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Center for Advanced Energy Studies launches second annual ‘shark tank’ pitch competition

The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) will hold the first of two information sessions for its annual “shark tank” competition at 10 a.m. MT on June 30. CAES Annual Pitch Event 2021: Pathways to INL Net Zero is open to anyone in the CAES community who has ideas to accelerate Idaho National Laboratory’s net-zero initiative, which aims to spur laboratory operations to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within 10 years.

Initial submissions are due by Aug. 1 and will be accepted starting July 5. All ideas are welcome – big or small, raw or demonstration-ready, led by individuals or teams. The contest is split into three tracks: demonstration-ready projects, implementation-ready proposals and an ”open” category, and contestants will receive training on how to pitch their ideas and research.

The field of contestants will be culled throughout the summer to a semifinal round and, ultimately, a live final competition on Sept. 2. Three first-place winners will emerge, each awarded $20K in program-development funding to help further the idea, either for implementation at INL or to assist in the pursuit of follow-on federal funding.

More information is available at caes.org/sharktank or at the information sessions: