Summit will focus on the creation and development of energy technology

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - A stellar lineup of close to 30 speakers - renowned scholars, business leaders, investors, engineers and policymakers - will provide the wattage, the spark and the electricity at UCSB's first Emerging Energy Technologies Summit.

Under the banner "Concept to Commerce," the summit begins the evening of Feb. 10 and continues with a full program throughout the following day.

Featured speakers include UCSB's professor emeritus Walter Kohn, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize for chemistry; Daniel Weiss, a general partner with private equity firm The Angeleno Group; and nanotechnology researcher Ted Sargent, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto, who was described in MIT's Technology Review Magazine as "one of the world's top young innovators."

Other participants are David Berokoff, technology development manager with Sempra Energy; Richard Flavell, chief scientific officer with genetic engineering company Ceres Inc.; Klaus Lackner, from the Earth Engineering Center at Columbia University; and Jim Dehlsen, founder and chief executive officer of Clipper Windpower, which is based in Carpinteria.

Another key speaker is Howard Berke, chief executive officer of Konarka Technologies. This cutting-edge company, based in Lowell, Mass., is using nanoengineering to create light-activated power plastic that is much more versatile than traditional solar cells.

The company says that wherever there is light and a battery, power plastic makes it possible for devices, systems and structures, from cell phones to unmanned military vehicles, to have their own low-cost embedded sources of renewable power.

Other speakers over the two days will come from the worlds of emerging and traditional energy, finance and law, and also from established companies and startups, plus academic and government institutions.

Summit attendees will have a chance to meet Terry Tamminen, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special assistant for energy and environmental technologies, whose job it is to shape policy balancing conservation and environmental issues with economic benefit.

The conference, intended as a forum to discuss the creation and development of energy technology, has been put together by the College of Engineering's Technology Management Program at UCSB.

Leslie Edwards, manager of that program, says what's unique about the summit is that the issues are being looked at from so many different angles.

"We have a very full and comprehensive group of speakers and panel members," she said.

A series of lectures and panel discussions will examine the technical, political and economic forces influencing the direction of emerging energy technologies, as well as looking at the latest research and development in the energy field.

"We have tremendous visionary and intellectual resources at UC Santa Barbara," said Chancellor Henry Yang, who will speak at the summit.

"This is an exciting opportunity to bring together our outstanding talent and world leaders in emerging energy technologies to discuss cutting-edge and innovative solutions to global energy issues."

Gary Hansen, associate dean of the Technology Management Program, expects the summit to generate "significant innovation and creativity" in bringing new technologies to market. "Anyone who is interested in addressing emerging energy technologies in new, unique ways should plan on attending," he said.

F.Y.I.: A full schedule of events and details about all the speakers and presenters at this year's inaugural Emerging Energy Technologies Summit can be found online at www.c2c.ucsb.edu. People can also register on the Web site.

The event takes place at UCSB's Corwin Pavilion.