Tech Innovation Accelerating the Energy Transition
Monday, November 3, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Join us for the official opening of the Duke University’s 10th Annual Energy Week! Hear current energy sector insights and future direction from Kellan Dickens, General Manager at GE Renewable Energy. The keynote speech will be followed by a panel discussion featuring some of the top investors, entrepreneurs and researchers driving innovation to advance clean energy progress!
Location: Penn Pavillion (107 Union Dr, Durham, NC 27710)
Food will be provided.
Keynote Speech: Defining the Next Decade of Energy Innovation
Kellan Dickens (B.S.E., 2007) leads product development at GE Vernova for the wind business across US, India & repower. In this position, Kellan leads a global team responsible for new product conceptualization & execution, including development of next generation turbines & digital services, and the integration of AI into manufacturing & operations. Kellan joined GE in 2012 and previously held leadership roles in engineering and supply chain management.
Prior to GE, Kellan worked with Booz Allen Hamilton and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory accelerating the adoption of renewables through the launch of the Commercial Building Energy Alliances. Kellan has a MBA from the University of North Carolina and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University with a Sustainable Energy Fellowship his senior year.
Panel Discussion
With growing interest in AI and data center development, the discussion around the energy transition has been shifting. In this event, we are looking to highlight the role that innovation plays in a) creating brand new solutions to the new challenges we face in the age of AI and b) how major players in the space can grease the wheels of the energy transition, ensuring new demand is met with reliable and clean supply. We’ll discuss how innovation can come from within large companies, as well as from startups and research facilities, and how to help new technologies pass the series of hurdles on the way to commercial viability.
Featured Panel Speakers:
Haroon Inam is a seasoned cleantech executive with 30+ years of experience across executive, engineering, and operations roles, including three successful exits. Prior to his role as CEO of DG Matrix, Haroon most recently served as Chief Technology Officer of Smart Wires Inc. since 2014, where he led a global team of ~240 engineers and achieved significant product, supply chain, and business development milestones, including helping raise $350 million in funding. In 2020, he received two World Economic Forum awards for innovation and pioneering technology. Prior to Smart Wires, Haroon held leadership positions at companies including Varentec, Cattron Group International, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, and more. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Duke University.
Patrick Raab is a business development and strategy leader at Google X, the company’s “moonshot factory,” where he drives commercialization efforts for breakthrough technologies that accelerate the energy transition. In his role as Market Initiatives Lead, Patrick spearheads strategic partnerships and go-to-market strategies to bring frontier innovations for the electric grid from concept to commercial reality.
Prior to joining Google, Patrick spent over four years with Macquarie Group, leading investment initiatives across energy and infrastructure technology. His work focused on building and acquiring tech-enabled energy solutions that advance sustainability and grid modernization. Patrick earned his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He also holds a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Sociology from Boston College.
Molly Ward is the Vice President of Sustainability at Divcon Controls, an international provider of building management and power monitoring systems for mission-critical facilities. Based in Dallas, she brings over 15 years of experience advancing clean energy and sustainability strategies across the private and public sectors.
Before joining Divcon, Molly spent seven years at Apple, leading clean energy and sustainability initiatives, and held senior roles in the White House and U.S. Department of State focused on energy and climate policy. She holds degrees from Harvard University and Duke University and is passionate about driving innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact of data centers and critical infrastructure.
Moderator: Chris Wedding is an Executive in Residence at the Fuqua School of Business, Nicholas School of the Environment, Department of Economics, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at Duke University. In addition, he is the CEO of Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI), the biggest climate tech CEO peer group in North America; podcast host and newsletter author at Climate CEOs; cofounder and board member of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at JLL Energy & Infrastructure Advisory (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (solid-state transformer in power electronics), Professor of the Practice at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, former environmental private equity investor, and former cleantech investment banker.
