Keynote Speakers

  • Kate Ringness

    Former Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the Department of Energy

  • Dr. Seth Darling

    Chief Science and Technology Officer at Argonne National Laboratory

  • Jen Zhao

    Chief Operating Officer – Investment Banking – at Marathon Capital

Panel 1: The Future of Clean Hydrogen

  • Rodrigo Sanchez

    U.S. Hydrogen Chief of Staff at Deloitte

  • Akshay Thakur

    Chief Executive Officer of Blackcurrant Inc.

  • Fabrice Bonvoisin

    Chief Executive Officer at H2 Power

  • Dr. Julia Lane

    Assistant Vice President For Science at the University of Chicago

Panel 2: Critical Materials & Supply Chains

  • Dr. Braeton Smith

    Principal Energy Economist at Argonne National Laboratory

  • Batchimeg Ganbaatar

    Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Nomadic Venture Partners

  • Dr. Jennifer Dunn

    Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University

  • Ian Wiese

    Founder, President, & CTO at Metcovery

Panel 3: Nuclear Present & Future: Fission & Fusion

  • Dr. Kathryn Huff

    Former Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy

  • Mark Nelson

    Managing Director and Founder of Radiant Energy Group

  • Dr. Sami Syed

    Business Development Manager at Enercon Services

  • Dr. Vivian Lee

    Head of Department (In-Vessel Consumables) at Tokamak Energy

  • Dr. Juan Collar

    Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago and The Enrico Fermi Institute

Panel 4: Energy Transition in the Global South

  • Hong Zhang Durandal

    Head of Business Development at RioNadi Energy and Co-Founder of Energy Hunters

  • Kaushik Deb

    UChicago Energy Policy Institute India Executive Director

  • Reine Rambert

    Senior Manager of U.S Relations and Corporate Impact at Invenergy

  • Amir Rajani

    Harris MPP' 25 Candidate

Panel 5: Decarbonizing The Built Environment

  • Steph O'Connor

    City of Chicago Department of Housing Project Manager

  • Sam Assefa

    California Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation Director

  • Michael Thuis

    Midwest Regional Director at The Carbon League

  • Dr. Ashish Sharma

     Climate and Urban Sustainability Lead at the Discovery Partners Institute

Panel 6: Grid Reliability: Infrastracture & Policy

  • Daniel J. Foley

    Manager at Grid Reformation, Former Innovation Leader at Cordelio Power, Former CEO of Glidepath Power Solutions, & Former CEO of ACCIONA North America

  • Ann McCabe

    Illinois Commerce Commission Commissioner, PJM Board Member

  • Jordan Berman-Cutler

    Director of Government Affairs at Invenergy

  • John Birge

    Hobart W. Williams Distinguished Service Professor of Operations Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Panel 7: Financing The Energy Transition

  • Veronica Hume

    Project M&A Senior Manager at RWE Clean Energy, WRISE Chicago President

  • Drew Harwood

    Director of Finance at Hectate Grid

  • Lisa Wright

    Director at Marathon Capital

  • Jacqueline Kerns

    Deputy Director of Alternative Investments at Illinois State Treasurer

  • Sumedh Wargantiwar

    Booth MBA’ 26 Candidate

Panel 8: Electric Vehicles: Decarbonizing Transportation

  • Brian Tolliver

    Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Banyon Power Co.

  • John Katsoudas

    Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Influit Energy

  • Jack Cruikshank

    Electric Vehicle Policy Advisor at the Illinois EPA

  • Chhavi Dhingra

    Senior Manager at WSB