CCIA announces Celebrate Cleantech Research event

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) will hold its first 'Celebrate Cleantech Research' event on Thursday, May 26, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The announcement is made by Christine Shapard, Executive Director of the CCIA who said "We're very excited to announce the Celebrate Cleantech Research program, the purpose of which is to shine a light on the incredible cleantech research and commercialization taking place at Colorado's world class universities." Added Shapard, "The research rockstars we are recognizing are without a doubt brilliant researchers but, more importantly for the creation of Colorado's cleantech ecosystem, they are very ably moving their discoveries into commercial entities that can solve the energy and water issues being faced by the world today."

The May 26 event will recognize and award researchers who have made a significant impact in the commercialization of technology for eight categories of the cleantech industry - Bio-Derived, Clean Transportation, Efficiency in the Built Environment, Energy Storage, Smart-Grid, Solar, Water and Wind. In addition to the awards component of the program, the 'Celebrate Cleantech Research' event is announcing Dr. W.S. Sampath, noted solar expert, founder of Abound Solar (formerly AVA Solar) and Director, Materials Engineering Lab at Colorado State University as the keynote speaker. "We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Sampath, as our keynote speaker for the inaugural event. Dr. Sampath's innovation in solar R&D is a perfect example of university expertise combined with commercial application that is driving Colorado's cleantech community," said Shapard.

As noted in the Colorado Cleantech Action Plan, the strength of Colorado's energy-focused research capabilities is widely cited as one of the state's greatest cleantech assets. The combination of research institutions, highly educated technical workers, and strategic location has resulted in the formation of new companies and attraction of global corporations. Alumni from NREL and the universities have spun off or joined successful, Colorado-based cleantech start-ups and at the same time, the strength of the state's research and development resources has contributed to several industry players' decisions to locate private-sector research centers in the state.  Further says Matt Cheroutes of the Colorado Economic Development and International Trade Office, "Highlighting the researchers working on cleantech and the successes coming out of the labs of Colorado's university system helps showcase what we have to offer and enhances our ability to market the state, in addition to creating new companies and growing our economy with good new cleantech jobs."  

As part of the Celebrate Cleantech Research event, there will be a panel discussion featuring the technology transfer officers from CU-Boulder, Mines and CSU. The TTOs will provide a behind the scenes look into how our research institutions commercialize technology, and; the business of R&D. "Through the efforts of university researchers at CU, CSU and Mines, companies like Abound Solar, PrimeStar Solar and OPX Biotechnologies are leading the way in the global cleantech industry," says William Vaughan, Director of Technology Transfer at Colorado School of Mines. "We are pleased to be a part of this celebratory event and we look forward to working closely with CCIA, CU-Boulder and CSU to recognize the outstanding individual cleantech research leaders within our universities."