Speaker: Bill Conlon, Ph.D., Director of Power Engineering at Ausra, Inc

Topic:

Ausra, Inc., a Palo Alto-based startup, recently completed construction of the first Solar Thermal Power Plant in California in nearly 20 years.  The Kimberlina Solar Thermal Power Plant near Bakersfield demonstrates Ausra’s CLFR [Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector] direct steam generation technology, employing independent rows of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto boiler tubes.  The resulting high pressure steam is used to drive a conventional steam turbine to deliver power to  PG&E’s grid.

It also represents the gateway to Ausra’s 180-megawatt solar thermal plant currently under development for PG&E. Today’s discussion will describe the advances in solar thermal electric generation that have gained the investment of prominent VC firms, such as Kleiner-Perkins and Khosla Ventures. 

Date & Time:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
5:30pm Social/Snacks/Drinks/Desert
6:20pm Presentation

Information:
Reservations are required.
No charge to attendees.

Send RSVP to:

The meeting and the wait list are now full. Thanks to everyone who signed up for making this a success and we are looking forward to seeing you there.

Questions:
Diep Nguyen, P.E.
(510) 267-0441
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Speaker:

Bill Conlon, Ph.D.
Director of Power Engineering
Ausra, Inc

Dr. Conlon is responsible for transforming steam from Solar Boilers into useful work.  He received three degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, including a Ph.D. specializing in two-phase flow and heat transfer. In 1982 he joined PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Project to work on the Reactor Simulator.  Joining International Power Technology in 1984, he helped commercialize the Cheng Cycle Steam Injected Gas Turbine, and has continued to be involved in innovative technology as a startup founder and Consulting Engineer, with a focus and renewable and energy efficient systems.  He is a member of IEEE, ASME, AAAS and Sigma Xi.