Meet our speakers, who are active leaders in the T.I.M.E. (Technology, Information, Media, Entertainment) areas.
JB Straubel
Co-founder & CTO, Tesla
JB Straubel (Jeffrey B. Straubel) is part of the founding team and the Chief Technical Officer of Tesla Motors, an electric car company based in Palo Alto, California. At Tesla, Straubel oversees the technical and engineering design of the vehicles. He also has responsibility for new technology evaluation, R&D, technical diligence review of key vendors and partners, IP, and systems validation testing.
In addition to his work at Tesla, Straubel is also on the Board of Directors for Solar City. He is also a lecturer at his alma mater, Stanford University, where he teaches the popular Energy Storage Integration class in the Atmosphere and Energy Program.
In 2008, Straubel was named to the MIT Technology Review TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Prior to Tesla Motors, JB Straubel was the CTO and co-founder of Volacom along with Harold Rosen. Volacom worked closely with Burt Rutan at Scaled Composites to design a specialized high-altitude aircraft platform using a novel hydrogen-powered electric power plant. At Volacom, Straubel co-invented and patented the new long-endurance hybrid propulsion concept that was later licensed to Boeing.
Before Volacom, JB worked with Harold Rosen and Benjamin M. Rosen at Rosen Motors as a propulsion engineer developing a new hybrid vehicle drivetrain based on a micro turbine and a high-speed flywheel. Rosen Motors ultimately closed but both main technologies carried on with commercial success, the turbine at Capstone Turbine (CPST) and the flywheel at Pentadyne Power Corp. Straubel was part of the early team at Pentadyne where he designed and built a 1st generation 150 kW power inverter, motor-generator controls, and magnetic bearing systems.
In the area of technical expertise, JB has consulted with VC firms Taproot Ventures and Kleiner Perkins in addition to several other private equity investors to conduct technical diligence reviews for many start-ups in the energy and clean technologies category.
He received a BS in Energy Systems Engineering and an MS in Energy Engineering, emphasis on energy conversion, both from Stanford University. Outside of Tesla Motors, Straubel is also an accomplished pilot and holds private pilot, instrument and multi-engine ratings.
In addition to his work at Tesla, Straubel is also on the Board of Directors for Solar City. He is also a lecturer at his alma mater, Stanford University, where he teaches the popular Energy Storage Integration class in the Atmosphere and Energy Program.
In 2008, Straubel was named to the MIT Technology Review TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Prior to Tesla Motors, JB Straubel was the CTO and co-founder of Volacom along with Harold Rosen. Volacom worked closely with Burt Rutan at Scaled Composites to design a specialized high-altitude aircraft platform using a novel hydrogen-powered electric power plant. At Volacom, Straubel co-invented and patented the new long-endurance hybrid propulsion concept that was later licensed to Boeing.
Before Volacom, JB worked with Harold Rosen and Benjamin M. Rosen at Rosen Motors as a propulsion engineer developing a new hybrid vehicle drivetrain based on a micro turbine and a high-speed flywheel. Rosen Motors ultimately closed but both main technologies carried on with commercial success, the turbine at Capstone Turbine (CPST) and the flywheel at Pentadyne Power Corp. Straubel was part of the early team at Pentadyne where he designed and built a 1st generation 150 kW power inverter, motor-generator controls, and magnetic bearing systems.
In the area of technical expertise, JB has consulted with VC firms Taproot Ventures and Kleiner Perkins in addition to several other private equity investors to conduct technical diligence reviews for many start-ups in the energy and clean technologies category.
He received a BS in Energy Systems Engineering and an MS in Energy Engineering, emphasis on energy conversion, both from Stanford University. Outside of Tesla Motors, Straubel is also an accomplished pilot and holds private pilot, instrument and multi-engine ratings.
