Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 6:00 PM
Silicon Valley Pad – 1370 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA
Price : $15/person
From graywater to blue water—with shades of gray in between—strategic use of water is one of the hottest cleantech topics, possibly surpassing energy over the next 5 years.
In addition to residential use, water used for cooling data centers and power plants, mining, food and materials processing, and agriculture requires more federally mandated treatment, creating greater markets for any innovation that can clean and recycle water and make best use of it.
At the same time, wastewater increasingly is considered a resource, with its nutrients, carbon, warmth, and motion into food, fuel, fiber and energy.
However, barriers need to be addressed: Many startups are finding the water field an insurmountable opportunity. As water tech investor Rachel Sheinbein of CMEA Capital recently told an audience: “Promoting clean plentiful water requires business model innovation not tech innovation.”
Women, with their systems-thinking orientation and relationship-building skills, are well poised to move water innovations forward into implementation. Find out what’s on the ground and on the horizon for water technologies—aka “bluetech”—and what business and career opportunities are emerging.
Admission for this event is $15 online and $20 at the door. Proceeds from the event subsidize the purchase of beverages, hors d’oeurves, door prizes and hosting fees currently being paid to Meetup.
Panelists:
Laura Shenkar, Principal, The Artemis Project
Rachel Saperstein, Senior Analyst at Hydrovolts
Carol Seinfeld, author of three books on wastewater and WC&S member
ABOUT OUR PANELISTS
Principal, The Artemis Project
Laura is one of leading experts on advanced water technology and its potential for business operations. With over 20 years of experience launching game-changing technology into emerging markets, Laura was one of the first to focus upon the business opportunities for integrated product offering in water management.
With over a decade of business experience outside of the US, Laura works with a diverse group of leading water technologies from onsite wastewater treatment to microbial fuel cells to speed their market introduction. She also works with a limited number of large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, IBM and Novozymes on their water management strategies.
Ms. Shenkar’s research and opinions have appeared in numerous press outlets, including Inc. Magazine, USA Today and the Christian Science Monitor.
Ms. Shenkar served as a member of Michael Porter’s Competitive Advantage of the Middle East project, where she worked for the Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli governments to identify the most promising world-class industries for the region.
A graduate of Yale University, Ms. Shenkar holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She has lived throughout the world and currently resides in San Francisco, California.
Rachel Saperstein
Senior Analyst at Hydrovolts
Education: MBA, University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business; BA, Washington University in St. Louis
Work Experience: Market research, portfolio valuation, strategy formulation and implementation for land use and energy firms.
Carol Steinfeld
Wastewater Author (WC&S member)
Carol is an ecological solutions advocate and author of three books on wastewater, including The Composting Toilet System Book, Liquid Gold: The Lore & Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants and Reusing the Resource: Adventures in Ecological Wastewater
