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EPA Head Michael Regan speaks at the UNC Cleantech Summit

Cleantech Events

 

UNC Cleantech Summit, March 24-25, 2025

The 11th annual event will be held on March 24-25, 2025 at the UNC Friday Conference Center. The two-day event brings together professionals in business, government, and academia from across the Southeast and around the world for discussion, workshops, mentoring, and networking to foster leadership and growth in the Southeast’s cleantech economy. The Summit convenes nearly 1,500 attendees and is the largest event of its kind by a university in the United States.

The 11th annual UNC Cleantech Summit will include a variety of networking and learning opportunities for ticket holders. Samples include:

  • Industry professional networking reception for registered speakers and sponsors (March 24)
  • VIP reception for sponsors (invitation-only, offsite)
  • In-person career fair (March 25)
  • Mentor Match program for industry professionals to share their career path with a small group of students interested in their field/sector/role. *Brief meetings are set by small groups during the Summit.

Interested in participating as a sponsor or speaker? Contact Dr. Greg Gangi or Kiersten Wolf Williams for more information.

Keynote Speakers

Anthony Allard of Hitachi Energy as keynote for 2025 UNC Cleantech Summit

Anthony Allard

Managing Director, United States Region, Head North America

Hitachi Energy

Ahmad Chatila as keynote speaker at UNC Cleantech Summit

Ahmad Chatila

Managing Partner

Fenice Investing Group

Eugene Flood, Jr, Ph.D. as keynote speaker at 2025 UNC Cleantech Summit

Eugene Flood, Jr., Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Flood Mason Holdings

Rose Hall of AXA XL is a keynote speaker at the UNC Cleantech Summit.

Rose Hall

Senior VP and Head of Innovation

AXA XL

Alex Hsu of Fortune Electric is a keynote speaker at the UNC Cleantech Summit

Alex Hsu

Vice President

Fortune Electric

Mike Kolodner, Managing Director of March McLennan as keynote for UNC Cleantech Summit

Mike Kolodner

Managing Director of US Energy and Power Practice Leader

Marsh McLennan

Michael Luciano, co-founder of Juniper will speak at the UNC Cleantech Summit

Michael Luciani

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Juniper

Ray Spitzley, Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley as UNC Cleantech Summit keynote speaker

Ray Spitzley

Vice Chairman, Global Power and Utility Group and Co-Head, Energy Transition

Morgan Stanley

Accelerate Cleantech: A Global Matchmaking Event and Business Gateway, March 26, 2025 (invitation-only)

This event is an invitation-only event with two types of opportunities. It is designed to: Connect investors and company venture scouts with clean-tech ventures seeking capital and/or partnerships to facilitate growth. Introduce ventures from around the world to the opportunities to locate facilities and offices here to facilitate growth and market penetration. Do you belong there? For more information, contact Dr. Jeffrey Mittelstadt.

Cleantech Awards: Nominations are Open

Do you know an individual in a traditional or new cleantech industry who has helped make the world a cleaner place? Nominate them for a 2025 UNC Cleantech Summit award! Please note all nominees must be in the United States. Award categories include: Cleantech Pioneer, Cleantech Entrepreneur, Cleantech Rockstar (< 35 years old), and the Cleantech Faculty Innovation Award. All award winners will be presented with their awards on March 24 at the Summit luncheon in Chapel Hill, NC. The deadline for all nominations is January 10, 2025.

Nominate now

A Look Back to Last Year’s Summit

On March 21 – 22, 2024 nearly 1,500 industry professionals, government officials, and students from different North Carolina universities participated in the 10th annual UNC Cleantech Summit at the UNC Friday Conference Center.

The two-day Summit event has grown to be the largest event of its kind by a university. The event featured U.S. Federal government officials, global leaders, entrepreneurs, and students who shared and celebrated the innovations reshaping energy, food, batteries, biotechnology, and more.

During the 2024 Summit, attendees enjoyed panels with more than 200 speakers and 14 keynotes including Michael Regan, EPA Administrator; Frank Holding Jr., Chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bank; President and CEO of Avangrid, Catherine Stempien and Chris Womack, CEO of Southern Company, among others.

Participants attended 40+ breakout sessions across nine tracks that explored the global energy transition and emerging trends, biotechnology, mobility, green chemistry, the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), decarbonization, circularity, and more.

The event also featured an evening reception, an in-person career fair, and a Mentor Match program where industry professionals are matched with students based on student career interests.

First-ever Cleantech Week

This past year, the first Cleantech Week was held and featured three (3) separate programs that included:

  • How to Build a Strong Cleantech Ecosystem in RTP” for practitioners, researchers, and regional talent to discuss building a strong cleantech ecosystem in the Research Triangle Park. Guest speakers included Ryan Dinks, the COO of Greentown Labs and Dougan Sherwood and Carrie Allen from Cambridge Innovation Center.
  • New Directions in Energy Policy” featured Stephen Gross, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center of European and Mediterranean Studies at New York University, and a panel discussion. The event was co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union.
  • Transatlantic Marketplace” was an afternoon event and networking reception for professionals to discuss ways to grow the green marketplace. Attendees included European startups, American VCs, and technology scouts from utility and chemical companies.

 

Hear what business leaders say about the UNC Cleantech Summit

 

 

Cleantech Spotlight

SunCast Media Series from the 2023 UNC Cleantech Summit

In 2023, the UNC Cleantech Summit collaborated with SunCast Media to create a series of speaker interviews from this two-day event. These videos share key insights from the CEOs of Dominion Power, APS Energy/Pinnacle West, Strata Clean Energy, the Dept of Energy, and a dozen more. These are candid conversations with industry leaders about the state of the cleantech market today, trending energy topics, and what to expect in the near future. Special thanks to our MediaZone sponsors: Eaton, CPS Energy, and Joule Case. Click the button below to watch an interview with Bob Blue, CEO of Dominion Energy followed by his keynote speech and fireside chat from the 2023 UNC Cleantech Summit. You can watch the complete UNC Cleantech Summit playlist on YouTube.

SunCast Media Series

Watch Now

Co-hosts

This event is co-hosted by:

 

 

Institute for the Environment Logo

 

Kenan-Flagler Business School Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability as co-host of the UNC Cleantech Summit