In this panel, senior members of the Biden-Harris Administration will discuss the work they did to catalyze the private sector to commercialize critical technologies for the clean energy transition. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) created over 900,000 new jobs, catalyzed over 900 new and expanded manufacturing facilities and for every dollar invested by the DOE, six dollars was brought to the table by the private sector. Learn more from key leaders on how this was accomplished.
Panel discussion moderated by Vanessa Chan, the inaugural Vice Dean of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Penn Engineering and the former Chief Commercialization Officer at DOE under President Biden featuring panelists Maria Robinson, the former Director of the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), Jigar Shah, the former Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) and Giulia Siccardo, the former Director of Manufacturing Energy & Supply Chain (MESC).
Vanessa Chan (Host)
Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Vice Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Penn Engineering
Vanessa Chan is an accomplished entrepreneur, angel investor, speaker and educator renowned for her expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship at the intersection of technology and business. Under President Biden, Vanessa served as the Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy.
In this role, she was instrumental in nationally advancing clean energy technologies, notably through the "Pathways to Commercial Liftoff" reports, which provided roadmaps for decarbonizing various sectors, including geothermal and hydrogen. In recognition of her work, Time named her as one of the world’s 100 most influential business leaders in climate in the Time100 Climate 2024 list.
Vanessa earned her Ph.D. from MIT and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania, both in Materials Science and Engineering.
Maria Robinson
Former Director
Grid Deployment Office (GDO)
Maria Duaime Robinson is the former Director of the Grid Deployment Office. She was the first Korean-American elected to the Massachusetts General Court, where she served in the House of Representatives from 2019-2022. While in office, she led the bicameral Clean Energy Caucus, was the Massachusetts state lead for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators where she also served on the board, and was the only state legislator on the U.S. EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee. She also served on faculty at Tufts University's School of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, bringing her expertise in energy policy to graduate students. Prior to her election in 2018, Maria led Advanced Energy Economy's Wholesale Markets Program, including engagement at FERC and the regional transmission organizations.
Previously, she focused on regulatory issues relating to energy and air, including a 27-state campaign with Governors' offices, legislatures, and energy and environmental regulators. She also managed AEE’s report development and data-driven analysis at both the state and national level. She worked for Navigant Consulting in the renewable energy practice, supporting the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in analyzing and procuring contractors for statewide renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
Maria is a proud lifetime Girl Scout. She holds an S.B. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters of Jurisprudence in Energy Law from the University of Tulsa.
Jigar Shah
Former Director
Loan Programs Office (LPO)
Jigar Shah is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and energy strategist. Shah most recently served as Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from March 2021 to January 2025. He led and directed LPO’s loan authority to support deployment of innovative clean energy, advanced transportation, and Tribal energy projects in the United States. Prior, Shah was co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change.
Shah was also featured in TIME’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2024.
Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.
Giulia Siccardo
Former Director,
Office of Manufacturing Energy and Supply Chains (MESC)
Giulia Siccardo is an experienced professional in the energy, automotive, and sustainability sectors. As the Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing & Energy Supply Chains, Ms. Siccardo was responsible for awarding tens of billions of dollars in government investments to strengthen and secure U.S. manufacturing capacity and workforce development, as well as administer the Defense Production Act for critical energy technologies. Her scope included batteries, hydrogen, heat pumps, solar, transmission, and zero-emission materials, among other technologies. She also oversaw DOE’s funding to develop and skill the US energy manufacturing workforce. In addition to her capital deployment responsibilities, Ms. Siccardo helped launch the Mapping, Modeling, and Analysis Consortium (MMAC), a partnership between MESC and DOE’s National Labs to further strategic supply chain analysis for DOE, the National Security Council, and other interagency and allied partner organizations.
Giulia Siccardo was previously a Partner at McKinsey & Company and the leader of McKinsey’s Green Growth service line. For over a decade, she has focused on scaling low-carbon systems and value chains across major corporations and emerging start-ups, covering zero-emissions energy, vehicles, and materials. In addition to her scale-up work, Siccardo has fostered new ways for corporations to work together to signal demand for emerging clean energy technology. Prior to joining DOE, she co-founded Frontier, a $1B+ advance market commitment by industry- leading corporations to catalyze high permanence carbon dioxide removals.
Siccardo previously worked at Adobe on clean energy procurement and data center decarbonization. Throughout her career, she’s been recognized for her leadership in advancing women in the energy, automotive & sustainability sectors.
Born in California, Siccardo holds a dual B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.