Wednesday, December 3, 2025As governments and industries accelerate towards cheaper and more abundant energy in all forms, the critical bottleneck is not invention — but deployment. Dr. Vanessa Chan, an entrepreneur, educator, and former federal commercialization officer, will explore how deep-tech innovation, clean energy scale-up, and entrepreneurial ecosystems converge to drive real-world transformation.
Key topics include:
- Navigating the “commercialization wall” between invention and market readiness.
- Leveraging public-sector levers (e.g., policy, funding, standards) to unlock private-sector capital in clean technology.
- Scaling in the hardest-to-abate sectors: from hydrogen and geothermal to advanced materials and industrial decarbonization and doing it with affordability in mind.
Vanessa draws on her experience as Partner at McKinsey & Company co-leading their innovation practice, founder of consumer-tech startup re.design, and as Chief Commercialization Officer & Director of the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she spearheaded the “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff” reports for which she was recognized by Time 100 in 2024 as one of the top business leaders in climate.
Attendees will gain actionable insight into how to build the “go-to-market” muscle for next-gen technologies and position themselves to lead the energy innovation transition.
Zoom participation details will be sent to registrants the day prior to the event.
Please note that the Chatham House Rule will apply to this event. No recordings will be made.
Please register here: https://www.whartonenergy.com/vanessazchan_20251203
