2.06 On Architecting the Clean Energy Future through Collaboration with Amy Simpkins featuring Laura Novak
2.06 On Architecting the Clean Energy Future through Collaboration with Amy Simpkins featuring Laura Novak
2.06 On Architecting the Clean Energy Future through Collaboration with Amy Simpkins featuring Laura Novak
For this 20th Power Flow episode, we flip the script - Power Flow Creative Director, Laura Novak, interviews our erstwhile host, Amy Simpkins, putting her on the hot seat and giving her a dose of her own tough questions.
As co-founder and CEO at muGrid Analytics, Amy Simpkins solves wicked problems at the intersection of energy technology and economics using math and modeling. muGrid provides bankable techno-economic analysis, optimized control, and project development of renewable energy, energy storage, and microgrids to maximize economic return, increase energy resilience, and promote energy equity in the US and around the world.
Amy is also an internationally recognized speaker on innovation and iterative development for entrepreneurs. She is the author of Spiral: A Catalyst for Innovation and Expansion and host of the Power Flow Podcast, which amplifies diverse voices in the energy revolution.
Prior to muGrid, Amy designed and operated spacecraft as a Systems Engineer with Lockheed Martin. Her technical expertise includes system and software architecture, system-level performance modeling, and design tradespace analysis.
Amy holds an MS in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California and an SB in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a messy chef, a world traveler, a taekwondo green belt, a vocal music minor, a mom to three curious innovators, and a tough cookie in the Colorado backcountry.
Quotables
All quotes by Amy Simpkins
“The drive for simplicity results in inefficiency.”
“We said ‘yes, simplicity and stability at any cost.’ And when I say any cost, I mean any economic cost and at the cost of the planet in carbon emissions. And the trouble is, we can no longer say that.”
“I think we need to have more spaces that are devoted to free exchange of ideas without fear of competition.”
“The economic market is what’s going to drive the widespread change.”
“Stability and efficiency at the cost of the planet is not acceptable.”
“We need to be able to take baby steps back from oversimplification, stovepiping, and this unwavering commitment to stability at any cost.”
“We are all interacting with the system. Whether you work in the industry or not, you live in it.”
Resources:
Connect with Amy on LinkedIn.
Check out muGrid’s website.
Connect with muGrid Analytics on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.
If you enjoyed the conversation, please share the episode with other innovators. Leave us a positive review and subscribe to Power Flow on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check out our awesome merch! And hey, we’re new, so you can even apply to be a sponsor or a guest.
You can follow Power Flow Podcast on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tik Tok.
Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!
From The Podcast
Power Flow
The energy revolution is coming, and it's all hands on deck. Amplifying the expertise of the leaders in the new energy economy and inviting diverse voices to the table, we'll talk solar power, battery storage and battery alternatives, microgrids, renewable energy, distributed energy architectures, energy policy, energy equity, and all things energy. I'm your host, Amy Simpkins, renewable energy CEO (and Rocket Scientist) and I am passionate about creating sustainable change. I believe that access to electricity is no longer a luxury -- it's a human right. I'm driven by the desire to leave this world better than I found it. I believe in the power of collaboration -- that innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum. And innovation is the only way our planet will survive. Recent natural disaster events impacting access to power, like the Texas Power Crisis during the winter storms of 2021 or the raging California wildfires of 2018-2020, combined with concern over anticipated future events, like a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake in Oregon, have elevated conversations about resilience, independence, and sustainability to new, more urgent heights. If we are truly going to meet the challenges to the energy revolution and to achieve these ideals, we need to bring all minds to the whiteboard. That’s why Power Flow Podcast was born. I've always worked in male-dominated environments. Yet, the more I engage with women, the more I witness very different approaches to innovation, problem solving, and solution implementation. We possess a treasure trove in untapped riches of expertise from female, non-binary, and BIPOC professionals, all relentlessly working to make this new energy future a reality, yet too often unseen and unheard. What does that future look like? Solving the challenges we face in the energy industry can solve intersectional problems for Earth and its residents. A shift from fossil fuels to renewables not only increases sustainability -- an important component of slowing and reversing climate change -- it will also reduce pollution near low-income or racially diverse neighborhoods. A shift to distributed energy improves community resilience through microgrids and minigrids. Community resilience and distributed energy lead to energy equity - ensuring access to clean, reliable energy for all. I began my career in aerospace - yes, as an actual rocket scientist - believing that technical and scientific advancement through the exploration of space would be the ultimate way to change the world. After 10 years of designing, modeling, integrating, and flying spacecraft, I began looking for ways to have a more direct and powerful impact. When I co-founded renewable energy startup muGrid Analytics with my partner, it used all of my gifts and skills from my entire career to do good in the world. The thing is, I see the world as a set of linkages. I can see how everything is connected in a complex web of synergy and interdependence. The further I explored the energy economy, the more I could see its far-reaching impacts for individuals, for the people, for the planet. Join me in a deep dive exploring the solutions clean energy can offer to our earth as we bring more voices to the microphone and more minds to the whiteboard, shining a spotlight on new ideas and perspectives, tapping into the vast expertise and intersectional thinking that's already here. As we thoughtfully consider the tremendous challenges of the energy revolution, we can collaborate to achieve sustainability, equity, and resilience. It’s time to amplify new ideas that can help us innovate more efficiently, with better outcomes, harmonizing the threads of collaboration so we can build the future together. Find us at http://powerflowpodcast.comJoin Podchaser to...
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