Virtual Pitch Competition

The 2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility finalist teams exercised incredible adaptability and innovation when the final pitch session converted to a virtual pitch competition. Originally, the final accelerator was set to occur at SXSW in Austin, Texas but plans were quickly adapted when SXSW was canceled. The students demonstrated resiliency in adjusting their proposals to fit the virtual presentation platform.

Panel of Judges

The 2020 panel of judges featured leaders from across different sectors and at Shell with expertise in various engineering disciplines, entrepreneurship and innovative project management. Meet our judges below!

Erik Daniel Headshot

Erik Daniel

Erik joined Shell in 2007 where he supported the development of subsurface heating systems for use in Shell’s in-situ upgrading and conversion processes. In 2010, he joined the Deepwater R&D team and has worked on multiple technologies including Caisson-ESP testing at the Gasmer Prototype Facility, development of a prototype subsea production heat exchanger at STCH, and development and qualification of multiphase boosting systems. He is currently a Research Engineer in the Energy System Integration and Storage team in the New Energies Research & Technology Department. He holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston, and his research focus was multiphase heat transfer in narrow passages.

Karan Jerath headshot

Karan Jerath

Karan Jerath is a petroleum engineering graduate from The University of Texas at Austin. He was born in India and moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he lived for eleven years and attended before moving to Friendswood, Texas, in 2008. Karan was named the youngest honoree on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Energy list and being appointed by the United Nations as 1 of 17 Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals. His most recent role has been filming a documentary titled ‘The Power of the Centennials’ with Bancolombia, the most sustainable bank in the world as reported by Dow Jones. He is currently expanding his reach by assisting multi-national corporations with developing their sustainability strategies. He is also the co-founder of a social good transportation company in Zambia, Africa.

Andi Littlejohn headshot

Andi Littlejohn

Andi Littlejohn is the Director of the EPIcenter Energy Incubator and Accelerator (EEIA). In addition to overseeing the EEIA and its five programs, Andi is an active coach to the EEIA’s startups, and is a mentor for student teams participating in the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) program. Andi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M University and holds a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University.

Monique Long-White headshot

Monique Long-White

Monique Long-White currently serves at the SBDC Technology Commercialization Center as project manager for the South-Texas Innovation Partnership Program (S-TIPP) at UTSA’s the South-West Texas Border Region SBDC. Monique has an eclectic portfolio of projects mostly focused on community, business, and economic development for a wide variety of organizations including universities, start-ups, and local, state, and federal government establishments and municipalities. Her Ph.D. from Purdue University is in Ecological Sciences and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate Program– concentrations in Agronomy and Policy Sciences, Masters of Science in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Agricultural Sciences from Prairie View A&M University.

Christy Taylor headshot

Christy Taylor

Christy Taylor is a C-level professional with a track record of building businesses - delivering substantial sales and profitable growth for large and small companies in Consumer-Packaged Goods, Pharmaceutical /OTC healthcare categories and Specialty Foods businesses. Christy started a direct mail business in the UK, managed Fortune 500 consumer brands and built two businesses – Nelson Professional Sales from $10M to $100M and Dey Labs from $200M to $600M, selling each to publicly traded companies. Christy is also a Senior Advisor to Norwest Venture Partners, a Private Equity firm in Palo Alto and Cody Peak Advisors, an investment banking group in Los Angeles.

Petal Transport - Petal Transport - Alternative Fuels

2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility - Winner

After reviewing eight incredible pitches, the panel of judges named Petal Transport the 2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility winner! Petal Transport blew the judges away with their proposal to develop an alternative-fuel exchange network for Petal fleets to track use-demand and re-ups at docking stations with energy inventory and management.

After reviewing eight incredible pitches, the panel of judges named Petal Transport the 2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility winner! Petal Transport blew the judges away with their proposal to develop an alternative-fuel exchange network for Petal fleets to track use-demand and re-ups at docking stations with energy inventory and management. For more information on Petal Transport and their journey in the competition, visit the Net Impact blog here. To explore the Petal Transport website, click here.

University of Oregon - Port - Electric Mobility

2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility - Audience Favorite

In the weeks leading up to the competition, a poll was published on the Net Impact website that allowed viewers to read the team’s proposals. Over 3,700 people voted for their favorite idea! Team PORT was named the Audience Favorite for their idea to create an EV home charging installation, device rental, and grid management service.

Thank You

On behalf of the entire team at Shell, we would like to thank every participant, each mentor and the entire staff at Net Impact for their time, effort and dedication to the 2020 Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility. This year’s competition was a great success due to the incredible determination and innovation of everyone involved, and we are so appreciative of everyone’s hard work and efforts.