Yes I got to see President Obama, in person at MIT

President Obama visited MIT today and gave a speech on probably the biggest challenge USA and the rest of the world faces: Energy and Climate Change.  I somehow landed with an invite to join the limited audience (thanks REBN and NVCA), and my thoughts on his speech are below:

—

What a proud day for MIT! President Obama delivered a speech today at MIT on energy policy to an audience of almost 1,200 (from my MIT days I remember that being the official number of people Kresge can hold). This represents an important milestone in the journey of many MIT researchers, faculty, students, and alums who have worked hard to make MIT the mecca of clean energy research in the world. Obama came, joked about his motorcade being placed on top of Building 10 (referring to hacks that MIT’ers like myself hold sacred), enthused the audience about the great challenges and potential that lay ahead for all of us, and left after a few hugs. All in a matter of less than 30 minutes.

I had waited for over 2 hours for him, but it was worth the wait (and the quick clearing of my calendar). I left wanting more from him. We all do on issues we care about deeply. The President’s job today was to celebrate the successes so far, and get us jazzed about his commitment to face the challenges ahead and I believe he succeeded. I like what I heard:

1. Nations are engaged in a peaceful competition to determine what technologies will provide the clean energy of tomorrow. And the nation that wins the competition will dominate the global economy.
2. The biggest threat to our progress is pessimism. America can solve problems and act collectively.
3. Innovation and discovery is in our DNA, but the challenges of this generation are also bigger than before.
4. The Recovery Act is the largest investment ever in energy in history ($80 billion). Not only in technologies of today, but also in science for technologies of tomorrow.
5. The Pentagon has declared dependence from fossil fuels is a threat to our security. “Operation FREE” is in effect!
6. Young people realize clean energy is the challenge of their generation. All MIT community members are heirs to a legacy of innovation…one gets excited just being there.
7. Ed Markey and John Kerry are working across the aisle to turn all the work on energy and climate into an act of legislation. The naysayers are being marginalized, but the closer we get, the opposition will fight harder.
8. Obama believes this nation will lead the clean energy economy of tomorrow. Yes, I too believe the same!

It was a fantastic show of force by the local clean energy community. As someone remarked, it was the best cocktail hour they had ever been to. Executives, entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers lined up to get in and mingled until the announcement was made for the singing of the national anthem. It was a celebration of sorts, and a moment of reflection that despite the turbulence in the economy around us, there could be no worthier industry than clean energy to be working for.

What would I say to a 1000 techies (at MIT)?

I was jotting down some thoughts on what would I say if I was speaking to 1000 techies at a place like MIT. Since I am not speaking to them anytime soon, I will share them here . Obviously there is a lot more to say than the few points below.

1. Techies should focus on Big ideas. Big problems. Big markets. There are 7 billion customers worldwide for most innovations we can come up with.
2. Geographies matter less now than ever before in today’s globalized world. Technologies developed in US/Europe are bringing people closer the world over, e.g. Facebook and Twitter are helping people connect as far away as Brazil and Ghana, and are providing momentum to political movements in places like Iran. Similarly, technologies scaled in India and China  are bringing cheap clean power to the West, e.g. Suzlon.
3. Techies are often worried about sharing their ideas with others in case they are stolen. While there is an important role for intellectual property (IP), and proper IP advice should be taken in order file patents etc in time, in general good ideas become better when shared with others. Techies should find trusted advisors in their professors, experienced entrepreneurs and helpful investors who can guide, advise, and not just show but help form a path to success from the early stages on.
4. Technology and Engineering design are helping shape peoples’ lives, livelihoods and futures everywhere: from the IPhone use interface innovation to the design of a car for the masses (i.e. Tata Nano). It is often at the intersection of multiple disciplines that the most creative, and valuable solutions are found.
5. There is no bad time for entrepreneurship and for people to start companies. Entrepreneurs are eternally optimistic, cautiously skeptic, and driven to succeed. The best entrepreneurs have emerged in the most difficult economic times.
6. Techies should focus on solving real world problems. It is not just rewarding in a financial and moral sense – but it is also intellectually stimulating. I could not be more excited about the opportunity I have at General Catalyst to interact with young, bright, aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs. In that spirit I want to highlight ENTER – a program I am proud to have founded that is devoted to breaking down the barriers of communication between aspiring student entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and seasoned executives and CEOs. Join the fledgling group on facebook at http://bit.ly/3m8Tx.

MIT’s latest hack

There the Tute goes again….Apr 27. 2009

Energy is where the action is at…

If you were still wondering why so many VCs are flocking to the energy sector, here is one quick reason why: Energy is where the action is at…, no not just in the financial markets (where oil has traded between $39 and $147 all in the same year!), but importantly in the academic world where transformative discoveries are being made at a very rapid pace. MIT is one of the most prestigious engineering universities, and it is quite telling that many of its most prominent discoveries of last year were related to the energy and cleantech sector.

Check this out from MIT News:

MIT discoveries top magazine’s list of year’s best

December 16, 2008

Five discoveries from MIT have been named to Discover Magazine’s Top 100 Stories of 2008. The list appears in the magazine’s December issue.

Coming in at #21 is Professor Daniel Nocera’s discovery of a simple, inexpensive method to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which can be stored to power a fuel cell. The process, reported in Science in August, could lead to a practical way to store solar energy for use when the sun is not shining.

The Dark Knight at MIT

Another hack at MIT. This time, again, its my former home – Building 54 – that is targeted. Cool stuff….

More photos at: http://www.photoshelter.com/gallery-show/G0000WCSb_2mtH.s

Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory and butterfly effect, dies at 90

I have been fortunate in my life to meet some great people. People who have accomplished so much, and have made such vast and lasting impact on humanity, and the sum-total of human knowledge, that I can only say I am left in total awe. By simply being in their proximity and company I have learned how humble and inconsequential my own work has been. Edward Lorenz was one of those figures. Ed died today at age 90.

Ed was a professor of Meteorology at MIT who was already in his late years when I completed my Ph.D. there. Even though i did my Ph.D. in the chemistry department, my thesis advisor had his office and labs in the EAPS (Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences), which was also home to Ed. He walked our hallways, he joined us at the daily 3PM coffee hour, and he provided kind, generous, and insightful comments on elevator rides with him. I remember hearing about him as the pioneer of chaos theory and then read a bit on him and his work. I can safely say it was more mathematical than I could comprehend, but the power and importance of his work was not lost on me. I was in awe, and remain. Great people impact generations to come. He was one of them and I consider myself so lucky to have experienced his company, even if just via casual conversations an elevator rides. May his soul rest in peace.

Here is news item on his passing from the MIT News.

Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory and butterfly effect, dies at 90

April 16, 2008

Edward Lorenz, an MIT meteorologist who tried to explain why it is so hard to make good weather forecasts and wound up unleashing a scientific revolution called chaos theory, died April 16 of cancer at his home in Cambridge. He was 90.

A professor at MIT, Lorenz was the first to recognize what is now called chaotic behavior in the mathematical modeling of weather systems. In the early 1960s, Lorenz realized that small differences in a dynamic system such as the atmosphere–or a model of the atmosphere–could trigger vast and often unsuspected results.

MIT’s burgeoning role in the green movement

Under its new President, Susan Hockfield, MIT has taken a leadership role in the discussions regarding science, technology, business, entrepreneurship and policy in energy and the environment. Here is an op-ed from her in today’s Boston Globe. I look forward to attending the MIT Energy Conference this coming weekend. I invite you to visit GEO2’s booth on the friday night’s Energy Showcase.

MIT’s burgeoning role in the green movement

by Susan Hockfield

April 7, 2008

BOSTON MAGAZINE has ranked MIT’s work on energy and the environment as No. 2 on its list of “61 Best New Things About Boston.” It’s unusual praise for MIT; our research is more often noticed in academic journals. But the magazine’s listing says something important: people beyond the university research community and the green movement are eager for answers to our energy and environmental challenges.

The challenges are many. How do we meet the aspirations of people around the world for a healthy, comfortable, productive life, without irreparably damaging the planet? How will we in the developed world preserve our quality of life, while shifting to renewable technologies? At the same time, how do we enable the developing world to reach a standard of living that grants access to modern comforts? How, for example, will we get electricity to the 1 billion people who don’t yet have it?

At MIT we are inventing real energy and climate solutions – from large-scale technologies that capture carbon emissions and dramatic new ways to tap deep geothermal energy, to smaller-scale ideas such as lithium-ion batteries to revolutionize the electric car and new materials that could make solar energy as cheap and dependable as coal.