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Energy Seminar: Introduction to the Mainspring Linear Generator - Matt Svrcek

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Event Details:

Note: Stanford students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend in person. All others may watch via livestream at:

https://stanford-pilot.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=ed267f22-a0d2-453a-8f39-ae5f0160e8f3

Mainspring was founded in 2010 by three Stanford engineers seeking a new approach to generating clean, resilient, affordable electricity.  The company developed and produces a new type of power generation technology called a linear generator.  The linear generator provides an unmatched combination of cost, efficiency, cleanliness, and dispatchability, running on nearly any fuel including renewable fuels.  In this talk we will briefly look at an example use case for linear generators in a zero-carbon energy system, then go in depth about how the technology works and what innovations it brings, and finally take a look at what the company is doing today and where we are going in the future.

Speaker bio

Matt Svrcek co-founded Mainspring and leads research and development as Chief Technology Officer. While completing his doctorate as a Stanford Graduate Fellow, he received funding from the Global Climate and Energy Project to investigate the efficiency and emissions impact of reacting various fuels under high compression. In performing this research, Matt collaborated with Shannon Miller to design and develop the early prototype that served as the foundation for Mainspring's high-efficiency, linear generator technology. Prior to Mainspring, Matt served as research manager at Renewable Energy Policy Project in Washington DC, where he analyzed the economic benefits of renewable energy manufacturing.  He holds a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

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