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Engaging Innovation In Times Of Constant Change With GTRI & IEEE TEMS

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In June, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) hosted a three-part IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (IEEE TEMS) conference (IEEE TEMSCON), “Leading Innovation in Times of Constant Change. For the first time, the conference broke new ground by combining academic research on day one, industry forum on day two, and a combined sharing of academy and industry on day three. The program is unique and will be replicated. I came from an interesting perspective of being invited to give two opening keynotes, day 1 and day 2 on different topic areas, speaking on a panel, and judging their global startup challenge. Time donated for the conference. 

The conference began with a pre-conference workshop focused on innovation and entrepreneurship where participants were interactively guided from ideation to investment including a new model, Open Innovation Venture Capital (OIVC). OIVC is driven by the need of mature companies to adopt innovation from startups; venture capitalists providing the sourcing of startups, investment, and bridging to large companies, adoption of the startup’s technology, and eventual acquisition.  

This is a new direction for the IEEE as noted by Michael Condry, Ph.D., FIEEE, IEEE TEMS President and formerly CTO in Intel: “The IEEE is regarded internationally by many professionals as the trusted source for technology information, inspiration and collaboration. It is a thriving community of more than 400,000 members for technology subject matter experts, researchers and thought leaders. IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) is an organization focused on the steps to build a successful technology product. TEMS events include Industry Forum which provides a unique platform for industry leaders to outline their technology challenges and garner potential collaborations with the IEEE’s researchers which support over 1,100 active standards worldwide.” 

Together with the keynotes, panel sessions and paper presentations at TEMSCON – for the first time – a startup challenge judged by international investors was featured. John Avery, Director, Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech provided these insights. “ATDC provides business coaching and incubation for more than 180 startups across GA. Our funding model allows us to do this without taking any equity from the startups. Our mission is to help the entrepreneur be successful so that they create jobs in GA. We are proud of the impact our startups are having across a broad range of industries. It’s a privilege to be working with such talented and dedicated entrepreneurs who are committed to make a difference. Contrary to what some may believe, startup work is hard, sometimes excruciatingly so. Having a support network of people with firsthand experience around you can be invaluable, especially in the early stages. Startup work is different from corporate work.  There is no substitute for firsthand startup experience in the coaching and mentoring staff. ATDC is an incubator.  We provide a close support network for multiple years (3-6 years) where entrepreneurs can grow sustainable businesses.  Accelerators are great but they typically provide a short term (6 to 12 week) program.  Both have a valuable place in the startup ecosystem. Our entrepreneurs often participate in accelerator programs and return after the program finishes to continue on their path.” 

Two winners were selected. One of the winners, Dr. Walker Inman, founder of Lucid Scientific provided these insights. “Lucid Scientific provides real-time cell culture monitors to enhance biological research supporting the discovery of novel therapeutics. By measuring oxygen respiration, Lucid’s device turns the industry-standard cell culture plate into a metabolic activity analyzer with results streamed online in real-time. Originally founded in Boston to commercialize technology developed at MIT, Lucid is now based in Atlanta and is a member of the ATDC Accelerate program. Lucid has completed initial validation studies with select partners and is currently working with additional early adopters in preparation for product launch this year.”  

The other winner, Professor Baratunde Cola, Founder and CEO, had this to say about Carbice Corporation. "Carbice is setting the new standard for thermal materials in satellite design and semiconductor test by replacing messy greases and liquid interfacing materials that lead to high assembly costs and early product failure, with simple to use, high-performance dry tapes and pads. Carbice® Carbon, which is based on aligned carbon nanotube technology, is in use today by several global industry leaders and is orbiting Earth on the ISS. The carbon nanotubes inside of Carbice® Carbon are known throughout the scientific community as the most efficient material for conducting heat (8 times more conductive than copper!). However, the challenge has been finding a way to integrate this material into real applications. That has been our focus at Carbice and our success is the result of over 100,000 experiments to get it right. Next up for us is an entry into larger volume global electronics markets like IoT and industrial devices. Our materials are made from recycled aluminum foil and waste carbon gas so we are excited about both the enhanced sustainability and fundamentally low-cost structure that we bring to support the industry’s growth.”

Added observations came from the world-leading experts who spoke at TEMSCON on areas such as blockchain. Areas of intense discussion were Facebook’s Libra crypto-coin announcement and JP Morgan’s JPM Coin plus the volatility in the space – how long will it continue? Regulation is taking hold and the underlying technology is here to stay – this was the consensus. 

From TEMSCON, Anouk Kendall, President, Decentralised Energy Canada made these observations:

“The implications of market growth in mobile electric devices, particularly electric vehicles, could have less than favourable impacts on our economy and the environment if we do not focus on sustainable sourcing of materials and strategies for re-use and recycling.  

Global electricity demand is expected to increase by 57% by 2050 with electric vehicles accounting for 9% of demand (Bloomberg, 2018). In 2018, 17 countries had announced bans on emitting vehicles up 50% from 2017. These bans include eight of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers… China, Japan, Germany, India, South Korea, Spain, France and United Kingdom. Replacing gasoline and diesel with electricity comes with several challenges, one being the sustained sourcing of metals for batteries. 

Meeting the mobile energy storage needs of cars, phones, computers and smartphones will, in the near to medium term, rely on secondary or rechargeable batteries. Vanadium, lithium and copper are some of the primary elemental metals currently used to make batteries. These metals are largely mined in South Africa, Russia, China, South America, Australia and the USA, and require heavy mining and manufacturing that emit significant emissions. 

The glass and ceramics industry currently consumes more than the battery industry but the global energy-storage market is expected to reach a cumulative 942 gigawatts by 2040 (2018, Bloomberg New Energy Finance). Supply chain challenges can be expected by looking at current and forecasted production compared with forecasted demands. For example, the global mine production of lithium in 2017 was 43 million kg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_lithium_production) and a Tesla Model S requires approximately 12 kg of pure lithium (2018, WIRED, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact). Hence, global production is equivalent to 3.6 million Tesla Model S vehicles. With a forecasted 2 billion EVs by 2040 the pending supply chain challenges are clear. 

How can we mitigate the challenges associated with the growing demand for metals? Can we learn from our experience with copper? Over 97% of copper ever mined or smelted has been extracted in the last 100 years with over 80% still available after having been repeatedly recycled. In fact, recycled copper represents 35% of worldwide copper usage (World Copper Fact Book, 2013) and copper's recycled value is at least 95% of the value of primary metal from newly mined ore (Copper Development Association, 2008). Dedicating time and resources to understanding the feasibility of replicating copper’s recycling success may help with efforts to avoid the shortage and to reduce the environmental impacts that will come with newly mined ores such as vanadium and lithium. Additionally, research and development must continue to evaluate the opportunities and challenges presented by new materials such as two-dimensional allotropes like graphene and borophene.”