Inaugural Conference: Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Agenda

• 7:45 am - 8:30 am

  Registration and Breakfast

• 8:30 am - 8:45 am

  Welcome and Collaborative Goals

• 8:45 am - 9:45 am

  Opening Session: Framing Current Issues in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies

  Speakers • Larry Irving, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) • Rachel Jacobson, former Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment and the Chief Sustainability Officer of the U.S. Army • Randy Mehrberg, Co-Managing Partner, Jenner & Block LLP; former Chief Legal Officer at Exelon and President of PSEG Energy Holdings • Tom Sansonetti, Retired Partner, Holland & Hart; former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department Moderator: • Meghan Busse, Associate Professor of Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

• 9:45 am - 9:55 am

  Transition to Sessions in Three Core Streams

• 9:55 am - 10:55 am

  Three Core Streams: Session 1

• 9:55 am - 10:55 am

  Stream 1: Powering AI and Data Center Development - AI Innovation and Data Center Growth Around the World: US, China, and Canada

  Speakers • Abdi Aidid, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto's Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice • Yali Peng, Associate Professor, Renmin Law School • Amy Stein, Cone, Wagner, Nugent, Hazouri & Roth Professor of Law and UF Research Foundation Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law Speaker and Moderator: • Cale Jaffe, Professor of Law, General Faculty, Director of the Environmental Law & Community Engagement Clinic, Co-Director, Program in Law, Communities and the Environment, University of Virginia School of Law

• 9:55 am - 10:55 am

  Stream 2: Emerging Technologies and Evolving Power Systems - Challenges and Opportunities for Rapidly Evolving Energy Systems

  Speakers • Jordan Diamond, President, Environmental Law Institute • Josh Macey, Professor of Law, Yale Law School • Elizabeth Wilson, Professor of Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College • David Zaretsky, Assistant Chair & Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Northwestern University Moderator: • Emily Hildreth, Associate Director, Northwestern University Energy Innovation Lab

• 9:55 am - 10:55 am

  Stream 3: Energy Geopolitics, Investment, and Frontiers in Space - Evolving Geopolitical Dynamics in Energy and Emerging Technology

  Speakers • Melissa “MJ” Durkee, William Gardiner Hammond Professor of Law, Director, Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, Washington University in St. Louis • Taylor Nchako, former Climate and Clean Energy Fellow, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Georgia School of Law (starting August 2027) • David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Co-Director of the Energy and Environment Concentration. School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University • Ellen R. Wald, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, President, Transversal Consulting Moderator: • Wendy Maldonado, Principal, Maldonado Consulting, LLC

• 10:55 am - 11:05 am

  Transition Between Sessions

• 11:05 am - 12:05 pm

  Three Core Streams: Session 2

• 11:05 am - 12:05 pm

  Stream 1: Powering AI and Data Center Development - Innovations in Data Center Systems, Cooling, and Water Use

  Speakers • David Cercone, Petroleum Geologist, formerly with US Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory • Danny Johnson, P.E., Managing Director, Natural Resources, Atlanta Regional Commission • Michael McKenna, Co-Founder & CTO, Gyre Energy • Ermin Wei, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences Department, Northwestern University Moderator: • Suzan van der Lee, Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor and Department Chair, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University

• 11:05 am - 12:05 am

  Stream 2: Emerging Technologies and Evolving Power Systems - Energy and Technology Transitions: Education, Workforce, Incentives, and Risks

  Speakers: • Hatim Rahman, PepsiCo Chair in International Management, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, Associate Professor of Sociology (Courtesy) • Kim Lawless, Professor of Education and former Dean, Penn State • Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science; Director, Penn Program on Regulation • Mike Vandenbergh, David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair in Law, Director, Climate Change Research Network, Co-Director, Energy, Environment and Land Use Program, Vanderbilt University Law School Moderator: • Robert A. Weinstock, Clinical Professor of Law, Director, Environmental Advocacy Center, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

• 11:05 am - 12:05 pm

  Stream 3: Energy Geopolitics, Investment, and Frontiers in Space - Frontiers in Space and Energy

  Speakers • Charles Lee Mudd, Jr., Principal Attorney, Mudd Law • Jonathan Shamay-Draluck, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP • Jonathan B. Wiener, William R. Perkins Professor of Law, and Professor of Environmental Policy & Public Policy, Law School, Nicholas School of the Environment, and Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University Speaker and Moderator: • Monika Ehrman, Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law, Professor of Engineering (by courtesy), Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, SMU Lyle School of Engineering, Robert G. Storey Distinguished Faculty Fellow (2025–2026)

• 12:05 pm - 1:30 pm

  Informal Lunch Conversation

• 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

  Lunch Session: Key Trends and Innovation Opportunities in Energy and Emerging Technologies

  Speakers • Craig Huffman, CEO, Metro Edge Development Partners • Paul Jaffe, VP of Systems Engineering, Overview Energy • Paul Marushka, CEO and President, Sphera Solutions • Anne Vogel, EPA Region 5 Administrator Moderator: • Hari Osofsky, Myra and James Bradwell Professor and Founding Director, Northwestern University Energy Innovation Lab

• 1:30 pm - 1:40 pm

  Transition to Sessions in Three Core Streams

• 1:40 pm - 2:40 pm

  Three Core Streams: Session 3

• 1:40 pm - 2:40 pm

  Stream 1: Powering AI and Data Center Development - Integrating Technical and Regulatory Strategies to Data Center Optimization

  Speakers • Jennifer Dunn, Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Director of Northwestern’s Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience • Dave Morton, Walter P. Murphy Professor in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University • Hari Osofsky, Myra and James Bradwell Professor and Founding Director, Northwestern University Energy Innovation Lab • Michael Panfil, Head of Legal & Policy, Emerald AI • Le Xie, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering, Harvard University, Faculty Director of the Power and AI Initiative (PAI) at Harvard SEAS Moderator: • Najwa Abouhassan, Director of Technology Research & Development, Exelon

• 1:40 pm - 2:40 pm

  Stream 2: Emerging Technologies and Evolving Power Systems - New Developments in Nuclear, Geothermal, Digital Twins, and Geospatial Data

  Speakers • Lincoln Davies, Professor of Law, Executive Director, Energy, Resource, and Environment Programs, Co-Director, Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law • Sharon Jacobs, Professor of Law, Berkeley Law • J.B. Ruhl, David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair in Law, Director, Program on Law and Innovation, Co-Director, Energy, Environment and Land Use Program, Vanderbilt University Law School • Leehi Yona, Assistant Professor of Law, Gearns & Russo Faculty Fellow of Environmental Law, Cornell Law School, Faculty Fellow, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Faculty Affiliate, Cornell Center for Social Sciences Moderator: • Lee Zachos, Executive Director of Industry Partnerships, Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, Northwestern University

• 1:40 pm - 2:40 pm

  Stream 3: Energy Geopolitics, Investment, and Frontiers in Space - Geopolitics of Energy, Climate Change, and Security

  Speakers • Lisa Benjamin, Associate Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School • Rachel Bronson, Lester Crown Nonresident Senior Fellow for Energy and Geopolitics at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Senior Advisor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist • Will Rogers, Principal, Converge Strategies; former Senior Climate Advisor to Secretary of the Army • VS Subrahmanian, Walter P. Murphy Professor – Dept. of Computer Science & Buffett Faculty Fellow, Buffett Institute of Global Affairs; Co-Director, Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI); Head, Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) Moderator: • Rebecca Hardin, Professor of Sustainable Development, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame; Director, Gala Online Learning Platform

• 2:40 pm - 2:50 pm

  Transition between Sessions

• 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm

  Three Core Streams: Session 4

• 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm

  Stream 1: Powering AI and Data Center Development - Partnering with Communities around Responsible Data Centers

  Speakers • Charles Logan, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Center for Responsible Technology, Policy, and Public Dialogue, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University • Elizabeth Thom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science and Environmental Policy and Culture, College Fellow (’25-’26), Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University • William Towns, Adjunct Professor, Social Impact and Sustainability, Kellogg Community Impact Fund, Medill Media Innovation and Leadership Academy • Gina Warren, A.L. O’Quinn Chair in Environmental Studies and Co-Director of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center Speaker and Moderator: • Uma Outka, Professor of Law and William R. Scott Law Professor, University of Kansas School of Law

• 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm

  Stream 2: Emerging Technologies and Evolving Power Systems - Reimagining Energy Systems: Algorithms, Market Design, and Regulation

  Speakers • Seth Blumsack, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Science and Director of the Center for Energy Law and Policy, Penn State • Rimvydas Baltaduonis, Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Stanford University, and Researcher at Hoover Institution • Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Professor and Chair, Computer Science Department, R.R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University • Lynne Kiesling, Director, Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics; Faculty Fellow, Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability & Energy, Northwestern University Moderator: • Drew McKinley, Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Assistant Professor of Accounting (Courtesy), Northwestern Kellogg School of Management

• 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm

  Stream 3: Energy Geopolitics, Investment, and Frontiers in Space - Investment in Energy and Emerging Technologies

  Speakers • Nils Larsen, Founder and President, SZR Consulting, LLC • Aisha Lavinier, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis • Adam Orford, Associate Professor of Law, Climate, Energy, and Environment, Fordham University School of Law • Pragyan Pradhan, Senior Associate, Market Analytics & Intelligence, PEI Global Partners Moderator: • Lawton Cummings, General Partner, Capital Factory

• 3:50 pm - 4:00 pm

  Transition to Closing Session

• 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

  Closing Session: The Road Ahead and Next Steps in Collaborative Progress

  Speakers • Ismail Alsheik, Chief Legal Officer, Vantage Data Centers • Ken Hughes, Vice Chair, Beacon Data Centers, former Minister of Energy of Alberta, Canada • Suedeen Kelly, Partner & Co-Chair of the Energy Practice, Jenner & Block • Carrie Zalewski, Senior Vice President of Regulatory & Government Affairs, Constellation Energy Moderator: • Donna Haddad, Executive in Residence – Governance, Risk & Emerging Technology, Energy Innovation Lab, former Vice President and Associate General Counsel, IBM

• 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

  Networking Reception