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The Technology Showcase: AC Kinetics
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. In this photo, motor control company AC Kinetics, Inc. highlighted its next-generation motor control technology on the showcase floor.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: Tue, 02/26/2013 - 11:49
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The Technology Showcase: AC Kinetics
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. In this photo, motor control company AC Kinetics, Inc. highlighted its next-generation motor control technology on the showcase floor.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 11:49
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The Technology Showcase: AutoGrid
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. AutoGrid, a California-based energy start-up, aims to take two-way-communicating smart thermostats from different vendors and turn them into utility demand-response assets.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:06
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The Technology Showcase:
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. In this photo, Secretary Steven Chu visits Arkansas Power Electrics International, a company working on technology to make charging EVs faster and easier, helping to facilitate widespread use.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:16
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The Technology Showcase: Georgia Institute of Technology
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. In this photo, Secretary Steven Chu is chatting with representatives from the Georgia Institute of Technology about the Solar Vortex. The white and yellow turbine-like object on the table generates energy from hot, unstable air near the ground -- something that could help power air conditioners during peak hours in the summer.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:19
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The Technology Showcase:
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. The U.S. Marine Corps table featured a special vest with built-in solar cells, while the U.S. Army table highlighted a vest with a built-in fuel cell battery -- two ways to help efficiently power technology for American soldiers.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:38
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The Technology Showcase: Arizona State University
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. Grant recipients from Arizona State University demonstrated revolutionary technology that uses cyanobacteria to convert solar energy and carbon dioxide into feedstock for biofuels.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:45
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The Technology Showcase: Beacon Power
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. Beacon Power, Massachusetts, has been working to develop critical components of a highly advanced "flying ring" flywheel energy storage system.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:46
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The Technology Showcase:
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. Florida-based Teknatool USA focuses on building highly energy efficient and intelligent motors and generators.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:51
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The Technology Showcase: Transphorm
The Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit presents America's next generation of transformational energy technologies. Transphorm, from Goleta, CA develops transistors for electric motor drives, and is aiming to improve the efficiency of electric motor drives by up to 8 percent.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 12:52
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Fireside Chat
Secretary Steven Chu participated in a fireside chat with Elon Musk, CEO of Solar City and Tesla. The chat was moderated by Steve Clemmons.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 14:18
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Secretary Steven Chu
After the fireside chat with Elon Musk and Steve Clemons, Secretary Chu introduced a number of speakers, including Purdue University President Mitch Daniels and T. Boone Pickens.
Image: Sarah Gerrity, Energy Department
Date taken: 02/26/2013 - 14:58
National Harbor, Maryland
While nearly empty when everyone’s away at the education sessions, the Technology Showcase at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit buzzes with conversation during the lunch break and the nightly networking reception. The Showcase presents 250 of America’s next transformational energy technologies – some of them ARPA-E grantees, others a selective group of companies and organization.
The education portion happens in the mornings and afternoon providing attendees and exhibitors with insight on the future of the energy economy from industry leaders. During the lunch hour and the evening, the Summit is a valuable forum for conducting business and discussing collaboration among entrepreneurs, investors and other researchers.
The idea behind ARPA-E is to fund high-impact, high-potential energy research, but that’s only the first step on the road to full development of a technology. Investors need to pick up where ARPA-E leaves off for a product to make it to market. The Summit gets all these people into the same room.
Since 2009, 17 ARPA-E projects have attracted more than $450 million in private sector follow-on funding after ARPA-E’s initial investment of approximately $70 million. Already ARPA-E awardees have doubled theworld-record forenergy density in lithium-ion batteries, and developed a 1-megawatt transistor the size of a fingernail. Technical achievements like these are the type of transformational technology that excites researchers and business innovators alike – and there’s more innovation on the way.
To see the typical ARPA-E grantee, take a look at the OPEN 2012 projects -- an open call to America’s scientists and engineers for their big ideas. You’ll see that of the 66 projects selected for funding, 47 percent were led by universities, 29 percent by small business, 15 percent by large businesses, 7.5 percent by national labs and 1.5 percent by non-profits. With that recent announcement, ARPA-E’s portfolio includes 285 projects.
In the past two days of the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, keynote speakers and education session leaders talked a lot about how ARPA-E is “swinging for the fences.” To fully understand the term, ride the escalator down to the ground floor of the conference center to the Technology Showcase and you’ll see what they mean.
