Program Themes

This symposium is organized around a set of cross-cutting themes at the heart of the Alliance:

• Decarbonization pathways and scalable fuels (hydrogen and next-generation fuels)
• Renewables and firm clean power (including nuclear innovation)
• Wind innovation and next-generation turbine design
• Grid stability in the data center age
• AI for engineering (faster design cycles and better decision support)
• Robotics for manufacturing (inspection, flexible automation, and safety)
• The Just Energy Transition (access, affordability, and implementation at scale)

Featured speakers

Symposium agenda

8:30 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast & Registration

9:00 – 9:45 AM | Opening & Welcome Remarks

• Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT, Provost
• Scott Strazik, CEO, GE Vernova
• Hon. John Kerry, 68th U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Climate Envoy
• Hon. Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer, GE Vernova
• Betar Gallant, Faculty Director, MIT–GE Vernova Energy & Climate Alliance; Kendall Rohsenow Professor

9:45 – 10:30 AM | Decarbonization: Hydrogen Scalability & New Fuels

Panelists:

• Yogesh Surendranath, Donner Professor of Science; Professor of Chemistry
• Asegun Henry, George N. Hatsopoulos Professor of Thermodynamics; Area Head, Energy Science & Engineering
• Ju Li, Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering; Professor of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering
• Moderator: Jeff Goldmeer, Director, Hydrogen Value Chain, GE Vernova

10:30 – 11:15 AM | Spotlight: Nuclear Energy

Panelists:

• Ericmoore Jossou, John Clark Hardwick (1986) Professor; Assistant Professor of Nuclear Science & Engineering and EECS
• Benoit Forget, KEPCO Professor and Department Head, Nuclear Science & Engineering
• Moderator: David Burnette, GE Vernova Hitachi Energy

11:15 – 11:30 AM | Break & Networking

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Renewables: Wind Innovation

Panelists:

• Michael Howland, Jeffrey Cheah Career Development Professor; Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Tal Cohen, Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Moderator: Charudatta Mehendale, Mission Director, Wind, GE Vernova

12:00 – 1:30 PM | Poster Session & Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 PM | Grid Stability in the Data Center Age

Presentations:

• AI for Large-Scale, Topology-Aware AC-OPF in Distribution Grids
  • Priya Donti, Silverman (1968) Family Career Development Professor; Assistant Professor, EECS
• Compact and Efficient Power Conversion for Future Data Center Power Delivery
  • Samantha Coday, Emanuel E. Landsman (1958) Career Development Professor; Assistant Professor, EECS
• Energy dynamics modeling and control approach for GFM grid electricity services
  • Marija Ilić, Senior Research Scientist, LIDS

Panelists:

• Priya Donti, Silverman (1968) Family Career Development Professor; Assistant Professor, EECS
• Samantha Coday, Emanuel E. Landsman (1958) Career Development Professor; Assistant Professor, EECS
• Marija Ilić, Senior Research Scientist, LIDS
• Deepjyoti Deka, Research Scientist, MITEI
• David Perreault, Ford Foundation Professor of Engineering
• Steven Leeb, Emanuel E. Landsman (1958) Professor
• Michelena O’Rourke, SM in Technology and Policy Program (TPP) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Student
• Moderator: Brent Brunell, Mission Director, Electrification Software, GE Vernova

2:30 – 2:45 PM | Break & Networking

2:45 – 3:15 PM | AI for Engineering

Presentations:

• Faez Ahmed, Henry L. Doherty Professor in Ocean Utilization; Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• Rahul Mazumder, Associate Professor of Operations Research & Statistics; Sloan School of Management and NTU
• Moderator: Naresh Iyer, Principal Scientist, GE Vernova

3:15 – 3:45 PM | Robotics for Manufacturing

Panelists:

• Chuchu Fan, Leonardo Career Development Professor; Associate Professor of
• Aeronautics & Astronautics and LIDS
• Pulkit Agrawal, Associate Professor of EECS
• Moderator: John Karigiannis, Senior Principal Engineer, Robotics & Automation, GE Vernova

3:45 – 4:00 PM | AI + Robotics: Rapid-Fire Predictions

Panelists:

• Chuchu Fan, Leonardo Career Development Professor; Associate Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics and LIDS
• Pulkit Agrawal, Associate Professor of EECS
• Faez Ahmed, Henry L. Doherty Professor in Ocean Utilization; Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• Rahul Mazumder, Nanyang Technological University Associate Professor of Operations Research and Statistics; Associate Professor of Operations Research & Statistics; Sloan School of Management
• Moderator: Melanie Li Sing How, Lead Engineer, Advanced Research Center, GE Vernova

4:00 – 5:30 PM | Rethinking Energy Access- Turning Shared Ambition into Collective Action

Speakers:

• Scott Strazik, CEO, GE Vernova
• Chris Knittel, Associate Dean for Climate and Sustainability

Panelists:

• Evelyn Wang, Vice President, MIT Climate Project
• Dr. Angela Wilkinson, Secretary General & CEO, World Energy Council
• Andre Zollinger, Senior Policy Manager, Joint Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• David Livingston, Chief Strategy Officer, Galvanize
• Moderator: Roger Martella

5:30 – 5:35 PM | Closing Remarks

5:35-5:45 PM | Transition to Reception

5:35– 6:30 PM | Networking Reception

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Please note: Agenda and speakers are subject to change.