Advisory Board Meeting Highlights New Clean Energy Technology

On July 27, 2022 the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute's Advisory Board met to provide guidance in the coming year. The Advisory Board welcomed its newest members: Mallikarjun Angalakudati (Washington Gas), Theresa Christian (Exelon) and Thomas Greszler (Saft). The addition of the new board members provides a balanced representation from industry, research and academia along the value chain from research and technology development to market entry and commercialization.

Also in attendance were Maryland State Delegates Lily Qi and Marc Korman, champions of MEI²'s continued existence and increased funding. Following the meeting Delegate Qi noted, “I’m impressed with the breadth of cutting-edge research MEI² is involved in and the partnerships it has established in clean energy innovation both in Maryland and globally. MEI² has proven to be a sound investment for Maryland and I look forward to continuing our partnership in advancing our clean energy economy.”

The Advisory Board also noted the continued significant advances and collaborations in clean energy research programs have yielded tangible outcomes and benefits its partners and to the State. This is evident in the over 16 Energy Innovation companies have been founded and advanced through their association with the MEI² Energy Seed grants and/or in partnership with the Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator (MEIA). Many of these Energy Seed Grant projects were on hand for poster presentations during lunch. During the poster presentations, Atlantic Biomass/UMES (a 2020 seed grant recipient) signed a $20M Letter of Intent with Bionoid, Inc. signaling their joint commitment to producing commercial quantities of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) from residual hemp biomass.

At the conclusion, Delegate Korman remarked, "Outside this room, the future of energy and the environment can look pretty bleak given the daily news. But inside, there is so much cause for optimism with the technological breakthroughs being studied."