10:30am Azure Breakout Room Recap – Breaking Ground: Unleashing Digital Transformation with Siemens Software – Siemens
Notes provided by student volunteer George Fennell
On Friday, June 14th, Mark Henning and Brian Haley from Siemens presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about how technology drives sustainability at Siemens.
- Spent $10 billion creating a software portfolio for industrial applications.
- Sustainability partnerships and commitments are key to their success.
- Siemens can generate and track a digital twin for simulation and validation of products, machine lines, and plants, along with 30+ sustainability impacts.
- Their breadth extends to the full lifecycle and is flexible and open.
- Design and simulation leverages Siemens’ industrial strengths and improves fundraising credibility, reducing investor risk.
- Affordable, scalable solutions reduce time and cost, improve quality, and accelerate ideation.
- Siemens offers negotiable and flexible access for startups to meet individual needs.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
11:00am Azure Breakout Room Recap – The Cybersecurity Landscape and Mitigation – FBI and CISA
Notes provided by student volunteer George Fennell
Kevin Brennan from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Chris Callahan from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about protecting cleantech from cyber threats.
- Types of cyber criminals include financially motivated (ransomware, stealing bank/card info), insider threats (deleting data, mad at boss or company, common among terminated employees) and hacktivists (motivated by ideology).
- Types of cybernational criminals include cyber espionage (working on behalf of foreign countries to close tech gaps), cyber terrorism (targeting power generation/transmission), and cyber warfare (like Russia vs Ukraine, Estonia)
- Cyberdefense: Defending critical infrastructure. Communicating how to defend against and recognize entry and data exfiltration.
- The federal government offers evaluations to help secure infrastructure to be resilient in the event of an attack.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
11:30am Azure Breakout Room Recap – Catalyzing Change: Unlocking the Potential of the Pacific Northwest’s climate tech ecosystem – VertueLab, Saghani
Notes provided by student volunteer George Fennell
Cole Hoover from Saghani presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about the cleantech funding ecosystem.
- Saghani Consulting provides support to communities on the frontline of climate change.
- VertueLab is a nonprofit funding climate innovation to enable Just Transition outcomes in the PNW.
- VertueLab and Saghani seek to understand funding gaps, obstacles to success, supporting underrepresented founders.
- The PNW is a good region for investors because of the active angel investment ecosystem, which provides support for hardware-focused entrepreneurs.
- Technical assistance gives tailored support and leverages government grants.
- There is significant wealth, tech talent, and emergence of impact investing that also makes the PNW good for investing.
- Problems that the PNW faces with investing include the lack of late-stage climate VC funders, the need for more capacity building, and investors with limited experience.
- Additionally, the lack of physical space, scaling difficulties, persistent bias, lack of direct feedback or quick resolution present problems.
- Substantial pro-climate legislation makes Washington, Oregon, and California attractive to investors.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
1:30pm Azure Breakout Room Recap – Opportunities in Mass Timber – Port of Portland
Notes provided by student volunteer TJ Oliver
Andy Reed from Port of Portland presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about opportunities in Mass Timber.
- Port of Portland owns most industrial land in the state and is working on a huge mass timber project with PDX.
- Mass timber is engineered wood products layered together. It is high strength and lightweight.
- Mass timber improves forest health, creates jobs, and allows urban and rural design elements to come together.
- PDX Next will be a mass timber airport terminal with innovative construction on a new roof. The project is actively engaging tribal representatives and contractors of color to create PDX’s roof.
- In 2022, the Build Back Better grant provided $41.4 million for an industry cluster for mass timber. The Mass Timber Innovation hub is an incubator model with multiple universities involved and is looking to build modular housing, innovation on campus, and a regional training cluster for equitable job training. The Tall Wood Institute will focus on the full supply chain.
- Labor, tribes, government, and businesses are all at the table to form a huge coalition.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
2:00pm Azure Breakout Room Recap – Building Climate Tech MVPs: a Software Perspective -Option Zero
Notes provided by student volunteer TJ Oliver
Jason Curtis from Option Zero presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about using software to create climate MVPs.
- Option Zero is a consultancy that focuses on software and climate change.
- 50% of the code at climate tech companies is just regular software; the other 50% is the ‘climate secret sauce’.
- Public data sources, GIS with AI, energy modeling, and software/hardware interfaces are all examples of “the secret sauce.”
- Option Zero is all about education.
- Jason and his partner teach a ‘software for climate’ course on terra.do
- Fractional CTO involves building the software part of non-software companies. Option Zero comes into firms as needed with a wholistic view.
- Option Zero creates roadmaps for climate-focused companies to scope and implement hires.
- Building community is also part of what Option Zero does.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.