The Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory is pleased to announce that together with its principal  partners and sponsoring organizations it will hold a one day conference entitled: “A New Bi-National Energy Future: Biofuels and Solar Policy Summit.”  High level officials, experts and individuals, representing all levels of government, industry and academic/research communities from Mexico and the U.S. will be invited to consider critical issues relevant to creating a new bi-national energy future in the U.S.-Mexico border region.  We will be holding the Summit in conjunction with the Iberoamerican Science and Technology Education Consortium's annual General Assembly, the Nano Network of New Mexico's October "Nano Convergence" meeting, and an ISTEC/MANCEF matchmaking event.  The energy summit will focus on the key issues of biofuels and solar electric energy as well as the importance of enabling technologies such a nano- and micro-technologies to advance these energy industries.  This will be done in a bi-national context with the goal of identifying measures to link technology and policy to action at the regional, national and international level. 

The Summit will look at various issues including: Federal and State alternative energy policies; regional planning and roadmaps; national and bi-national opportunities and challenges; private sector views on investment and production; state of the technologies—challenges and opportunities; transmission and distribution infrastructure; a “Green Grid” integrated with high value solutions, including the use of high performance computing; potential impact and importance of enabling nano- and micro-technologies to these energy industries, and establishing a bi-national strategy.  

The Summit is being carried out as part of the New Mexico-Chihuahua Partnership for Innovation agreement signed by the governors of the two states earlier this year.  It is the first of an expected series of workshops and conferences focused on strategic areas of interest identified in the agreement and will be used to help implement the broader intent to stimulate economic development between the two states. 

Attendee Profile:

The Summit is designed for individuals or organizations interested in biofuels and solar energy technology policy, application and commercialization in general and the bi-national southwestern desert regions specifically.  These would included individuals/organizations from the public and private academic, research and industrial sectors

Language:

English and Spanish

Important Dates:
Early Registration: Until midnight October 9th, 2009 (MST)
Summit: October 26, 2009

Registration:

The registration fee includes lunch, cocktail, coffee breaks and event program.

A New Bi-National Energy Future: Biofuels and Solar Policy Summit

Venue
Room: Ballroom B

Student Union Building (SUB)

Main Campus

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM – USA

Partners:

• Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory (BNSL)

• Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialization Education Foundation (MANCEF)

• Southwestern Biofuels Association (SWBA)

• Centro de Investigaciones de Materiales Avanzados (CIMAV)

• Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) Chihuahua City

• New Mexico State University (NMSU)

• Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC)

• State of New Mexico Governor’s Office

Related Events

Nano Convergence Conference

For general information contact:

If you are interested in financially supporting this Summit please contact:

Paul Maxwell

Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory

pmaxwell@bnsl.org or

Vaughn Gangwish

Southwestern Biofuels Association

vaugngangwish@q.com

A New Bi-National Energy Future: Biofuels & Solar Policy Summit

Paul Maxwell
Executive Director and CEO
Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory

Vaughn Gangwish
Executive Director
Southwestern Biofuels Association

Scott Bryant
Executive Director
MANCEF

Everett Egginton
Dean, International Studies
New Mexico State University

Jesus Gonzalez
Director
Center for Advanced Materials Research (CIMAV)

Antonio Rios
Dean of Graduate Research & Development
Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM), Chihuahua

Thomas Bowles
State Science Advisor
Office of Governor Richardson

Maria Zannes
Advisor
Green Earth Fuels, LLC

Ida Baca
Assoc. Vice Provost International Programs
New Mexico State University

Jorge Armendariz
Director of International Projects
Center for Advanced Materials Research (CIMAV)

Alberto Correa
Consultant
Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory

Nicole Wylde
Marketing Director
MANCEF

Dr. Michael A. Pacheco

Dr. Michael Pacheco is the vice president for Program Development at Midwest Research Institute (MRI) and the vice president for Deployment and Industry Partnerships at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He recently led MRI’s launch of a new 74-acre test site for validation testing of solar energy system components. At NREL, he is currently responsible for creating a new centralized organization of NREL’s deployment programs and activities, including: the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), Integrated Deployment projects, Weatherization & Intergovernmental, Clean Cities, Wind Powering America, Solar America Initiative, the Small Business Program, Industry Partnerships, as well as the State, Local and Tribal initiatives.  His new organization develops strategic deployment opportunities with industry and other federal agency partners to accelerate large-scale deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology.

Pacheco has 28 years of experience in research, manufacturing, management, and technical strategy development.  He first joined NREL in January 2003, and served 4½ years as the first director of the National Bioenergy Center at NREL. Pacheco served an assignment as the first chief technology officer and a corporate vice president at Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) from June 2007 to January 2008, where he led the development of a corporate technology strategy for biofuels and bio-based chemicals for ADM. He immediately rejoined MRI and NREL in January 2008.

Prior to first joining NREL in 2003, Pacheco held positions as a Research Fellow and Technology Manager for Louisiana-Pacific (1999-2003); and Vice President of Process Development for a start-up company, Energy Biosystems (1997-1999).  Earlier in his career, he progressed through a series of research, manufacturing, and research management positions at Amoco Corp. from 1984 to 1997, and worked three years as a research engineer for Conoco (1977-1980.)  His educational background includes a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Univ. of California, Berkeley (’84), and a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University (’77).

Marjorie (Margie) L. Tatro

Margie currently leads a group of approximately 200 people working on behalf of the nation’s taxpayers to make the nation’s energy and water systems safer, more secure, more reliable, more sustainable, and cost effective.  She is responsible for a $90M portfolio of programs that include fossil energy, renewable energy, and energy storage technologies, as well as energy efficiency, transportation fuels, and energy infrastructure research.  In addition, Margie is responsible for water safety, security and sustainability efforts including work to improve water treatment technologies as well as the identification of water-energy challenges and research opportunities.  


Margie holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering (heat transfer) from the University of California, Davis and the University of New Mexico and has been employed by Sandia National Labs since 1985.  She has worked in renewable energy research, facilities design, software design, energy reliability and infrastructure protection groups while at Sandia.  She is a native of Los Alamos, New Mexico.