Energy Innovation Virtual Tour: Low-Carbon Solutions for Increased Reliability

David Hochschild was appointed Chair of the California Energy Commission by Governor Gavin Newsom in February 2019. He fills the environmental position on the five-member Commission where four of the five members are required by law to have professional training in specific areas - engineering or physical science, environmental protection, economics, and law. 

Chair Hochschild's career has spanned public service, environmental advocacy, and the private sector. He first got involved in the solar energy field in 2001 in San Francisco as a special assistant to Mayor Willie Brown where Chair Hochschild launched a citywide $100 million initiative to put solar panels on public buildings. He also cofounded the Vote Solar Initiative, a 60,000-member advocacy organization promoting solar policies at the local, state, and federal levels. He was executive director of a national consortium of leading solar manufacturers and worked for five years at Solaria, a solar company in Silicon Valley. From 2007 to 2008, he served as a commissioner at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. 

For his work to advance clean energy, Chair Hochschild was awarded the Sierra Club's Trailblazer Award, the American Lung Association's Clean Air Hero Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Million Solar Roof True Champion Award. Chair Hochschild holds a bachelor of arts from Swarthmore College and a master of public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. 

Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Gunda in February 2021 to serve as the Energy Commission’s public member. Gunda was later appointed to Vice Chair in September 2021. He is the lead commissioner on energy assessments.

Gunda served as manager of the Demand Analysis Office and deputy director for the Energy Commission’s Energy Assessments Division. The division forecasts and assesses energy demands and supplies. Before joining the Energy Commission, he served in a variety of capacities at the Energy Efficiency Institute at the University of California, Davis, including as the director of research, where he directed the institute’s operations and research portfolio.

He holds a master of science in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from Utah State University. Gunda is pursuing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from UC Davis. He is a serious cricket fan and former captain of his college team. He lives with his family in Davis.

In April 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Patty Monahan to be one of the five commissioners on the California Energy Commission. She serves in the Energy Commission’s Science/Engineering position and is the lead commissioner on transportation. She has dedicated her career toward advancing clean energy technologies and cutting harmful pollution, with a focus on equity. Before joining the Energy Commission, she served as the transportation program director at the Energy Foundation, where she guided campaigns across the United States that advanced electric transportation and more efficient vehicles. She worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists in several roles, including director of the California office and deputy director of clean vehicles. She also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and several energy-related consulting firms.

Commissioner Monahan received a bachelor of science degree from UC Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in energy analysis and policy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Upon graduation from Princeton University with a BSE in chemical engineering, Marty joined a General Electric, Management Training Program and over his 20+ year career at GE rose to become one of the top Global Operating Managers in the Engineered Materials Businesses including P&L leadership roles in Canada and Hong Kong. 

In San Diego, Marty Turock has established a sustainability consulting practice including Cleantech San Diego, SDG&E, and a number of high tech and cleantech startup companies as his primary clients. Marty is the Leader of the San Diego Regional K-12 Schools Sustainability Collaborative which earned an SDG&E 2018 Energy Showcase Champion award for implementing energy efficiency and clean energy projects across San Diego’s 42 school districts that are saving > 50 million kWh per year and reducing our school’s utility budgets by $11 million per year while creating a healthier learning environment.

Marty is currently the Executive Director of Cleantech San Diego’s Southern California Energy Innovation Network. This CEC EPIC-funded energy start-up accelerator is helping entrepreneurs across San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties accelerate commercial traction for their breakthrough energy innovations that will enable California to meet its state energy and GHG emissions goals, while creating a clean energy economy for all Californians. Through the first 5 years of this program, portfolio companies have raised over $160 million in follow-on capital.

Mayte Sanchez is the Director of Energy at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, where she manages and develops energy initiatives that support the region’s clean energy entrepreneur ecosystem. Prior to LACI, Mayte worked as the Senior State Affairs Liaison at the California Independent System Operator, advancing initiatives that supported California’s clean electric grid transition. Mayte began her work in energy serving as a Legislative Aide for the California State Assembly, where she led a coalition that passed the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing Program. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College.

Adib is founder and CEO of XENDEE.  He is the inventor of real-time power analytics for mission critical electrical power distribution networks. Previously, Adib was co-founder, and president at Power Analytics Inc. He has worked with renowned organizations in computer applications in power and energy, including the design, and development, of the predictive energy management system for the National Airspace System (NAS) critical infrastructure for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Adib is a senior IEEE member, co-teaches the Microgrid planning and economic optimization course at UC San Diego (CSE-41291), is a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Energy Research at University of California, San Diego Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and the Advisory Board for the Power System Engineering Certificate program at UC San Diego Extensions, and holds 26 U.S. and international patents in the areas of electrical power system design, optimization, and capacity assessment. He has a BA from Michigan State University, studied finance and accounting at Stanford University GSB, and has an MBA from Pepperdine University GSBM.

Brett Simon is a senior analyst at Eos Energy Enterprises where he leads strategy, market analysis, and lead generation for the commercial team. Prior to Eos, Brett worked for over 5 years at GTM Research/Wood Mackenzie where he covered the U.S. behind-the-meter storage market. While at GTM/WM, Brett project managed the company’s quarterly U.S. storage report, the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor. He has been quoted in a variety of outlets including Greentech Media, Utility Dive, Investing News Network, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. Brett holds a Master of Science in Sustainable Systems from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors’ degree in Mathematics and Environmental Studies from NYU.

Cliff Staton is a government affairs and communications executive with extensive experience at the federal, state and local level. He joined OhmConnect in 2020 and manages the company's government affairs and community relations activities, including representing OhmConnect before the California legislature, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Staton previously managed government affairs for Renew Financial, where he led efforts to expand adoption of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), and helped gain passage of numerous PACE laws in California.  Earlier in his career, Staton spent 20 years as founding partner with the political strategy and media relations consulting firm of Staton & Hughes.

Folasade is Co-Founder of ElectricFish Energy Inc., an energy storage company with a mission to drive equity, accessibility and most of all, resilience in the clean energy transition. ElectricFish uses their patented technology to provide grid resilience with and network of distributed energy storage capable of supplying EV ultrafast charging. The ElectricFish pack is intelligently sited to make charging easily accessible to the average user on-the-go while providing electric grid resilience to locations that are most vulnerable. 

Folasade leads Policy Strategy and Impact at ElecricFish, driving the maximization of their community as well as decarbonization impact, and adaptation of product and strategy to the newly developing policy landscape and market. She is also a Ph.D. researcher focused on the deep decarbonization of large-scale energy systems, exploring low-carbon transition pathway alternatives for oil-dependent countries, specifically Nigeria.

Folasade is also Ph.D. candidate in Energy Resources Engineering (ERE) at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, where her research is focused on the deep decarbonization of large-scale energy systems, particularly in the Global South. She holds her MS in Energy Resources Engineering from Stanford, and BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Jason Anderson is President and CEO of Cleantech San Diego, a business organization that positions the greater San Diego region as a global leader in the cleantech economy. Cleantech San Diego’s members include more than 120 businesses, universities, governments, and nonprofits committed to advancing sustainable solutions for the benefit of the economy, the environment and all members of the community. 

Before joining Cleantech San Diego in 2010, Anderson was Vice President of Business Development for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Prior to joining EDC, Anderson lived in Austin, Texas, where he worked in the State Capitol as Legislative Director for Texas State Senator Frank Madla. 

Anderson holds a degree in Corporate Communications from the University of Texas in Austin. 

Anderson serves on the boards of the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition, CONNECT, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization. In 2021, Anderson was named by the San Diego Business Journal as one of San Diego’s LGBTQ+ Leaders of Influence. 

Jon is responsible for CBI’s daily operations and is a passionate steward of all clean energy. He has 30 years of experience managing multiple, large construction projects with a wide variety of scope.

Justin Briggs holds a B.S. in physics from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University. During his Ph.D., Briggs studied next-generation renewable energy technology, with a focus on thermophotovoltaic energy conversion. He built a thermo-optical characterization platform to study the optical properties of advanced thermophotovoltaic materials at temperatures over 1200°C, and grew and validated novel materials for selective thermal emission.

Marc Trahand is Executive Vice President of Marketing for Nuvve based in San Diego and oversees all aspects of marketing, branding, and external communications for the company. He has been with Nuvve since 2015 and previously oversaw Nuvve’s European V2G operations.

Marc is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur serving as Co-Founder and COO of luxury startup tech company Savelli-Genève and worked at the French branding company Modelabs. He also worked in marketing and management positions at GE, Nokia, Ford Motor Company, and Kyocera Wireless. 

Marc grew up in France and the UK and holds an MBA from Wharton and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Supelec in France. He lives in San Diego, participates in triathlons, and is passionate about creating change.

A former rocket scientist and a world expert in energy systems and analytics. He is the author of several research publications and patents in aerospace, energy optimization, and big data analytics. Michel is a member of the Engineering Leadership Council for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine, and the Board of CleanTech OC. Prior to MelRok, Michel founded Space Launch Corporation, a defense contractor focused on the development of micro satellite launch vehicles. Michel has a Ph.D. from Stanford.

Orly holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Cal State Northridge. She started as a programmer for Litton Industries but within the first year became a key consultant. Shortly after she became a project manager for several multimillion-dollar international projects for Litton Industries and Siemens. 

Orly decided to join Universal Devices over 13 years ago. At the time Universal Devices was a small startup with a vision of a future that is now a well-known reality: affordable automation in your average home. Orly’s roles at Universal Devices included business development, a grant manager working directly with the CA Energy Commission and a project manager for many utility demonstration projects. Orly supported Universal Devices’ efforts to a premier energy management and automation company. Their technology is sold through retail outlets (such as Best Buy) in North and parts of South/Central America, installed by many utility customers, and their expertise are sought after and used in numerous utility-related projects and pilots.
 

Patrick is VP of Operations for PowerFlex, an EDF Renewables company. In this role, Patrick supports the team driving new business models and products to create end-to-end energy solutions for fleet and workplace charging. Prior to joining PowerFlex, he led the industrialization of cutting edge technologies in both the cleantech and semiconductor industries. Patrick also served in the United States Marine Corps as a Weapons Systems Officer in the F/A-18D Hornet where he completed multiple overseas tours. Patrick holds an MBA from the UCSD Rady School of Management and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Phillip Kopp has been a disruptive technology innovator and startup executive for over 20 years and has authored or co-authored over 15 US Patents. His experience spans hardware, wireless, cloud, embedded software, fintech, energy and advanced construction materials. 

Phillip co-founded several companies including Energy Eye, an award-winning energy management sensor and controls technology company focused on the hospitality vertical and sold to Somfy Group in 2009, Debitec, a payments technology company based in Sao Paulo Brazil and Cloudbeds, the fastest growing cloud-based hospitality management software platform with over 2 million beds under management and $98 Million in VC funding. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Conectric Networks, a disruptive IoT solution that enables the global transition to sustainable, efficient and grid interactive buildings.

Seth R. Sanders is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Amber Kinetics, a technology developer and manufacturer of utility scale flywheel energy storage systems. At Amber Kinetics, Dr. Sanders leads architecture, design, and development of the company’s core technology. He received S.B. degrees (1981) in Electrical Engineering and Physics, and the S.M. (1985) and Ph.D. (1989) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Following an early experience as a Design Engineer at the Honeywell Test Instruments Division in 1981-83, he joined the UC Berkeley faculty as Professor in the EECS Department in 1989. 

His technical interests are in electrical energy and power conversion systems. At UC Berkeley, Dr. Sanders is or recently has been active in supervising research projects in the areas of flywheel energy storage, high frequency integrated power conversion circuits, IC designs for power conversion applications, electric machine design, and renewable energy systems. During the 1992-1993 academic year, he was on industrial leave with National Semiconductor, Santa Clara, CA. 

Dr. Sanders received the NSF Young Investigator Award and multiple Best Paper Awards from the IEEE Power Electronics and the IEEE Industry Applications Societies. He has served as Chair of the IEEE PELS Technical Committee on Computers in Power Electronics, Chair of the IEEE PELS Technical Committee on Power Conversion Components and Systems, and as Member-At-Large of the IEEE PELS Adcom. He is an IEEE Fellow, a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE PELS and IAS societies, and recipient of the IEEE PELS Modeling and Control Technical Achievement Award.

Shawn leads Swell’s business and administrative operations, project fulfillment, procurement, and customer experience departments. Over the last 15 years, Shawn has pioneered the implementation of energy efficiency, solar and energy storage technologies across various markets. Prior to joining Swell as one of the founding members, Shawn supported the expansion of Direct Energy Solar into CA. Preceding this he co-founded Allen Energy, the energy services division of a residential and commercial construction firm, where he led the development of energy efficiency, solar and backup power solutions. His background in the industry includes overseeing B2B channel partner sales as a regional manager for Schüco, B2B/B2C battery sales with SimpliPhi Power, B2C residential and commercial sales for REC Solar, marketing/sales & installation services for California Solar Electric, teaching at UCSB’s Green Building extension program and R&D lab work with Stirling Technology and Global Cooling Inc. 

Throughout his career Shawn has involved  himself in civic efforts relating to energy and has sat on the boards and committees for numerous environmental and renewable energy related initiatives. Shawn is a licensed C46 solar contractor, was certified in the inaugural NABCEP PV Technical Sales and holds a degree from UCSB in Geography.

Vincent Schachter is currently Head of Global Energy Services at ENEL X e-Mobility, in charge of Vehicle-Grid Integration. He also serves as CEO of ENEL X France.

From 2016 to 2018 he was Senior Vice-President, Energy Services at eMotorWerks, a Bay Area startup pioneer in the Vehicle-Grid integration space. eMotorWerks was acquired by Enel Group, the largest integrated utility in Europe, in October 2017. As Senior Advisor & Entrepreneur in Residence at Engie in 2016-2017, he designed disruptive large scale business models in the Distributed Energy Resources + digital arena, which led to “Energy Communities” business model and initial offers.

As Vice President R&D at Total New Energies from 2009 to 2016, he built Total’s cleantech R&D from the ground up into a prominent international player in the fields of solar PV and industrial biotechnology. Vincent received his PhD in Computer Science from Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and co-recipient of a US Presidential Green Chemistry Award.

Vipul Gore is the President & CEO of Gridscape Solutions, an innovative smart energy solutions company that specializes in designing and deploying renewable emergency microgrids and EV charging solutions for critical facilities. He is a subject matter expert on smart grid, renewable emergency microgrids, electric vehicle technology and mission-critical solutions development. Prior to Gridscape, he held executive management positions at ChargePoint, Meru Networks, Oracle, and several other Silicon Valley companies. He has an MS in Computer Engineering from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.