head Start: Insights from Student Energy Startup Founders
Jack Phillips is the CEO & SVP of Engineering at MACH Transit, an Austin-based technology startup he co-founded in 2022 as a third-year mechanical engineer at UT Austin. MACH’s mission is to commercialize magnetic levitation technology to aid in the energy transition of transportation, the single largest CO2-emitting sector in the world. Phillips comes from a background in leading undergraduate student-research teams in the development of maglev vehicle systems, and he has also spoken on maglev technology at European Hyperloop Week 2022 and SXSW 2023.
Jeremy Pitts
Managing Director, Activate Houston
Getting a Head Start: Insights from Student Energy Startup Founders
Jeremy Pitts is the Managing Director of Activate Houston. Activate is a nonprofit organization that awards the most promising science entrepreneurs a two-year fellowship to transform their research and technology into products that can benefit society. Activate Houston represents Activate’s newest cohort, launching in 2024, seeking to build on the growing innovation ecosystem in Houston and throughout Texas focused on the energy transition as well as other impactful areas.
Pitts is a veteran of three previous startup companies in the energy space, spanning solar, industrial decarbonization, and traditional oil and gas. He successfully led the development of a new technology that could eliminate wellhead methane emissions in upstream oil and gas production and was sold to a leading oilfield services company. Pitts was also one of the founders of Greentown Labs, the nation’s largest climate tech incubator.
Pitts holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Caltech, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
jhana porter
Founder, CEO, frakktal
Startup Spotlight Talk
jhana porter is CEO of frakktal, Inc., a Houston, TX-based materials company developing polymers built from plant overages as an alternative to fossil-fuel-based feedstocks, specifically for the built environment. porter a has more than 20 years in the biotech industry with a focus on building processes and systems and matching technology with business needs. She was selected as a member of the IMPEL+ 2023 cohort, presented at the 2023 Peer Review of the Building Technologies Office (BTO) as well as the 2023 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Innovative Housing Showcase. frakktal is developing processes for the creation of polymers from plant overage streams, beginning with the built environment, where ~70% of PVC manufactured is utilized.
Jerry Price
Managing Director, Green Star BCS
Fireside chat: Decarbonization Roadmapping: The Why/What/How
Jerry Price is a Managing Director with 14 years of experience in technical advisory for the downstream energy business. He has expertise across refining, petrochemicals, renewable fuels, hydrogen, and power industries. His recent focus is on the energy transition, with multiple projects in green/blue hydrogen and derivatives, carbon management, decarbonization roadmapping, and renewable fuels. His client engagements include financial analysis for new and revamped investments, market competitiveness analysis, transactional due diligence, asset configuration, and commercial selection of technology and licensors.
Sahana Raj
Founder and CEO, Energy Umbrella
Getting a Head Start: Insights from Student Energy Startup Founders
Sahana Raj is a Business Honors and Management Information Systems sophomore at UT Austin. She is also founder and CEO of Energy Umbrella. After experiencing multiple power outages in India and seeing the disruptions to daily life for her family, she designed a solar energy system that delivers affordable, convenient, and reliable power to urban Indian families using a portable solar pod design. She and her team are now building out the product and moving toward patent filing.
Raj is passionate about the clean energy transition in developing nations and the importance of student founders for innovation. She’s also passionate about growing the presence of female founders on campus, particularly in underrepresented industries such as the energy sector. Through her work, Raj hopes that entrepreneurial ventures can bridge innovation and social impact to create a brighter and more inclusive future.
Malcolm Ross
Adjunct Faculty, Rice University and University of Texas at Austin; Board Member, Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance
Got Heat? The Earth as a Versatile Energy Source
Dr. Malcolm I. Ross is a geoscientist who is passionate about innovation. He is currently dedicated to advancing the field of geothermal energy to help mitigate the effects of climate change. He is widely known as the “Geothermal Evangelist” and the “Black Swan Detector.” Ross holds non-tenure faculty positions at both Rice University and the University of Texas. At these institutions, he teaches courses on Geothermal Energy and GIS. Additionally, he holds a board seat at the Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance, where he advocates for the advancement of geothermal energy in Texas.
Previously, Ross served as the Subject Matter Expert for Geothermal Energy while working for Shell’s New Energies Research & Technology Team. His primary focus was on pre-strategic opportunities in the New Energies space, particularly geothermal energy. During his time with the Shell GameChanger team, he discovered, funded, and mentored numerous startups, including those focused on geothermal topics. Ross also played a key role in leading the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE as a science advisor and judge.
Ross has earned degrees from Rice University (Ph.D.), the University of Texas (Master of Science), and Colgate University (Bachelor of Arts).
Kyle Simpson
Principal, KSE Holdings
Sunshine, Wine, and Wool: Agrivoltaics in Texas’ Energy Transition
Kyle Simpson creates opportunities and fosters research for the advancement of decarbonized energy technologies and systems. He has managed his own companies, held executive positions in government and large energy and construction companies, and led the energy and environment consulting practice in several law and policy firms. While serving at the U.S. Department of Energy as Associate Deputy Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Simpson developed and managed domestic and international energy policy, was responsible for the energy R&D programs, and oversaw the management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the four federal Power Marketing Administrations.
Simpson has helped to create and worked on major U.S. and international environment and energy initiatives for energy security; greenhouse gas emission abatement; enhancing resource and product value; minimizing the environmental impact of energy production and use; integrated systems of renewable and natural gas resources and technologies; and, making the production, delivery, and use of energy more socially responsible and efficient. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Permian Energy Development Laboratory, the Advisory Board of Project Canary, and the Advisory Board of the University of Texas’s Energy Institute. He teaches energy policy at the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma. Simpson is a graduate of Brown University and studied politics and history at Bath University in England.
Gaurav Sinha
Vice President, Green Hydrogen Origination, AES
HyVelocity: Rapidly Scaling Clean Hydrogen Supply and Demand in Texas and Beyond
Buzz Smith
Executive Director, Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance
Progress Toward Energy Independence: 50 Years Since the Oil Embargo
Richard D. “Buzz” Smith is the Executive Director of the Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance, or TxETRA. He is known as “The EV-angelist” and spends his time spreading the “good news” of electric vehicles, via public speaking, his YouTube channel, and his website. In 2012, Smith’s life was changed by a car accident. His car was totaled. Gasoline was expensive, so he leased a Chevy Volt. His wife got one 60 days later. He loved electric driving so much, he started a blog called, “My Electric Vehicle Journey.” A year later, his dealership hired him as a salesperson, focusing on plug-in vehicles. Over his six-year auto sales career (2013-2019), Smith was awarded with GM’s “Mark of Excellence” every year and was the No. 1 plug-in vehicle salesperson for the entire state of Texas, with 35% of his sales comprising plug-in vehicles.
Juliet Stipeche
Executive Director, Gulf Coast Workforce Board
When Community Engagement Works: Success Stories & Best Practices
Juliet is a native Houstonian who graduated as valedictorian of the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science, Policy Studies, and Religious Studies from Rice University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law. Her legal career focused on medical malpractice defense and civil litigation, culminating in her role as president of Nagorny & Stipeche, P.C. in 2007. She was elected to the Houston ISD Board in 2010 as the District VIII Trustee. In 2016, Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed her as Houston’s inaugural Director of Education, where she spearheaded initiatives for educational equity and was a key advisor during crises including Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Juliet transitioned to the Houston-Galveston Area Council as the Director of Human Services, overseeing Gulf Coast Workforce Solutions and the Area Agency on Aging. As the executive director of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board, she drives strategies to meet the region’s diverse employment and training needs, supporting economic development and workforce competitiveness in a service area encompassing thirteen counties and over 7.2 million residents.
Cindy Taff
CEO, Sage Geosystems
Got Heat? The Earth as a Versatile Energy Source
Cindy D. Taff has over 35 years of experience in the O&G industry, most recently serving as VP of Unconventional Wells & Logistics over Shell’s global operations. She led a team of over 350 Shell staff and 1,200 contractors across five countries, accountable for an annual spend of $1 billion to $1.2 billion. Today, Taff is the CEO of Sage Geosystems, a growing company based in Houston providing solutions for both energy storage and geothermal base production deep in the earth.
Ryan L. Thompson, PE
Director of Utilities Operations, Utilities & Energy Management, The University of Texas at Austin
Campus Energy Tour
Ryan Thompson is the Director of Utilities Operations for UT Austin’s Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) department. He has over 30 years of experience in power generation including combined-cycle generation systems, large chilling plant systems, district heating, and utility distribution systems.
Thompson has worked within UEM for 24 years, during which time he has served in a variety of roles, including Maintenance Mechanic, Project Manager, Maintenance Manager, and Associate Director of Power Plant and Chilling Stations. His career began after earning his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
Passionate about education, he is also an Adjunct Professor at Austin Community College, where he teaches courses in power generation and advanced technologies to prepare students for technical positioning in the utilities, manufacturing, and industrial workforce.
In addition to teaching, Thompson serves as a member of the Association of Energy Engineers, the International District Energy Association, and UT Austin’s Military/Veteran Faculty and Staff Association.
Thompson also has experience as a consultant and has conducted energy-use audits for companies in the retail and semiconductor industry. He has also consulted on predominant use studies of manufacturing facilities to assess Texas state utility tax implications.
He is currently working on projects including the Boiler Replacement Project, a district water reclamation system, the planning and design of a district heating and cooling infrastructure in developing a business school district, campus master planning for various building construction projects, critical risk assessments of infrastructure at various UT campuses, and much more.
Thompson’s areas of expertise:
- Campus and District Energy Master Planning
- Thermal and Fluid System Design and Analysis
- Project Planning and Management
- Generation and Distribution Asset Analysis
- Utility Specifications and Standards
- Infrastructure Risk Assessment and Resiliency Planning
Charlie Trivette
Business Venture Advisor, New Assets, ExxonMobil
HyVelocity: Rapidly Scaling Clean Hydrogen Supply and Demand in Texas and Beyond
Andy Uhler
Energy Journalism Fellow, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin | Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University
Energy’s Got an Image Problem: Why Does It Matter, and Can It Be Fixed?
Andy Uhler is an award-winning public radio correspondent and host. He’s currently a journalism fellow through a partnership between UT’s Energy Institute and Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. He started his journalism career as an undergraduate at KUT, the University of Texas at Austin NPR affiliate. He transitioned to music journalism in 2006, becoming the senior producer of Texas Music Matters. After completing a Master’s degree in global policy studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2014, he returned to KUT to help launch the Texas Standard. The following year, he took a job as a sustainability reporter at American Public Media’s Marketplace where he remained until accepting this fellowship.
Gail Vittori
LEED Fellow; Co-Director, Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
Panel: Rethinking Materials: Embodied Carbon & Beyond
Gail Vittori, LEED Fellow, Co-Director of Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, works at the intersection of sustainable design and human health. Since 1993, Vittori has coordinated the center’s Sustainable Design Program, spanning private and public sector projects nationally and internationally, and has been a catalyst for several national initiatives to green the health care sector and advance fundamental human health considerations in green building. She served on the U.S. Green Building Council and Green Business Certification Inc. board of directors, including as chair of both; is a Founding Member and Vice-Chair of the Health Product Declaration Collaborative Board; is on the Advisory Board of the UT Energy Institute; and is a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. In 2015, she received the Hanley Award for Vision and Leadership in Sustainability.
Jim Walker
Director of Sustainability, The University of Texas at Austin
Panel: Planet Texas 2050 presents Beautiful Energy: Public Art for Sustainable Cities
Jim Walker was appointed the Director of Sustainability for the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. He works closely with the President’s Sustainability Steering Committee on the UT Austin Sustainability Master Plan and is the university’s USGBC Liaison related to LEED and SITES on new capital projects. He works directly with all academic units on curriculum development, facilities improvements, and the pursuit of “living lab” experiences for students.
Walker has a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
He is originally from Oregon and accidentally moved to Austin, Texas, in 1992. He was introduced to sustainability at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems. He has a son and step-daughter.
Michael Webber
Professor and John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair in Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
Progress Toward Energy Independence: 50 Years Since the Oil Embargo
Dr. Michael E. Webber is the John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair in Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and CTO of Energy Impact Partners, a $3 billion cleantech venture fund. Webber’s expertise spans research and education at the convergence of engineering, policy, and commercialization on topics related to innovation, energy, and the environment. His book Power Trip: the Story of Energy was turned into an award-winning series now in its second season on PBS. Webber holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from UT Austin, and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
Ken Wisian
Associate Director, Environmental Division, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin
Got Heat? The Earth as a Versatile Energy Source
Dr. Ken Wisian, Ph.D., Major General USAF (retired), is responsible for coordinating environmental-related research. He came to the Bureau of Economic Geology from the Center for Space Research. Previously, Wisian was a senior state executive responsible for disaster recovery, oil spill prevention and response, and coastal infrastructure and environmental protection for Texas. As a military officer, General Wisian participated or lead military disaster-response efforts for the Shuttle Columbia crash and multiple hurricanes. Wisian is a geophysicist whose main research is in geothermal systems, modeling, and instrumentation and data analysis. Other current research includes autonomy/drones, applied gravity, planetary geology/space exploration, infrastructure resiliency and international relations.
Constance White
Airport Art + Music Manager, Austin International Airport
Panel: Planet Texas 2050 presents Beautiful Energy: Public Art for Sustainable Cities
Constance White is a nationally recognized public art management professional who has worked with both public and private organizations. She has served as an advisor, presenter and panelist for numerous organizations including: the American Association of Airport Executives, the Americans for the Arts, the Public Art Coalition of Southern California, DFW International Airport, the City of Chicago, and Montgomery County MD. Before moving to Austin to fill the role of Art in Public Places Program Manager, she contributed to the Arts + Health committee of the Dallas Business Council for the Arts while serving on the Board of Advisors of Inspire Art Dallas and the Dallas Arts District Council.
As of late January 2024, White has pivoted her focus to Austin International Airport, where she now holds the position of Airport Art + Music Manager. Her primary responsibility is to provide leadership for the airport’s arts programs (permanent art, exhibitions, and music). With initial priorities focused on establishing a strategic vision for planning, developing, and implementing the arts at AUS, the Airport Art + Music Manager role plays a key part in expanding community engagement and elevating the airport customer experience.
Jen Wong
Director, Materials Lab, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin
Panel: Rethinking Materials: Embodied Carbon & Beyond
Jen Wong is an architectural researcher, educator, and writer. Since 2013, she has served as Director of the Materials Lab at UT, where she conducts and supports material investigation in design, oversees multidisciplinary programming and education efforts, and curates an extensive collection of architectural materials and assemblies. Her research interests concern the role and impact of materials on built and natural environments from a systems standpoint, with a focus on low-impact, high-performance materials.
Justin Worland
Senior Correspondent, TIME
Energy Journalism Keynote Address
Justin Worland is a Senior Correspondent at TIME, where he writes about climate change and energy. For the last decade, his stories have explored how climate change—both its effects and the response to it—is reshaping the world around us. Worland has received a variety of awards for his journalism. In 2022, he was named the inaugural Climate Journalist of the Year by Covering Climate Now, a nonprofit founded to advance climate journalism. Worland serves as a founding board member at the Uproot Project, a nonprofit that works to diversify environmental journalism. He is the journalism fellow at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute. Worland graduated from Harvard College, where he studied history.
Tiffany Wu
Senior Project Manager, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute
Panel: ERCOT Grid Resilience & Distributed Energy Resources
Tiffany Wu is a senior project manager for the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI). Tiffany is dedicated to deploying distributed energy resources (DERs) in low-income communities to improve energy affordability and resiliency. She leads efforts in piloting virtual power plants (VPPs) for multifamily housing and community resiliency hubs. In her previous role, she was a Department of Energy Solar Energy Innovation Fellow and an advisor to Commissioner Will McAdams on DER policies at the Public Utility Commission of Texas. She helped create and manage the Aggregate Distributed Energy Resources (ADER) Task Force and pilot program and participated in policy discussions and actions related to DER operations, resiliency, and reliability in Texas. She spent 10 years developing and deploying carbon capture projects for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a process engineer, commissioning engineer, and a business development manager. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, a Master of Public Affairs, and a Master of Science in Energy and Earth Resources from The University of Texas at Austin. For her master’s research, she quantified diversity of generation resources for each state in the U.S. and interviewed experts on resiliency issues considered during ERCOT’s market restructure.
Haibin Xu
General Manager, Shell Research Alliance, Shell
Between Two Cacti presents The Case for Collaboration: Bridging the Gap Between Industry and Academia to Advance Energy Research
Haibin Xu is the General Manager of Shell Research Alliance, leading a global team in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, UK, China, India, and Singapore who oversee Shell’s technology collaboration with more than 100 Universities and energy-related governmental bodies globally.
Xu was previously the co-founder and founding director of GCxN, a global cleantech incubator as a partnership between Shell and the National Renewable Energy Lab. Xu has received national awards from the U.S. Federal Lab Consortium and from the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. He holds a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Stanford University in 2002.
Ezra Y. Yacob
Chief Executive Officer and Director, EOG Resources
Opening Keynote Address: Unconventional Approaches for Unconventional Times
Ezra Y. Yacob was named Chief Executive Officer of EOG Resources and appointed as a Director, effective October 2021. Yacob previously served as President from January 2021 through September 2021; Executive Vice President, Exploration and Production, from 2017 to 2021; Vice President and General Manager in Midland from 2014 to 2017; Division Exploration Manager in Midland from 2013 to 2014; and Division Exploration Manager in Fort Worth from 2012 to 2013. Prior to that, Yacob served in various geoscience and leadership positions. He joined the company in 2005 as a Geoscience Associate.
Before joining EOG, Yacob worked for the Minerals Division at the United States Geological Survey. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Puget Sound, a Master of Science degree in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines, and a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas at Tyler.
EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE: EOG) is one of the largest crude oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States with proved reserves in the United States, Trinidad, and China. EOG Resources, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is traded under the ticker symbol “EOG.”