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Articles by Ilan Gur
Three technologies that can change the world
We have a guest post today from Ilan Gur, the CEO of the UK government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). ARIA was set up in 2023 to fund cutting edge research, but there has been relatively little coverage of what it’s actually doing. The one thing that has cut through recently is ARIA’s funding of some small geoengineering experiments.
Carbon Dioxide Removal: The Unreasonable Bet We Need
Carbon Dioxide Removal: The Unreasonable Bet We Need By Ilan Gur Last month, we launched Activate’s CDR Imperative to support entrepreneurial scientists whose ideas can allow for permanent, gigaton-scale carbon removal. We’ve been thrilled by the positive response so far, including from potential applicants. But I’m concerned that we failed to include an important disclosure: Starting a company to do gigaton scale carbon removal is an entirely unreasonable proposition.
How the US lost its way on innovation
In early March I started getting calls from people trying to respond to what was clearly turning into a global pandemic. A government agency that funds R&D wanted help connecting its research teams with experts on scale-up and manufacturing. An academic lab was searching for folks in government or industry who knew about the ventilator supply chain. Other government funders wanted to get in touch with industry startups in 3D printing, ventilators, and personal protective equipment.
How MIT Technology Review ranks the 50 Smartest Companies
What does it mean to be on our list of the 50 Smartest Companies? It does not necessarily mean that you are the biggest in your industry—though we have some of those—or even the most profitable. We don’t depend on a tally of patents granted. Nor do we care where a company operates or how large its market capitalization is. Instead, the list is our take on two factors: technological leadership and business acumen.
We should make it easy for people to bring great tech ideas to market—but we’re doing the opposite
An innovator I know—let’s call him Tom—had trained for a decade at some of the world’s top research institutions to become an expert in materials science and engineering. He’d developed a new manufacturing technique for semiconductors with the potential to enable next-generation power conversion devices for lighting, EVs, renewable power, and defense applications.
A Leaner Launchpad for Hard Energy Technology
We are living in the age of lean innovation. Silicon Valley has developed a robust ecosystem for software companies to rapidly iterate their ideas, failing quickly and efficiently until they gain traction in the marketplace. It's meteoric success or bust. In this environment, the startup has emerged as the institutional archetype for innovation: give a few highly talented and fiercely committed people $100,000 and some space in a garage, and you’re bound to see sparks fly.
A Leaner Launchpad for Hard Energy Technology
We are living in the age of lean innovation. Silicon Valley has developed a robust ecosystem for software companies to rapidly iterate their ideas, failing quickly and efficiently until they gain traction in the marketplace. It's meteoric success or bust. In this environment, the startup has emerged as the institutional archetype for innovation: give a few highly talented and fiercely committed people $100,000 and some space in a garage, and you’re bound to see sparks fly.
Generation Unplugged: Energy, Tech, and Designing the Future
▼ Click the word "playlist" to access a full list of videos from this event. From fueling and monitoring energy use within our homes to charging electric vehicles on the go, energy options are rapidly diversifying while demand from young, savvy consumers is shaping the technology offered. Today, new options in energy distribution offer more choices than ever about where to get energy and how to use it, but what are the long-term impacts of these decisions?
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