An Interview with SMI Advisor Dr. Kristin Bennett
06/1/10
Dr. Kristin Bennett sat down to discuss her background and experience in materials science and at DOE. What is your background? What led you to work in the energy industry? I have worked in the energy and defense fields as a materials scientist and engineer for over 20 years as scientist, manager and now as a consultant. My PhD was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Geology & Geophysics. I earned an NSF Fellowship as an undergrad to study ice engineering that I believe started me off thinking about energy, applied energy and exploration. I finished my PhD at UC Berkeley and by then I had worked at a variety of DOE and National Labs and including LLNL, LANL, ANL, ORNL and NIST to support my dissertation research. Working at a variety of DOE National Laboratories gave a breadth of exposure to energy related science, technology and energy security missions for the nation. How has your transition been from the public to the private sector? The transition has been excellent and very engaging. I have found that I have a unique knowledge base for the private sector, and an inside understanding of building partnerships between government, academia and industry. What does your work as an Advisor to SMI involve and how have you been able to use your expertise to assist SMI clients? I tend to gravitate toward the technical work at SMI, and assist SMI VPs with a scientific assessment perspective. Most of my work for SMI has been creating or building relationships between either nanotechnology starts-ups or medium size companies at DOE and DOE National Laboratories. I also support proposal development, conceptualization, analysis and submission when necessary. I have been able to assist clients in working with DOE and DOE labs either via new sole source proposal processes, competitive bids, CRADAs and national user center proposals. I rely on my strong understanding of DOE applied and science offices and technical expertise and analysis to help SMI clients realize competitive relationships with the Department across various energy market sectors including solar, wind, electricity, vehicles and basic science fields. As climate change and energy policy legislation rise to the forefront in Congress, do you see potential for it to benefit our clients in the energy sector? Of course. I think it is essential for our clients to follow the climate, energy and science policy legislation closely in terms of supports, standards, regulations, tax credits, global partnerships, loan opportunities etc for energy sectors. The new Climate bill, the American Power Act, will dictate the urgency of many of the SMI clients in energy fields to gain from federal commitments to smart, efficient, clean energy technologies to reduce energy demand and grow the global clean energy economy. This May DOE participated in the first Policy Committee meeting of the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) to promote global collaboration on energy-saving programs and policies, and to continue the Obama Administration's efforts to establish new partnerships among governments to address climate change, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, advance clean energy and reduce emissions world-wide. Do you foresee any challenges or opportunities in doing business with the federal government? There are always challenges. Implementing new policy or new programs assigned to a new budget take time. Time is the biggest hurdle. DOE has pledged many deliverables, and meeting these within governmental processes is a challenge. I think that the time factor has challenged the effectiveness of the Stimulus investments. Beyond the appropriations process, what advice would you give someone hoping to do business with the government? Immediately, come to DC. Create your brand in DC. This is imperative. Regardless of the competitive grants process, you need face time in DC with Government Managers and leaders. Participate in government panels or serve on government merit review teams. These actions make all the difference in branding your concept or technology, and marketing and penetrating the government energy market sector. Also, work both the legislative and executive branch processes. Complementary visibility within both branches of government is critical to successful business development with the government. |
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