Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference to Explore Smart Grid
10/26/2009
Energy experts in industry, government, and venture capital will discuss the state of "smart grid" technology on Nov. 13 as part of the fourth installment of the Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference Series.
The conference, titled "Smart Grid: Vision, Opportunity, and Effectiveness," will run from noon to 7:00 p.m. in SRI Auditorium in Menlo Park. Smart grid refers to an electric power system that uses high technology, such as advanced metering, to deliver energy more efficiently and more cleanly, thus reducing emissions.
The event will feature a keynote speech by Andrew Tang, senior director of PG&E's smart energy web division.
The Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference also will address a number of questions related to the smart grid: What is the smart grid today and where is it going? How can innovators make the most of smart grid opportunities? What policies will enable the smart grid and what are the constraints in the system?
Confirmed panelists include executives from Pacific Gas and Electric, Trilliant, Cisco Systems; government officials from the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission; and at least one venture capitalist, from Accel Partners.
"This series of conferences pools the resources of two world-class universities to address one of the pressing issues of our time: the rising energy challenge. This particular area focuses on the potential of a smart grid to address the energy challenge,” says David Schoenberg, MBA 10. “While there may be an athletic rivalry between the two institutions, we are blessed to have UC Berkeley and Stanford in such close geographic proximity so that together we can address such important topics as energy."
In fact, the collaborative spirit and positive energy of the conference has encouraged a student from UCLA's Anderson School of Management, Hrishikesh Sathawane, to join the core team of organizers and further increase the collaboration.
The conference is made possible through the Stanford University Energy Crossroads and sponsorship from the Electric Power Research Institute and the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program. The conference series is a student-led effort founded in 2007 to bring together students at the engineering, business, and policy schools at UC Berkeley and Stanford as well as key members of the academia, policy, and business community in the Bay Area and beyond.
For more information about the conference, including registration details, visit the Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference Series website.
