October 24th, 2022
Fusion Executive Summit
Strictly Private and Confidential
Citigroup Global Market Inc. | Natural Resources and Clean Energy Transition
Agenda
Time | Agenda | Topic | Speaker | Confirmed |
11:00AM - 12:00PM | Registration and Refreshments | |||
12:00PM - 1:00PM | Lunch & Keynote Speakers | Welcome and Introduction – Energy Transition Frontier Keynote in Fusion Innovation – Path to Fusion Commercialization Keynote in Public-Private Partnership – Key Takeaways from Recent Government Engagements Keynote from Fusion Industry Association (“FIA”) – 2022 Survey Results Keynote in Government Policy & Support for Fusion | Speakers: Tyler Dickson, Global Co-Head of BCMA, Citi Sam Wurzel, Technology to Market Advisor, ARPA-E Dr. Scott Hsu, Lead Fusion Coordinator, DOE Andrew Holland, CEO, FIA David Gann, Chairman, UKAEA | |
1:00PM - 1:40PM | Industry | Industry Views on Fusion | Moderator: Andrew Holland, CEO, FIA Panelists: Michl Binderbauer, CEO, TAE Technologies AJ Kantor, Chief of Staff, Zap Energy Bob Mumgaard, CEO, Commonwealth Fusion Systems Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion | |
1:40PM - 1:50PM | Break | |||
1:50PM - 2:30PM | Investors | Financing Fusion Demonstration & Commercialization | Moderator: John Collmer, Global Head of ECM Private Placements, Citi Panelists: Sam Bursten, Vice President, Energy Impact Partners Dan Button, Partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures Robert Tichio, Partner & Managing Director, Riverstone | |
2:30PM - 2:40PM | Break | |||
2:40PM – 3:20PM | Philanthropy | It Will Take More Than Investment Dollars | Moderator: Jesse Treu, CEO, Stellar Energy Foundation Panelists: Brian Berzin, CEO, Princeton Stellarators Seth Hoedl, President and Chief Science Officer, Post Road Foundation Eric Ingersoll, Founder, Terrapraxis Dennis Whyte, Head of PSFC, MIT | |
3:20PM – 3:30PM | Break | |||
3:30PM - 4:10PM | Commercial | End-markets for Fusion | Moderator: Bob Zabors, Senior Partner, Roland Berger Panelists: Fred Gomos, Director of Resource Planning, NiSource Peter Hirschboeck, Director, Amazon Energy Procurement Roger Kranenburg, VP of Energy Strategy and Policy, Eversource | |
4:10PM-4:50PM | Policy | Partnering Toward Fusion Development | Moderator: William Fork, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Panelists: Sachin Desai, General Counsel, Helion Edward Moses, Former Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory | |
4:50PM - 5:00PM | Closing Remarks | Financial Leadership in the Energy Transition | Speaker: Sandip Sen, Global Co-Head of NRCET, Citi | |
5:00PM - 7:00PM | Reception | Citi New York Penthouse |
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Speakers
Tyler Dickson
Sam Wurzel
Tyler Dickson is Citi's Co-Head of Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory, where he has served since being appointed to the role in 2018. Mr. Dickson has managed Citi's Financing & Securitization and Institutional Credit Management efforts since 2020. He is also a member of Citi's Global Operating Team as well as the Institutional Clients Group Management Committee.
Prior to his current roles, Mr. Dickson joined the mergers and acquisition group at Salomon Brothers in 1989. He subsequently moved to equity capital markets and held numerous leadership positions including Salomon Brothers' Head of Global Convertibles and Equity Derivatives, Salomon Smith Barney's Head of U.S. Equity Capital Markets, and Citigroup's Head of Global Equity Capital Markets.
Mr. Dickson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Sam Wurzel currently serves as a Technology-to-Market Advisor at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), where he helps prepare innovative energy technologies for transition from the lab to the market.
Mr. Wurzel began his career as the co-founder and CEO of Octopart in 2006. In 2015, Octopart was acquired by Altium, a company that develops design software for the electronics industry.
At Altium, Mr. Wurzel was the VP of Online Content and Corporate Development, where he headed mergers and acquisitions activities in the electronic design and manufacturing space. Mr. Wurzel also holds an M.S. in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a
B.S. in engineering physics from Brown University.
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Speakers
David Gann Chairman UKAEA
David Gann became Chair of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in August 2018. Prof. Gann previously served as Imperial College of London’s Vice President and as Professor of Innovation and Technology Management at the Imperial College Business School and Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Prof. Gann currently holds the position of non-executive board member of Directa Plus PLC, the world’s largest producer of pristine graphene. He was also a member of NEC (EMEA) Advisory Council.
Prior to these roles, Prof. Gann held the position of Chairman of the Smart London Board (2012-2017), responsible for London’s digital strategy and reporting to the mayor of London. He also served as a Group Innovation Executive at Laing O’Rourke where he developed Crossrail’s Innovation Strategy.
Prof. Gann is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of the City & Guilds Institute. Prof. Gann also earned a PhD in Industrial Economics.
Sandip Sen
Sandip Sen currently works as the Global Co-Head of Citi’s recently formed Natural Resources and Clean Energy Transition (NRCET) group, where he is also a Managing Director. In his time as a leader withing the group, Mr. Sen has worked with a variety of companies across the Energy sector.
Having joined Citi in 1986, Mr. Sen had previously been with the Power and Utilities Investment Banking group since 1989. Over his tenure, Mr. Sen has worked with a number of companies in the nuclear power sector. His track record also includes work with both traditional power and utilities companies as well as alternative energy companies. His services have ranged from advising on strategic matters, IPOs, corporate and project/structured financings, restructurings, recapitalizations and re-organizations among others.
Mr. Sen holds a BA in Economics from Vassar College.
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Speakers
Dr. Scott Hsu
Dr. Scott Hsu is a Senior Advisor and Lead Fusion Coordinator in the Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation at the US Department of Energy (DOE). There, he advises DOE leadership on fusion energy issues and coordinates an all-of-DOE strategy to accelerate fusion energy research, development and demonstration in partnership with the private sector.
Prior to joining the DOE, Dr. Hsu held the position of Program Director at ARPA-E, where he led and managed its fusion energy research portfolio.
Dr. Hsu has also worked in the past as an experimental plasma physicist at Los Alamos national Laboratory, where he performed research on many topics in plasma and fusion science.
Andrew Holland
Andrew Holland is the Chief Executive Officer of the Fusion Industry Association located in Washington D.C. Mr. Holland has worked at the intersections of science, energy, policy, and politics for two decades. He’s the author of the report, “Fusion Power – A 10 Year Plan for American Energy Security,” which was published in 2013 and lays out a roadmap for American leadership in fusion.
An expert in energy policy and international strategy, Mr. Holland led the American Security Project's energy and climate work, rising to become Chief Operating Officer of the organization and working in the
U.S. Senate as Energy and Environmental Policy Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.
Mr. Holland is also a Member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and holds a MSc. in International Strategy and Economics from the University of St. Andrews.
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Panelists
Michl Binderbauer CEO TAE Technologies | Michl Binderbauer currently serves as the CEO of TAE Technologies, a private company dedicated to commercializing non-radioactive nuclear fusion power and other sustainable technologies. Mr. Binderbauer is a co-inventor of many of the company’s advances in fusion energy, power management, and particle accelerators, and holds more than 100 U.S. and international technology patents. Mr. Binderbauer has published papers on plasma physics and fusion in peer-reviewed journals including Science, Physical Review Letters and Nature Communications. Mr. Binderbauer has also been featured in Time, the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and PBS NewsHour. |
AJ Kantor Chief of Staff Zap Energy | AJ Kantor serves as the Chief of Staff for Zap Energy, an innovator building compact and scalable fusion reactors. Mrs. Kantor has an extensive experience in supply chain management for battery technology. Previously, she served on boards of multiple companies and in the area of battery capex for Tesla. |
Bob Mumgaard CEO Commonwealth Fusion Systems | Bob Mumgaard serves as the CEO for commercial fusion energy think tank Commonwealth Fusion Systems and leads the company’s strategic vision. He also serves as a key member of the technical team, leading the SPARC design process and determining how it interfaces with the business strategy. Mr. Mumgaard performed his PhD work at MIT on Alcator C-Mod, developing techniques to measure the magnetic field inside tokamak plasmas utilizing precise polarization techniques, robotics, and novel optical instruments. |
Greg Twinney CEO General Fusion | Greg Twinney currently serves as the CEO of General Fusion, a leading nuclear fusion power generation company, where he has been since 2020. Previously serving as General Fusion’s Chief Financial Officer for two years, Greg has vastly expanded the company’s investor base and helped to launch the General Fusion’s upcoming Fusion Demonstration Program. Prior to joining General Fusion, Greg has worked in varied C-level roles for successful technology enabled companies. |
John Collmer Global Head of ECM Private Placements Citi | John Collmer currently serves as the Global Head of ECM Private Placements at Citi helping companies access capital through private capital markets. He has extensive industry experience specializing in private capital markets, global equity sales and private placements. |
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Panelists
Sam Bursten Vice President Energy Impact Partners | Sam Bursten currently works as a Vice President at Energy impact partners. Mr. Bursten has been with EIP since 2016, gaining experience in the power and clean-technology sectors and in project finance. Prior to joining EIP, Mr. Bursten worked as an analyst in CIT’s Energy group, focusing on construction and acquisition financing for renewable energy, conventional power, and midstream transactions. Mr. Bursten holds a BA in Public Policy and an Energy and Environment Certificate from Duke University. |
Dan Button Partner Breakthrough Energy Ventures | Dan Button currently serves as a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV). Backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, BEV has more than $2 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. In his role, Mr. Button actively supports portfolio companies in a variety of capacities: advising, executive coaching, as a board observer or as interim CEO. Mr. Button also actively support pipeline development, particularly in the electricity sector. Mr. Button holds a degreed in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell University, and a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT. |
Robert Tichio Partner and MD Riverstone | Robert Tichio serves as a Partner and Head of Riverstone’s Decarbonization Growth Equity platform. Prior to this, he worked in the Principal Investment Area of Goldman Sachs, where he managed the firm's private corporate equity investments. Mr. Tichio began his career at J.P. Morgan in the Mergers & Acquisition group, where he concentrated on assignments that included public company combinations, asset sales, takeover defenses, and leveraged buyouts. |
Jesse Treu CEO Stellar Energy | Jesse Treu is the Chairman and CEO of Stellar Energy Foundation, where he has been since 2016. Mr. Treu is also a co-founder and has served as a Partner of Domain Associates since its inception in 1985. He became Partner Emeritus of Domain Associates in 2018. Prior to the formation of Domain, Mr. Treu served as president and CEO of Microsonics, a pioneer in computer image processing for cardiology. Mr. Treu is a leader in the field of venture capital focused on healthcare and biotech companies. He has been a director of 38 early-stage healthcare companies, 23 of which have so far become successful public companies. |
Brian Berzin CEO Princeton Stellarators | Brian Berzin is co-founder and CEO of Princeton Stellarators, a developer of fusion energy systems leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering developed at Princeton University and elsewhere. Prior to founding the company, Mr. Berzin served as a vice president and officer of General Fusion, where he led various initiatives including corporate strategy and engagement with capital markets. Mr. Berzin brings a diverse background as both an operator and investor, spanning deep tech, venture capital, private equity, and investment banking. |
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Panelists
Seth Hoedl President and Chief Science Officer Post Road Foundation | Seth Hoedl is the Co-Founder, President and Chief Science Officer of the Post Road Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping communities build sustainable infrastructure at the intersection of communications and electric grid modernization. Trained as both an experimental nuclear physicist and environmental law attorney, Mr. Hoedl has written widely and been invited to speak on the importance of emerging technologies, such as fusion, to achieve public acceptance, i.e., a social license, as part of their commercialization process. Prior to Post Road, Mr. Hoedl was the Chief Science Officer of a radiation oncology startup and an academic nuclear physicist. |
Eric Ingersoll Founder Terrapraxis | Eric Ingersoll is the Co-Founder of Terrapraxis, a climate solution incubator for neglected areas of climate change. He is a strategic advisor and entrepreneur with deep experience in the commercialization of new energy technologies. Mr. Ingersoll also has extensive project and policy experience in renewables, energy storage, oil & gas, and nuclear, with a special emphasis on advanced nuclear technologies. Mr. Ingersoll also serves as a Managing Partner of LucidCatalyst, a highly specialized international consultancy focused on large-scale, affordable, market-based decarbonization of the global economy. |
Dennis Whyte Head of PSFC MIT | Dennis Whyte leads the SPARC fusion project, a compact, high-field, net fusion energy fusion device in collaboration with private fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). Mr. Whyte has over 300 publications, is a fellow of the American Physical Society, and has served on panels for the National Academies, the United States government and the Royal Society. Mr. Whyte received The Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors Leadership Award, which is given annually to individuals who have shown outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion. |
Bob Zabors Senior Partner Roland Berger | Bob Zabors has been a founder, partner, and CEO of strategy consulting firms in the energy and infrastructure industries for more than 20 years. Mr. Zabors has been focused on accelerating innovation and on the energy transition in North American electric and gas markets, working with utilities, manufacturers, large customers, developers, and private equity firms. His recent work includes developing new business and regulatory models, infrastructure and resilience-based growth solutions, decarbonization, hydrogen, and distributed and renewable energy projects, including those focused on storage and energy efficiency. |
Fred Gomos Director of Resource Planning NiSource | Fred Gomos currently serves as Director of Resource Planning at NiSource. Mr. Gomos has extensive experience working in strategy and risk management. Previously, Mr. Gomos worked as a a manager in smart grid programs at ConEd. His notable projects include long term electric generation, strategy and planning, system modernization strategy, tax equity financing for renewable projects and enterprise wide strategy refresh. |
Fusion Industry Association Summit – Panelists
Peter Hirschboeck Director Amazon Energy Procurement | Peter Hirschboeck currently serves as a Director for Amazon Energy Procurement. Prior to this role, Mr. Hirschboeck had served on the Board of Directors for the US Energy Storage Association. He also has worked as a manager for Enovation Partners in Chicago and as a strategic consultant for Houlihan Lokey. Mr. Hirschboeck earned his degree in electrical engineering and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. |
Roger Kranenburg VP of Energy Strategy and Policy Eversource | Roger Kranenburg is responsible for clean energy and growth strategy and policies along with transportation electrification and battery storage initiatives at Eversource. Previously, Mr. Kranenburg worked at IHS Markit, advising top power sector companies globally on transformation, investment, and operations. In his innovation and technology role, he led the application of data analytics to power sector data and information. Also, Mr. Kranenburg has previously worked at the Edison Electric Institute, where he led strategy for the electric industry in the areas of supply and taxation and was instrumental in the passage on the Energy Policy Act of 2005. |
William Fork Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman | William Fork represents electric utilities and companies on international energy transaction, export control, nuclear liability and domestic regulatory issue for the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. In his role, he assists clients regarding the regulation of international nuclear power plants, nuclear vendor procurement, and agreements for the construction, operation and fueling of nuclear power units. Mr. Fork has served as the general counsel of a civil nuclear power program and attended the International School of Nuclear Law in Montpellier, France. Mr. Fork served in the US army for 5 years. |
Sachin Desai General Counsel Helion | Sachin Desai serves as the General Counsel for the fusion power company Helion. Prior to this role, Mr. Desai served as a senior associate at Hogan Lovells. Mr. Desai, has also spent time working with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and United States Court of Federal Claims as a law clerk. Mr. Desai holds a masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University and juris doctor in environmental law and administrative law from Harvard Law School. |
Edward Moses Former Director Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory | Edward Moses is the former manager At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where he was responsible for the Peregrine program that successfully developed and commercialized advanced, Monte-Carlo techniques for calculation of radiation dose in the treatment of cancer. He also worked as a project manager and director for the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore, a project to construct and commission the world’s largest facility with the capability to study HED science. Over his career, Ed has worked as the leader of the directorate activities to develop strategic vision and detailed program plans for the spectrum of activities in space technology, material science, nuclear physics, high energy physics and high energy density science. |