INDUSTRY SPEAKERS PANEL INCLUDE:
Kurt Kelty: Director Energy Storage Technologies, Tesla Motors
Priscilla M. Lu: Chair of the Board of Directors, Zap Electric Vehicles
Naoki “Nick” Sugimoto: Principal of Honda Strategic Venturing
Jason Wolf: VP Business Development N.A., Better Place
(Speakers Panel is subject to change)
WHEN:
5:30p.m.-8p.m., October 7, 2009 (Pacific Daylight Saving Time)
Registration and Networking: 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. (PDT)
Program: 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. (PDT)
WHERE:
Location: 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA
Bldg 950 (brick building)
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC
FEES:
$20 for early registration by 10/2/09
$35 for registration between 10/3-10/6/09 5:00 p.m. (PDT)
$50 for walk-in registration on 10/7/09
DRESS:
Business casual
LIVE CAST INFORMATION:
インターネットを通して世界へ実況放送
Online live cast sponsored by MonetizeMedia
FREE for those who rsvp before 10/6/2009 5:00pm (PDT)
Log-in instruction for live cast will be sent later to those whom registered
OTHER INFORMATION:
Registration at www.keizai.org
Please Bring Business Cards for Networking
EVENT OVERVIEW
President Obama wants $2.4 billion to simulate the electric vehicle industry With this federal funding, he projects one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. That’s over five years away. Will this plan help revitalize the economy?
Meanwhile, increased concerns over the environmental impact of gasoline cars, along with reduced consumer ability to pay for fuel for gasoline cars, is revitalizing consumer interest in electric cars, which are perceived to be more environmentally friendly and cheaper to maintain in a long run, despite high initial costs. Electric cars currently enjoy relative popularity in countries around the world, though they are notably absent from the roads of the United States, where electric cars briefly re-appeared in the late 90s as a response to changing government regulations.
PRESENTATIONS:
Kurt Kelty/Tesla Motors | Priscilla M. Lu/Zap Electric Vehicles |
Jason Wolf/Better Place | Naoki “Nick” Sugimoto/HSV
So who’s ready for the electric car in the marketplace?
ABOUT THE INDUSTRY SPEAKERS PANEL:
Tesla Motors
Kurt Kelty: Director Energy Storage Technologies, Tesla Motors
Kurt Kelty manages the battery cell and pack advanced development group, as Director of Energy Storage Technologies at Tesla Motors. This team is responsible for setting and implementing Tesla’s battery usage strategy as well as the module and pack engineering strategy. His group is particularly focused on developing modules and battery packs that are economical, but also have high performance and safety.
Mr. Kelty is responsible for the technical exchanges and negotiations with each of the battery suppliers. He also leads the battery pack recycling and regulatory efforts at Tesla. He is a member of SAE Hybrid J2464 Task Force concerning Electric Vehicle Battery Abuse Testing and IEC/TC21/JWG69-Li Committee to form performance and abuse standards for vehicle battery packs. As Tesla grows the battery pack and powertrain business, Mr. Kelty is also responsible for relations with external non-Tesla customers of the battery pack.
Before joining Tesla, Mr. Kelty worked for Matsushita (Panasonic) for nearly fifteen years, seven of those years in Japan. At Panasonic, Mr. Kelty worked in various planning and marketing capacities related to Ni-MH and Li-ion batteries. During the last 5 years, he founded and led Panasonic’s R&D lab in Silicon Valley and created R&D alliances between Panasonic and other battery and fuel cell developers in the U.S.
Mr. Kelty received his B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College in 1986 and his MSc from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1997.
ZAP!
Priscilla M. Lu: Chair of the Board of Directors, Zap Electric Vehicles
Priscilla M. Lu, PhD, is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Zap. Dr. Lu is currently the Managing Partner and Founder of Cathaya Funds, a private equity fund focusing on international business alliances in China such as the Hong Kong-based Better World International, Ltd. ZAP recently announced Better World International’s $25 million financing arrangement with the company to help accelerate a three-part growth strategy on battery systems, wheel motor technologies and affordable electric vehicle design and production.
Through her involvement with Cathaya Funds, Dr. Lu also is a principal in the foundation of China Broadband Inc., a company heavily invested in interactive broadband, wireless and cable media programming in China. For the five years prior, Dr. Lu was China Advisor to Mayfield Fund, a forty-year old venture capital firm with over $2.8 billion under management. Dr. Lu helped found GSR Fund for Mayfield, a venture capital fund in China overseeing more that $700 million in investments.
She holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Northwestern University and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics (Honors) from the University of Wisconsin and has over 50 patents in the area of telecommunications and networking.and was recruited to take the helm as CEO in 2002. Since that time he has taken ZAP to a whole new level. Zap
Better Place
Jason Wolf: VP Business Development, Better Place
Jason Wolf is responsible for business development for Better Place. In this role, he strives to form strategic partnerships with energy companies, automobile manufacturers, investors, governments and other key parties in an effort to create infrastructure for the mass adoption of electric vehicles.
Wolf brings more than 11 years of management experience in the IT industry, having held various positions in strategic planning, product rollouts, sales and professional services. In his last role, Wolf served as president of Sterna Technologies USA, the pioneer of Business Positioning Systems software. Prior to joining Sterna, he held a number of positions during a 10-year career at SAP AG, including senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives and senior vice president of New Product Introductions.
Wolf holds a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the University of Tel-Aviv, and an MBA from San Jose State University. From 1986 to 1993, he served as an officer in the Israeli military.
Honda Strategic Venturing
Naoki “Nick” Sugimoto
Nick Sugimoto is a Principal of Honda Strategic Venturing (HSV), the corporate venture capital arm of Honda Motor Corporation based in Mountain View, California. HSV seeks investment opportunities in technology venture companies to establish the strategic foundation for collaborative partnership to excel Honda’s innovative R&D and share the success together. Nick oversees a broad spectrum of technologies including cleantech, advanced materials and information technologies. Previously, Nick helped Japanese angel investors identify venture investment opportunities and manage portfolios in the US. Also, Nick has successful entrepreneurial experience in a series of technology start-ups both in the U.S. and in Japan. Nick received his mechanical engineering degree from University of Tokyo in 1984 and MBA from Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley in 1996.