The Northern Plains convening of the EnergyTech University Prize will feature up to 12 business plan pitches from higher education student teams and a keynote speaker (to be announced). The Northern Plains region includes Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Agenda – All times noted are central standard time

10:00-10:15 – Introduction

10:15-12:30 – 12 student pitches

12:30 – 12:55 – Presentation by Anna Seifken, Senior Advisor, Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), U.S. Department of Energy

12:55-1:00 – Announce Northern Plains winner

Judges for Northern Plains

Aditya Ranade – Aditya Ranade is founder and Managing Partner at Two Degrees Adapt- a climate resilience
technology advisory firm. His prior experiences include leading the energy resources division for the
Minnesota Department of Commerce, global smart grid R&D at 3M, green building and agriculture
practices at Lux Research and solar panel materials development for Saint-Gobain. Aditya holds a B.E. (Polymer Engineering) from University of Pune, a Ph.D. (Macromolecular Science) from Case Western Reserve University, MBA from Babson College and a Certificate in “Triplomacy: Energy, Environment and Security” from Tufts University Fletcher School.

Diane Rucker – Diane Rucker is an angel investor and an expert in startup ecosystems. She recently served as the
Executive Director of University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL), a business incubator for early stage
ventures in biotechnology, healthcare, medical health, and life sciences. Diane is an active part of
Minnesota’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, supporting BETA.MN, Twin Cities Startup Week,
Cleantech Open, and Women in Entrepreneurship. She has an Executive MBA from the MIT Sloan School
of Management, and was a judge and mentor for the MIT 100K competition. She also has an M.S. in
Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an S.B. in Materials Science and
Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Virginia Rutter – Virginia is the Director of Engagement & Strategic Initiatives for Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM), which includes working with CEEM’s member businesses, partners, policymakers, and community leaders to advance innovative clean energy policies and solutions. Virginia brings with her nearly 15 years of industry experience. Most recently she served as the Director of Market Development at Twin Cities-based Nokomis Energy, where she conducted market analysis on utility-scale solar. Prior to that, Virginia was the Program Director at Solar United Neighbors of Minnesota, where she launched the program and developed deep relationships across the state. She received her Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and her B.A. in Public Policy Analysis & Biology from Pomona College. She is the founder and leader of the Feminist Fight Club – Minnesota Women in Energy.

From our partners at the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

EnergyTech UP aims to cultivate the next generation of energy innovators while accelerating the transfer of energy technologies to market. This prize seeks to attract the talented students of today and help them develop into the engineers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, market analysts, and project developers of tomorrow. Multidisciplinary student teams will develop and present a business plan that leverages National Laboratory-developed or other high-potential energy technologies, including university-developed technologies or other technologies of interest to student competitors.

This prize is sponsored by OTT and DOE as well as several other program offices. EnergyTech UP, in partnership with American-Made Challenges, is designed to be approachable, equitable, and scalable nationwide. Winners will be chosen based on the strength of their business proposal. Students interested in participating in this prize will be provided with a curated list of National Lab technologies that are ready for commercialization and that can be used for their business plan.