Keynote Speakers
Wally Rippel
"Climate Change and an All-Electric Economy"
Saturday, September 13
1:00 pm, CEEE 011
Until very recently, Wally Rippel (rhymes with ‘bell’) worked for Tesla Motors, manufacturer of the highly acclaimed Tesla Roadster electric sports car. A long-time proponent of electric vehicles, Rippel served as an engineer for AeroVironment, where he helped develop the EV1 electric car for General Motors and was featured in the documentary movie, Who Killed the Electric Car? Rippel has also worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on electric vehicle battery research, among other projects. In 1968, as a Caltech undergraduate student, he built an electric car (a converted 1958 Volkswagen microbus) and won the Great Transcontinental Electric Car Race against MIT.
For a preview of Rippel's talk, listen to streaming audio of a recent interview on Iowa Public Radio or download the podcast.
Jane Davidson
"Hot and Hotter: New Solar Thermal Technologies"
Sunday, September 14
1:30 pm, CEEE 011
Professor Jane Davidson is Director of the University of Minnesota's Solar Energy Laboratory. Her current research addresses mixed and natural convection heat transfer in thermal storage systems, material characterization and thermal transport processes in polymer-based solar collectors and heat exchangers, nanostructures for solar thermo-chemical cycles, development of energy efficient roof structures, and chemical processes in gaseous electrical discharges. Her efforts in research and engineering education have been recognized with numerous awards. Her talk is partially sponsored by the UNI College of Natural Sciences.
Lisa Kivirist & John Ivanko
"ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profits"
Saturday, September 13
2:10 pm, CEEE 011
Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko are innkeepers, organic growers, co-partners in a marketing consulting company, and published book authors. John is also an award-winning photographer, contributing to national and international publications. Former advertising agency fast-trackers, they are nationally recognized for their contemporary approach to homesteading, conservation, and more sustainable living. They share their farm with their son, a 10 kW Bergey wind turbine, and millions of ladybugs. Their talk on ECOpreneuring examines how small, sustainable, and place-based businesses and the ecopreneurs who run them are becoming the very foundation of the emerging new green economy of the 21st Century.