The 2023 Climate Action Conference hosted by the UCLA Institute for Carbon Management brings together a stellar group of industry and academia leaders who will share their insights on practical solutions to one of the world’s most pressing challenges — reducing carbon emissions. The day-and-a-half, invite-only conference will feature a visit to AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles for a demonstration of UCLA’s latest SeaChange technology, followed by a daylong conference with prominent speakers and panelists for discussions on how to leverage technology, business and policy for catalyzing cost-effective carbon management.
LOCATION
UCLA Meyer & Renee Luskin Conference Center
425 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
DAY ONE
Sunday, March 19, 2023
SeaChange Tech Demo and Dinner
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Registration and Refreshments at Luskin Conference Center
(425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095)
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Depart UCLA by bus to AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles (2451 Signal St., San Pedro, CA 90731)
4:30 p.m. – 4:35 p.m.
Demonstration of SeaChange Technology
*Individuals traveling directly to the port need to arrive by 4:10 p.m.
4:35 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Introduction of Seawater Electrolysis Pilot
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Edward Muller, Board Chairman, ICM and Equatic
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Gaurav Sant, Director, ICM; Professor, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
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Lorenzo Corsini, Principal Advisor, Equatic
5:00 p.m. – 5:10 p.m.
Ribbon Cutting and Pilot Inauguration
5:10 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Tech Demo and Overview
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Terry Tamminen, CEO, AltaSea
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Dante Simonetti, Associate Director, ICM; Associate Professor, UCLA Samueli
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Thomas Traynor, Translation Leader, ICM
5:45 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Depart Port of L.A. to Luskin Conference Center
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Cocktails and Dinner at Luskin Conference Center
DAY TWO
Monday, March 20, 2023
All-Day Conference
7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Opening Remarks
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Gene Block, Chancellor, UCLA
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Gaurav Sant, Director, ICM; Professor, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
8:30 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.
Speaker Session
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Anthony Pritzker, Chairman and CEO, Pritzker Private Capital
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Daniel Weiss, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Angeleno Group
Moderator
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Raj Iyer, CEO, Specifx Lithium
9:05 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Panel: Finance and Business
This panel brings together leaders to consider aspects of the company stage, new technology risk and the implications on valuation. They will discuss new thinking, financing models and risk management to deliver transformative climate change mitigation technologies and how to ensure competitive return on invested capital in the next decade.
Panelists
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MacKenzie Davis, Managing Partner, SailingStone Capital Partners
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Gerald Keefe, Head of Global Banking – Americas, HSBC
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May Liew, Investment Director, GenZero
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Alexander Mishkin, Managing Director, Lime Rock New Energy
Moderator
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Daniel Weiss, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Angeleno Group
9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Coffee Break
10:00 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.
Speaker Session
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Ajay Mehta, Vice President of Engineering Technology and Chief Engineer of R&D, Shell PLC
Moderator
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Rahul Shendure, CEO, CarbonBuilt
10:35 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Panel: Enabling Industrial Solutions
Climate change mitigation requires the unprecedented creation of new industrial sectors. Rapid and timely disruption requires pragmatic teaming with existing industrial sectors. This panel brings together leaders to discuss the transformation of existing sectors and ensuring domestic access to materials critical for net-negative emissions in the next decade.
Panelists
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Alex Hall, CEO, Concrete.ai
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Raj Iyer, CEO, Specifx Lithium
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Girish Nadkarni, Venture Partner, Alchemist Climate Ventures; Board Member, Gentari
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Douglas Wicks, Program Director, U.S. Department of Energy (ARPA-E)
Moderator
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Subhrajit Dey, Technology Leader, Shell PLC
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Speaker Session
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Robert Lovelace, Vice Chair and President, Capital Group
Moderator
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Girish Nadkarni, Venture Partner, Alchemist Climate Ventures; Board Member, Gentari
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
Featured Speaker
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Lawrence Bender, Film Producer and Founder, Lawrence Bender Productions
1:00 p.m. – 1:35 p.m.
Speaker Session
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Mark Patel, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Moderator
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Lorenzo Corsini, Principal Advisor, Equatic
1:35 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Panel: Scaling-Up Actions for Carbon Management
Climate change mitigation is an enormous proposition, and it is necessary to embed new technologies in upcoming and existing industrial paradigms to scale carbon management. This panel brings together leaders to discuss supply chains, technology and scaling challenges relevant to global-scale carbon management in the next decade.
Panelists
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Lorenzo Corsini, Principal Advisor, Equatic
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Josh Haacker, Chief Investment Officer, OGCI Climate Investments
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Jan Mazurek, Senior Director, ClimateWorks Foundation
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Heather Sheffer, Carbon Strategy Lead, Environmental Engagement & Business Development, The Boeing Company
Moderator
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Peter Relan, Founder and CEO, YouWeb Incubator
2:15 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
Speaker Session
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Kevin Tidwell, Managing Director, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
Moderator
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Eric Upin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Point Olema Capital Partners
2:50 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Coffee Break
3:00 p.m. – 3:35 p.m.
Speaker Session
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Sheila Remes, Vice President of Global Environmental Sustainability, The Boeing Company
Moderator
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Lars Kroijer, Founder and Managing Director, AlliedOffsets
3:35 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Panel: Company Building and Catalytic Innovation
Over the past two centuries, enormous wealth creation has resulted from the proliferation of energy, transport, construction, internet and health sectors. This panel brings together innovators and venture capitalists to discuss how thesis-based company building, catalytic innovation ecosystems and the lessons learned from the last two centuries can result in purposeful, profitable and timely climate change mitigation in the upcoming decades.
Panelists
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Frederic Lalonde, Founder and CEO, Hopper
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Shally Shanker, Founder and Managing Partner, AiiM Partners
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Rahul Shendure, CEO, CarbonBuilt
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Irena Spazzapan, Managing Partner, Systemiq Capital
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Sarah Vared, Director, Ventures at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Moderator
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John Kim, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Amasia Capital
4:15 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
Speaker Session
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Caitlyn Fox, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Moderator
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Edward Muller, Board Chairman, ICM and Equatic
4:50 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Closing Session
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Edward Muller, Board Chairman, ICM and Equatic
Moderator
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Ida Levine, Principal, Impact Investing Institute
5:30 p.m.
Conference Adjournment
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Cocktails and Dinner at Luskin Conference Center
Featured Speaker
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Hon. Tony Cárdenas, Congressman, California’s 29th District
SPEAKERS
Gene Block
Chancellor
Gene Block Biography
A champion of high-quality, accessible public higher education, Gene Block has served as chancellor of UCLA since 2007. Under Chancellor Block’s leadership, UCLA has greatly enhanced its position as a national leader in enrolling undergraduates who come from low-income backgrounds, have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education or are among the first in their families to go to college.
During his tenure, UCLA has also become the most applied-to university in the nation, has advanced in rankings in nearly every discipline, has significantly deepened its international partnerships and engagement with alumni, and now receives more than $1.6 billion annually in research grants. Chancellor Block holds faculty appointments in psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA College. Before becoming the leader of UCLA, Chancellor Block spent 29 years at the University of Virginia, where he was most recently vice president and provost.
Gaurav Sant
Professor
Gaurav Sant Biography
In April 2021, Sant led UCLA CarbonBuilt to become the first university team in the world to win an XPRIZE, earning a $7.5 million grand prize in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE global competition for turning carbon into concrete.
Sant earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from Purdue University and completed post-doctoral training at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Laussane, Switzerland. He is the founder/co-founder of six startups spun out of UCLA-developed technologies — CarbonBuilt, Concrete AI, SeaChange, x/44, Specifx and Nextli Technologies.
Lawrence Bender
Founder and Producer
Lawrence Bender Productions
Lawrence Bender Biography
For more than three decades, Lawrence Bender has held court as one of Hollywood’s most successful producers, developing Academy Award-winning films that are so influential and iconic they have altered the global cinema landscape. From “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting” to “An Inconvenient Truth,” Bender’s films have been nominated for more than 36 Academy Awards, won eight Oscars and brought in more than $1 billion in ticket box office sales worldwide.
As a widely respected veteran producer, Bender has often used his passion for social causes to create films that address some of the most pressing issues of our time: the environment, nuclear weapons, racism, poverty and war. Bender produced Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” which tackled climate change and ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as “Countdown to Zero,” which covered the threat of nuclear weapons in today’s world.
Hon. Tony Cárdenas
Congressman
California’s 29th District
Hon. Tony Cárdenas Biography
Tony Cárdenas was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2013 for the 113th Congress (2013-2014) and has represented California’s 29th district since. Now in the 117th Congress (2021-2022), Cárdenas sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he is fighting for hard-working American families. He has worked on and authored legislation to lower prescription drug prices, protect American consumers, combat climate change and ensure that everyone has access to affordable, quality health care. The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest of the “authorizing” committees in the House.
Before representing California’s 29th district in Congress, Cárdenas was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1996. He went on to serve three terms in the assembly and was later elected to the Los Angeles City Council, in 2003. An engineering degree and a business background prepared him for the day-to-day duties of an elected official, while his experience allowed him to find practical and realistic solutions to difficult problems. Cárdenas earned his engineering degree from UC Santa Barbara. Born in Pacoima, Cárdenas was raised with 10 brothers and sisters and still resides in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Norma, and their children.
Caitlyn Fox
VP of Strategic Initiatives
Caitlyn Fox Biography
Previously, she worked at Redstone Strategy Group, working with a variety of philanthropic and social sector clients. Fox also worked for the Rockefeller Foundation, where she focused on strategy and impact investing. She began her career in management consulting, serving technology and financial services clients on corporate strategy.
Fox holds a B.A. in political philosophy from Brown University and an MBA in social entrepreneurship and innovation from the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Lovelace
Vice Chair and President
Robert Lovelace Biography
Robert Lovelace is vice chair and president of Capital Group, chief executive officer of Capital Research and Management Company and chair of the Capital Group Management Committee. He is also a portfolio manager with 37 years of investment experience, all at Capital Group.
Lovelace earned a bachelor’s degree in mineral economics (geology) from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
Ajay Mehta
VP of Engineering Technology
Shell PLC
Ajay Mehta Biography
Ajay Mehta serves as the vice president of engineering technology and chief engineer of R&D for Shell PLC. He is currently based in Bangalore, India, where he also heads up Shell’s Technology Center. Mehta leads a global team of scientists and engineers who provide expertise and innovative solutions across the energy value chain.
Over his 26-year career at Shell, Mehta has assumed a broad range of technical and leadership roles in deep-water exploration and production, operations, CO2 mitigation, project engineering and technology management. He is an expert in natural gas hydrates and has served as a distinguished lecturer for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Prior to his current role, he led Shell’s New Energies Research & Technology Group. He also serves on several boards globally.
Mehta holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in India, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from MIT.
Edward Muller
Board Chairman
ICM and Equatic
Edward Muller Biography
Edward Muller is the chairman of the advisory board of the UCLA Institute for Carbon Management and of six startups deploying technologies developed at UCLA — CarbonBuilt, Concrete.ai, Nextli Technologies, Equatic, Specifx Lithium and x/44. He is also a director of Transocean and AeroVironment.
Muller has previously served as CEO of three electric generation companies — Genon, Mirant and Edison Mission Energy — and as vice chairman of NRG Energy. In addition, he was chairman of the board of trustees of the Riverview School and of the U.S.-Philippines Business Committee, as well as co-chairman of the International Energy Development Council. Muller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Muller holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from the Yale Law School.
Mark Patel
Senior Partner
Mark Patel Biography
Prior to working at McKinsey, he has had experiences in building and leading two early-stage, high-tech startups, working in commercial operations, strategy, data science and creating application software for mobile operators.
Patel holds an MBA from Stanford University and an MBA in manufacturing engineering from the University of Cambridge in England.
Anthony Pritzker
Chairman and CEO
Pritzker Private Capital
Anthony Pritzker Biography
Anthony Pritzker is chairman and CEO of Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) in Los Angeles and Chicago. PPC is an acquirer of middle-market companies. The company invests on behalf of certain Pritzker and other long-term focused family and institutional investors.
Pritzker is actively involved in community services and serves on the board of the Hammer Museum. He co-chaired the UCLA Centennial Campaign with Chancellor Gene Block and is extremely active philanthropically.
Pritzker has an engineering degree from Dartmouth and an MBA from University of Chicago. He is married to Jeanne Kriser Pritzker and they have six children.
Pritzker is a triathlete and has competed in multiple Ironman races. He also enjoys cycling, golf, tennis and especially enjoys traveling around the world with his family.
Sheila Remes
VP of Global Environmental Sustainability
The Boeing Company
Sheila Remes Biography
Sheila Remes is vice president of global environmental sustainability at The Boeing Company. In this role, she leads a team focused on continuously improving Boeing’s products and services to achieve sustainability goals. A key part of the role is business development for scaling sustainable aviation fuel globally.
Remes previously served as vice president of strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where she led cross-functional efforts to define strategic direction around enterprise-wide business decisions.
Remes came to Boeing with experience at two airlines. At America West, she was responsible for airplane and component acquisition, airplane modification engineering and flight operations engineering support. At United, she supported the company’s revenue management, scheduling, station reliability, sales and marketing efforts with corporate customers.
Outside of Boeing, Remes serves on the board of directors for the World Affairs Council of Seattle and the International Aviation Women’s Association.
Remes received a bachelor’s in engineering from Arizona State University and an MBA from Seattle University.
Kevin Tidwell
Managing Director
Kevin Tidwell Biography
Tidwell holds a B.A. in history and a B.S. in environmental engineering from Rice University. He also earned a master’s in environmental science and an MBA from Yale University.
Daniel Weiss
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Angeleno Group
Daniel Weiss Biography
Daniel Weiss is co-founder and managing partner of Angeleno Group (“AG”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm with a global platform focused on high growth investments in next generation energy and natural resource-related companies. Founded in 2001, AG invests broadly across the energy and natural resource industry to support innovative, well managed, rapidly growing businesses. In addition to his firm management responsibilities, Weiss leads investments and serves on boards of multiple AG portfolio companies.
Prior to the formation of AG, Weiss was an attorney at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, working in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions, international and high technology practice groups.
Weiss has served on boards or public commissions for a number of non-profit and government organizations. Weiss was appointed by President Obama in 2015 to serve as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington, DC. He is currently a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Weiss holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. with High Honors from U.C. Berkeley.