I didn’t make it to the first ARPA-E Innovation Summit held this past March, but I wish I had. From the reports from the inaugural summit and showcase, it sounded like it was the place to be in regard to seeing where (technology- and management-wise) the DOE and the venture capital crowd was starting to place their bets, and, by the way, see some of the best in energy science. (FYI, the daylong “showcase” — part expo, part science fair for adults — features companies/project that ARPA-E funded, plus other ones that caught the agency’s eye but missed out on funding.)
Hopefully, I will be at the 2011 event, the details of which were just announced by DOE this afternoon. The Summit/Showcase will be held Feb. 28 – March 2, 2011, at the Gaylord Convention Center, located in Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. DOE says the showcase will have over 100 exhibitors.
Besides ARPA-E, the Summit/Showcase will be hosted by the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization. The National Venture Capital Association and the Kauffman Foundation are also involved.
Also, like before, ARPA-E has scheduled a pre-conference workshop, “to provide insight into new program areas and to allow participants to collaborate on solutions to energy challenges.”
DOE Secretary Steven Chu and ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar so far are the only announced speakers, but expect more. Last year, the big name speakers included Jeffrey Immelt (GE), Desh Deshpande (Sycamore Networks), Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures) and James Woolsey (CIA, Vantage Point Venture Partners).