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RAHM EMANUEL

United States Ambassador to Japan

Presentation Date:
Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Presentation Time:
9:45 AM – 10:45 AM

Rahm Emanuel was confirmed in a bipartisan vote as the 31st United States Ambassador to Japan on December 18, 2021. Previously, Ambassador Emanuel was the 55th Mayor of the City of Chicago, where he made it a priority to bring global companies to the city, helping Chicago to lead the U.S. in corporate relocations and foreign direct investment for seven consecutive years. Prior to becoming Mayor, Ambassador Emanuel served as President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff. Ambassador Emanuel was also elected four times as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’s 5th Congressional District (2002-2008). From 1993 to 1998, Ambassador Emanuel was a key member of President Bill Clinton’s administration, rising to serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Politics.

Justin Tuomi

Rural Assistance Manager

Alaska Energy Authority

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
11:05 AM – 12:05 PM

Presentation Title:
Training and Technical Assistance to Grow Capacity and Improve Utility Performance

Justin Tuomi joined the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) in 2012, and has been the Rural Assistance Manager since 2021. In this role, Tuomi leads the Circuit Riders and Rural Electric Utility Workers who train and provide technical assistance to rural power plant and bulk fuel operators. This ensures that energy infrastructure lasts its full economic life, preventing catastrophic electrical emergencies, and building self-sufficiency.

Previously, Tuomi served as a Rural Electric Utility Worker for AEA, where he was responsible for constructing new rural power plants, providing technical assistance, and advising and performing routine maintenance and operations and minor repairs on rural energy infrastructure.

Prior to joining AEA, Tuomi worked as a welder on a team of construction workers to build rural power plants in remote communities throughout Alaska.

Erin Trochim

Assistant Research Professor

ACEP / UAF

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
11:05 AM – 12:05 PM

Presentation Title:
Training and Technical Assistance to Grow Capacity and Improve Utility Performance

Erin is a geospatial data scientist with a strong interest in decision making focused on energy and northern applications. Trochim earned a Ph.D. in remote sensing and hydrology from UAF, supported by a NASA Earth and Space Science graduate fellowship. Her postdoctoral experience included producing permafrost information for policy application through the NSF SEARCH program with the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center. Present energy-related projects include the Railbelt Decarbonization study, the Arctic Energy Atlas, and creating environmental data for marine and hydrokinetic applications.

Dan Smith

General Engineer – Alaska

U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Indian Energy

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
1:50 PM – 2:50 PM

Presentation Title:
Prioritization and Preparation: The Role of Data

Dan Smith serves the Office of Indian Energy as a technical expert supporting the technical assistance program and administering financial assistance awards to Alaska Native entities. He has led his career focused on improving the quality of life through infrastructure development, particularly energy systems.

Chris McConnell

Director Alaska Network of Energy Education and Employment Organization

Renewable Energy Alaska Project

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
11:05 AM – 12:05 PM

Presentation Title:
Training and Technical Assistance to Grow Capacity and Improve Utility Performance

Chris McConnell works to maximize energy literacy and training opportunities at the K-12, vocational, and University levels so that Alaskans can more easily identify and embark on career pathways in the energy sector.

Michael Lammert

Senior Commercial Vehicle Technologies Engineer Organization

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
1:50 PM – 2:50 PM

Presentation Title:
Decarbonizing Marine Shipping

Mike Lammert is a Senior Commercial Vehicle Technologies Engineer in the Advanced Vehicles & Charging Infrastructure Group within the Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He investigates a variety of topics related to current and future technologies to reduce energy consumption and emissions in commercial vehicles with a focus on electrification and connected and automated vehicle technologies. Author/coauthor of over a twenty journal articles and technical papers on results of advanced vehicle technology studies. Mike received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Dayton. He worked in the truck and automotive industry for a decade at Cummins Inc, Sturman Industries and PACCAR Inc before joining NREL in 2007.

KIP TOM

Former U.S. Ambassador

United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture

Presentation Date:
Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Presentation Time:
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM

An agribusiness leader who transformed a seventh-generation farm into a scaled commodity and value added businesses in the midwestern United States while launching international operations and deploying new technologies. Kip is recognized by multinational businesses, financial firms, humanitarian organizations and national press as an individual who can explain global agribusiness trends to farmers and corporate board members. So as a family farmer, serving as the US Ambassador in Rome has been a privilege to bring the realities of production agriculture and food systems to the multilateral policy arena. While the slow pace of reaching consensus can be frustrating, the past year has seen the Rome-based UN Agencies effectively act at lightning speed in responding to the global pandemic, reforming themselves to improve governance and resource stewardship, and positioning themselves to be more agile and prepared for future challenges.

DANIEL YERGIN

Vice Chairman

S&P Global

Presentation Date:
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Presentation Time:
12:15 PM – 1:45 PM

Daniel Yergin is a respected authority on energy, international politics, and economics, and a Pulitzer Prize winner. He is Vice Chairman of S&P Global, and is chairman of S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference, which CNBC has called “the Super Bowl of energy”. Dr. Yergin’s book The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations is described by NPR as “a master class on how the world works.” He is the author of the bestseller The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. Dr. Yergin’s book The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, was a number one New York Times bestseller, and has been translated into 20 languages.

Alexander Lavin

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Pasteur Labs & Inst for Simulation Intelligence

Presentation Date:
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Presentation Time:
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM

Presentation Title:
AI and its Role in the Energy Transition

Alexander Lavin is a leading expert in AI for engineering physics and scientific computing. He is the Founder of Pasteur Labs (and non-profit “sister” Institute for Simulation Intelligence), reshaping industrial R&D with novel AI-driven simulators, commercializing in “energy security” — see simulation.science. He is also an AI Advisor for NASA, overseeing physics-ML efforts on the NASA & ESA Digital Twin Earth initiative. Previously, Lavin focused on artificial general intelligence research with top startups in neuroscience and robotics, namely Vicarious, Numenta, and Latent Sciences (his own that was acquired in 2020). Before working in AI, Lavin was a spacecraft engineer, developing state-of-art optimization algorithms for NASA and Blue Origin, and winning several int’l awards for his work in rocket science and space robotics (including the Google Lunar Xprize). Lavin was a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Science, and a Patrick J. McGovern Tech for Humanity Changemaker.

Ben Loeffler

PMEC Co-Director

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Presentation Date:
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Presentation Time:
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM

Presentation Title:
Rising Tide

Ben Loeffler is a research professional with ACEP. He leads its marine energy research group and is a co-director for the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC). His primary efforts include mechanical engineering and project management for research projects at the Tanana River Test Site in Nenana.

Levi Kilcher

Senior Scientist

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presentation Date:
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Presentation Time:
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM

Presentation Title:
Rising Tide

Dr. Kilcher leads Marine Energy resource characterization at NREL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office. He is an expert in tidal processes, ocean turbulence, and surface waves. He is a contributing author to International Electrotechnical Commission standards for resource assessment and power performance. He has supported several rural Alaskan communities in identifying renewable energy options appropriate to their environment. Born and raised in Cook Inlet, Alaska, he has a strong personal connection to the ocean, and pragmatic understanding of the opportunities and inherent challenges of marine energy. He is passionate about identifying local renewable energy options that meet the cultural, environmental, and economic needs of communities of all scales.

Ashwin Jadhav

Vice President, Business Development

Twelve

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
11:05 AM – 12:05 PM

Presentation Title:
Decarbonizing Aviation

As Vice President of Business Development at Twelve, Ashwin is responsible for the sales, commercial strategy and customer acquisition of the sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) domain. He joined Twelve from Pratt and Whitney (P&W), a division of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX; Fortune 50), where he led the Commercial Strategy and Strategic Planning departments. Before that, he spent three years with Bombardier leading the strategy and forecasting role for the Q400, CRJ Series and C Series (now Airbus A220) aircraft. Prior to that, he worked with IATA, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in Airline Consulting, Flight Operations and Air Traffic Management. Ashwin has an Executive Leadership degree from Thayer Leadership in the West Point Military Academy, USA. He holds a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an undergraduate degree from St. Petersburg University in Russia.

Chris Gearhart

Center Director

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presentation Date:
Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Presentation Time:
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Presentation Title:
Decarbonizing Ground Transportation

Chris Gearhart was appointed director of CIMS after joining NREL as director of the Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center in late 2012. In more than 16 years with Ford Motor Company, Gearhart led research and development teams in that company’s Fuel Cell System, Stack, and Hydrogen Storage division as well as playing pivotal roles in product development, safety research, and quality assurance programs. Gearhart has also served on the faculty of Michigan State University and the School for Renewable Energy Science in Akureyri, Iceland. He holds doctorate and master’s degrees in physics from Washington University in St. Louis, and a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from Drake University.

The 2023 conference is proudly sponsored by:

Stay Up-to-Date with Event Announcements and Details

RAHM EMANUEL

United States Ambassador to Japan

Justin Tuomi

Rural Assistance Manager

Erin Trochim

Assistant Research Professor

Dan Smith

General Engineer – Alaska

Chris McConnell

Director Alaska Network of Energy Education and Employment Organization

Michael Lammert

Senior Commercial Vehicle Technologies Engineer Organization

KIP TOM

Former U.S. Ambassador

DANIEL YERGIN

Vice Chairman

Alexander Lavin

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Ben Loeffler

PMEC Co-Director

Levi Kilcher

Senior Scientist

Ashwin Jadhav

Vice President, Business Development

Chris Gearhart

Center Director