{"668388":{"#nid":"668388","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Richard Gruber Joins Georgia Tech Venture Lab and the Strategic Energy Institute as Clean Energy Commercialization Lead ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/venturelab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EVenture Lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E are excited to welcome Richard Gruber to lead the clean tech commercialization efforts at Georgia Tech. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGruber will be working closely with Georgia Tech researchers helping them convert their ground-breaking research into impactful companies. His role includes cultivating relationships with constituents of the broader Atlanta area, officials in the Georgia department of economic development, the national community of business leaders, angel investors, attorneys, and venture capitalists. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGruber will identify and grow commercialization of technology innovation in key areas of business strategy, fundraising, team development, and assist with startup efforts in close coordination with the director of Venture Lab and the broader activities of the Office of Commercialization, led by Raghupathy Sivakumar. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWith the state of Georgia emerging as a hub for clean energy, Gruber will play an integral role in \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ecoaching, creating, and growing startups related to energy, manufacturing, smart cities, and associated industry clusters,\u201d said, Tim Lieuwen, executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThroughout his career, Gruber has been focused on the development of energy, including infrastructure, markets, policy, stakeholder processes, structured transactions, joint ventures, energy system planning and operations, and startups. Investors in Gruber\u2019s startups include two-time investor Ted Turner through Turner Renewable Energy.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESince 2007, he has been dedicated to clean energy power plant and technology development. As the vice president of project development at First Solar, Richard spearheaded the company\u2019s initial buildout of a multi-gigawatt solar project platform, making First Solar one of the largest solar developers in North America.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn 2017, Gruber co-founded and served as the chief commercial officer for Merit Sustainable Infrastructure (Merit SI). Merit SI develops solar microgrids for infrastructure clients and utility scale renewable projects, and, through its subsidiary Merit Controls, develops advanced power system controls for solar, battery storage, and solar-hydrogen hybrid plants.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn his role at Georgia Tech, Gruber will support commercialization efforts across the entire energy and sustainability innovation space, from energy sources to energy carriers to consumers, and the necessary supporting supply chain and software innovations required to deliver cleaner, more affordable, and reliable, central, and distributed energy solutions. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EResearchers are encouraged to reach out to Richard Gruber (richard.gruber@venturelab.gatech.edu) with questions or ideas.\u003C\/span\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe are so excited to have someone of Richard\u2019s caliber on board. We believe such efforts that target a specific domain for commercialization are crucial to make Georgia Tech the #1 startup campus in the world,\u201d said, Raghupathy Sivakumar, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Evice president of Commercialization and Chief Commercialization Officer at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPreviously an \u201cExecutive in Residence\u201d at Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atdc.org\u0022\u003EAdvanced Technology Development Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Gruber lives in Atlanta with his wife of 37 years. They have two daughters also in Atlanta, one a recent ISyE graduate of Georgia Tech, and one working with Delta. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/venturelab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EVenture Lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E are excited to welcome Richard Gruber to lead the clean tech commercialization efforts at Georgia Tech. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGruber will be working closely with Georgia Tech researchers helping them convert their ground-breaking research into impactful companies. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Strategic Energy Institute and the Venture Lab are excited to welcome Richard Gruber to lead the clean tech commercialization efforts at Georgia Tech. Gruber will be working closely with Georgia Tech researchers helping them convert their ground-break"}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2023-07-07 16:06:18","changed_gmt":"2023-07-07 16:07:40","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671116":{"id":"671116","type":"image","title":"picwoglasses.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1688674883","gmt_created":"2023-07-06 20:21:23","changed":"1688674883","gmt_changed":"2023-07-06 20:21:23","alt":"Portrait of Richard Gruber","file":{"fid":"254122","name":"picwoglasses.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/06\/picwoglasses_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/06\/picwoglasses_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":956025,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/06\/picwoglasses_0.jpeg?itok=GRwyRmhT"}}},"media_ids":["671116"],"groups":[{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EPriya Devarajan\u003C\/a\u003E || SEI Communications Program Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}