• Concept
• Registration

Please come back again as keynote speakers, panelists and moderators are announced!

Final agenda:

Day 1- April 21, 2011

8:00

Open for Registration & Breakfast

9:00

Welcome:
Dr. Stephen R. Forrest, Vice President for Research, University of Michigan

Opening Keynote:

Dr. Henry Kelly, Acting Assistant Secretary for EERE

Introduction by Rosina M. Bierbaum, Ph.D., Dean, School of Natural Resources & Environment and Member of President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

9:45 FINANCE

Panel 1: Venture Capital & Concepts for Alternative Financing

Michigan, like other states, is experiencing declining revenues with little prospect of new discretionary spending to support entrepreneurial activity and investments in new sectors like clean energy technology. Direct federal support having been instrumental in leveraging new investment, may decline with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act winding down. How do we secure access to capital to support and nourish diversification efforts? Can we design new financial tools that provide stable, long-term, low-cost financing for clean energy technologies and projects, lowering the cost of development and deployment? What are the ways of concentrating existing financial resources and tax incentives on the most promising, competitive, highly innovative, and cost effective business opportunities?

Moderator: Tom Henderson, Crains Detroit Business

Panelists:

1. David Danielson, Program Director, ARPA-E
2. Christopher L. Rizik, Chief Executive Officer and Fund Manager, the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund
3. Jeff Bocan, Beringea Capital
4. Ryan Waddington, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Huron River Ventures

11:00 Introduction to Innovation in Technology and Manufacturing by Leo Christodoulou, Program Manager for EERE’s Industrial Technology Program

11:05 BREAK

11:15 INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY & MANUFACTURING – PART 1

Panel 2: Energy Efficiency: Enhancing Productivity and Competitiveness

Energy efficiency reduces energy demand and the need for new energy generation while stabilizing energy prices by limiting price volatility. For industry, energy efficiency reduces the cost of production, ultimately increasing economic competitiveness, and has the added benefit of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. With all these benefits, what are the barriers preventing greater energy efficiency penetration? How can energy efficiency financing mechanisms be improved to accelerate implementation of energy efficiency measures? What strategies facilitate consensus-building to promote adoption of higher energy optimization standards?

Moderator: Martin Kushler, Senior Fellow, ACEEE

Panelists:

1. Ken Ostrowski, Director, McKinsey & Company
2. Mr. Scott Hibbard, VP of Engineering and Product Management, BoschRexroth
3. Trevor Lauer, VP Marketing & Renewables, Energy Optimization, DTE Energy
4. Seth Roberts, Director of Energy and Climate Change Policy, Dow Chemical Company

12:30   NETWORKING LUNCH

Visit with attendees, including representatives from such government agencies as:

U.S. Economic Development Agency

Environmental Protection Agency – E3 Initiative

Barbara A. Cunningham, Deputy Office Director for Management and Pollution Prevention for the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics

National Institute of Standards and Technology

U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Kerry Duggan, Senior Advisor to the (acting) Assistant Secretary

2:00 INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY & MANUFACTURING – PART 2

Panel 3: Clean Energy Manufacturing: Michigan’s Opportunity for Re-Industrialization?

Michigan’s clean energy manufacturing sectors – wind, solar and advanced energy storage systems – are investing $10 billion for new production infrastructure in Michigan. Clean energy manufacturing aligns optimally with Michigan’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, robotics, engineering and materials science and is well supported by our research universities and workforce development programs. How big are the opportunities from the industry perspective? What strategies would enable Michigan to take greater advantage of these opportunities? What role can government play to support these sectors, particularly during times of fiscal constraint?

Moderator: Skip Pruss, ERAC member and Partner, 5 Lakes Energy, LLC

Panelists:

1. Jeff Metts, President, Dowding Industries, Inc.
2. Steve Busch, Energetx Composites
3. Fred Keller, Cascade Engineering
4. Gregory Bausch, Solar Product Market Manager, Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation & Hemlock Semiconductor, L.L.C.

3:15 BREAK

3:45 JOBS

Panel 4: Where the jobs are: Supply Chain

The depth and sophistication of Michigan’s industrial support industries provide unique opportunities to diversify into clean energy manufacturing and technology opportunities. Our supply chain is linked to more than 300 research and development laboratories, integrating superb R & D and engineering capacities with strong industry strategic partnerships and well- established logistics and business processes. How can Michigan leverage this unique capacity to our competitive advantage? How can we create and accelerate opportunities for our supply chain businesses to diversify into clean energy manufacturing? What are the best models of innovation that solve intellectual property questions, facilitate knowledge spillover, forge collaborations and bring new products and technologies to market?

Moderator: Ron Dzwonkowski, Associate Editor, Detroit Free Press

Panelists:

1. Dan Radomski, Co-Founder Kinetik Partners
2. Parthiv Amin, President, Community Wind, Northern Power
3. Steve Vielmetti, VP of Strategic Value Chain, Johnson Controls
4. Les Alexander, General Manager, A123 Systems

5:00 Adjourn

Day 2- April 22, 2011

8:30

Open for Registration & Breakfast

9:00 COMMERCIALIZATION

Panel 5: Accelerating Commercialization

Michigan is now first among states in the number of clean energy patents. We have supporting institutions like Ann Arbor SPARK, The Right Place, Saginaw Future, Next Energy and the University Research Corridor providing access to capital, startup and business acceleration assistance, and market and technology trend analyses. How do we leverage intellectual property, drive catalytic cross collaborations, and strengthen business management processes that bring innovative technologies, products and services to market faster?

Moderator: Thomas P. Lyon, Director, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise

Panelists:

1. Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK
2. Kenneth J. Nisbet, Executive Director, U-M University Tech Transfer
3. James R. Baker, Director, Technology and Economic Development, Michigan Technological University
4. Jim Saber, VP of Business Development, NextEnergy

10:15 BREAK

10:30 POLICY

Panel 6: The Role of Government – Forging Alliances, Setting Policy, and Building a Statewide Innovation Ecosystem

What are the best models to spur innovation and optimize the effective and efficient development of new technologies, products and services for state, national and international markets? How do aggregate and optimize our in-state and regional assets and our locational advantages and strengths in advanced manufacturing, engineering, the biosciences and materials science so that our capacity for innovation is maximized and we optimize competitive advantages? How do we concentrate these assets and create dynamic collaborations between industry partners, inter-disciplinary engagements with academia, and partnerships with government that create new opportunities and accelerate diversification and job creation efforts?

Moderator: Jack Lessenberry, professor of journalism, Wayne State University; senior political analyst, Michigan Radio.

Panelists:

1. Mike Finney, MEDC
2. Dennis Alvord, Executive Director CommerceConnect, U.S. Department of Commerce
3. Chris Brown, COO, City of Detroit
4. Jason Miller, Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy, U.S. White House

12:00   LUNCH

Introduction by Dr. Dennis Assanis, Director, Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and member of the PCAST Energy Technologies Innovation System Working Group

Lunch Keynote: Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan

1:00 Wrap up:

Dr. Dennis Assanis, Director, Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and member of the PCAST Energy Technologies Innovation System Working Group

• What did we hear?
• Connections needed to strengthen this ecosystem?
• How will Michigan sustain positive growth from federal and state investments?
• Where are the gaps?

1:30 Adjourn