January 2009 Archives

Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center (AERTC) Conference
November 19th and 20th, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hauppauge, NY

The meeting was organized by AERTC, which is made up of Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University, as well as National Grid and LIPA.

The conference was extremely crowded, with over 1,000 attendees according to one organizer, and included "leading researchers in alternative fuels, top government officials, legislators, energy policy-makers, environmentalists, and leaders from the worlds of business, academia, and the not-for-profit sector."

The exhibition was busy and included about 50 booths. AIP garnered a good amount of attention and gave away all of the bags (~50) and flyers (nearly 100) that we brought. There were some researchers to talk to at the display table, but mainly business-oriented people were in the exhibit area--either business owners or financers.

The symposia featured a series of internationally recognized speakers who shared energy research, energy technologies and applied energy technologies with global application. However, it was apparent that the goal was to move Long Island (and to a lesser extent New York state) towards a "greener" economy.

Keynote speeches were allotted two hours each days and the speakers included: Congressman Steve Israel (U. S Congress), Bruce Herman (NYS Department of Labor), Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny (Stony Brook University), Bob Catell (National Grid), Paul DeCotis (Energy-NYS), Tom DiNapoli (Comptroller - NYS), Senator Ken LaValle, Kevin Law (LIPA), Dr. Yacov Shamash (Stony Brook University), Senator John J. Flanagan, Steve Levy (Suffolk County Executive), Dr. Doon Gibbs (Brookhaven National Laboratory), and Senator Carl Marcellino.

The organizers did an excellent job organizing the sessions in 5 parallel thematic tracks - Advancing Energy Options, Renewables, Networks of the Future, Conservation & Efficiency, and Innovation. Speakers came from IBM, Stony Brook University, Cornell University, Brookhaven National Lab, Columbia University, SUNY Farmingdale, New York Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Pacific Northwest National Lab, Northrop Grumman, Queensborough Community College and several other service organizations.

Check out a few pictures here.