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CONTACT US
For further information
on these and other issues,
contact a member of
office at (202) 467-5459
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About SMI
For over a decade, Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI) has been the premier choice in Washington for companies, universities, nonprofits and public entities seeking to secure federal funding and public policy for technology development. At SMI, we work in conjunction with our clients and decision makers within Congress, the Pentagon, Homeland Security and other Executive Branch agencies to develop and commercialize technology solutions for our nation's most pressing challenges.
Helios Strategies, a subsidiary of SMI, Inc., specializes in providing a range of services to clients with the goal of driving federal and private investment into the development and demonstration of a diverse group of new advanced energy generation, storage, transmission and related technologies through government program and industry marketing support.
SMI, Inc.
1020 19th Street, NW, Suite 375 Washington, DC 20036
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By Andrea Rey A bipartisan and bicameral coalition of lawmakers have introduced the Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015 to Congress to help strengthen university engineering programs and better align educational offerings with the needs of 21st century manufacturing. Over half a million manufacturing jobs have been created over the last three years, but thousands remain unfilled because of the lack of trained workers. This bipartisan bill hopes to revitalize U.S. manufacturing by equipping the next generation of engineers with the necessary skills and training to thrive in the manufacturing workforce. The legislation allows for colleges and universities with existing engineering programs to apply for 'Manufacturing University' designation, which includes $5 million annually over a four year period to meet industry specific goals. These goals include, creating more manufacturing-focused engineering programs, building partnerships with manufacturing firms, and positively impacting local and regional economic development by growing training opportunities and fostering a culture of manufacturing entrepreneurship. The program would be nestled within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and would run in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense and Energy, and the Director of the National Science Foundation, among others. The legislation in the House was introduced by Reps. Elizabeth Etsy (D-CT), Chris Collins (D-NY), Patrick Meehan (R- PA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) and its companion bill in the Senate was introduced by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kristen Gilibrand (D-NY), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). |
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Meet Patrick "Pat" Davis
By Andrea Rey
Mr. Patrick Davi
s, an energy policy veteran with 35 years of energy related experience, joined the ranks of SMI i
n early June as a member of the energy team and Vice President. Davis' extensive background
in vehicle technologies as well as his specific experience in advanced battery technologies within the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE
) will provide invaluable expertise and insight to SMI clients.
"I had been in government for 35 years, and I enjoyed it, but I wanted an opportunity to do something different. There are not that many opportunities in your career where you can really change what you're doing without taking a big step backward," said Davis about his arrival to SMI. "I liked the fact that SMI works on a breadth of technologies. It's not just one thing; it's multiple companies, multiple technologies, and we are helping those companies in a space that I know a lot about," he added. Davis comes from a chemical engineering background and has always been interested in energy, efficiency, and sustainable systems. During his time studying at the University of Maryland, he began working at the Naval Research Lab through the University's engineering co-op program and continued to work for the Navy after he graduated in 1983. He spent the next eleven years focusing on battery technology, safety, testing and development at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Davis began his career at the DOE in 1994 as the DOE was implementing a major Electric Vehicle Initiative and was developing battery technology to support it. Davis is an internationally recognized expert on vehicle technologies and during the 21 years he worked at the DOE, he held various research and development leadership positions in batteries, combustion, fuel cell technology, hydrogen production, codes & standards, and biofuels. From 2008 to 2015 Davis was the Director of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In this capacity, Davis led $280 million in annual research funding for electric vehicle drivetrains, advanced batteries, lightweight materials, advanced combustion and fuels, vehicle systems integration, and Clean Cities deployment activities. In addition, Davis led the execution of $2.8 billion in vehicle-related Recovery Act projects. As VTO Director, Davis was also responsible for two major government and private industry partnerships: the U.S. DRIVE Partnership and the 21st Century Truck Partnership. He is most proud of his role supporting major DOE accomplishments - including the SuperTruck program, the buildout of battery & electric drive manufacturing facilities under the Recovery Act, and the dramatic cost-reduction in lithium-ion battery technology.
When Davis is not dealing with work-related matters, he enjoys golfing and spending time with his wife and daughter, Maureen and Kelly. Davis played trombone in a Washington-area variety band, performing at local events and private functions for over 30 years. Davis also enjoys travel and is looking forward to a 30-year wedding anniversary trip with Maureen next year to Italy. SMI is excited to have Davis as a team member and looks forward to the months to come.
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SMI's 2015 Mid-Year Marine Energy Report
The SMI Water Power team has been hard at work through the first half of 2015 representing the interests of the marine energy industry here in Washington. SMI has worked closely with its clients, the National Hydropower Association's (NHA) Marine Energy Council (MEC), and other interested parties to increase the U.S. Federal Government's support for the commercialization of advanced water power technologies. The SMI Water Power team has drafted a 2015 Mid-Year Marine Energy Report that provides updates on its activities during the past six months, along with news highlights from the industry and a schedule of upcoming events. In general, SMI continues to implement government marketing strategies to position the marine renewable energy industry for increased federal support for advanced technology development, demonstration and deployment. These investments are necessary to accelerate the material contribution of advanced water power technologies to U.S. and global energy, economic and environmental goals. With the new Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, SMI has been asked more frequently why scarce federal resources should be used to support emerging marine renewable technologies when solar and wind power have become relatively competitive with fossil fuel electricity generation. SMI argues in response that if it can drive down costs, the marine energy industry represents a significant opportunity to enable a U.S. clean energy future. Marine energy is also "close to load" and can be considered predictable, "base load" power. While these are compelling responses, SMI would also appreciate help in sharing industry success stories which highlight progress toward technology commercialization with our federal champions. The SMI Water Power team looks forward to working with its clients through the remainder of 2015 when much will be decided about future federal funding for the marine energy industry. Please feel free to reach out to the team with any thoughts or ideas on how SMI can be even more effective for the industry.
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The Optima initiative is a collaboration between industry stakeholders and the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Laboratories that aims to achieve fuel efficiency gains and lower carbon emissions through co-optimization of fuels and engines. "We have been using gasoline for over 100 years, during which the fuel has remained relatively unchanged. So even today, we are optimizing engines around a fuel that was never formulated to take advantage of our current knowledge of combustion engine design," said Patrick Davis of SMI, who was intimately involved with the program in his previous role as Director of the Vehicle Technologies Office with the DOE. The Vehicle Technologies Office, Bioenergy Technologies Office and the National Laboratories have been working to lay the groundwork over the past year, especially in light of the President's FY16 budget request, which includes $27 million for Optima, with a goal to ramp up research activities and fully launch the effort by the October start date. "From the perspective of total system efficiency, almost everyone agrees that if you could change the fuel, you would," said Davis. However, efficiency is not the only factor. Other issues are important too, such as 1) Is this new fuel compatible with our existing fueling infrastructure, 2) Can this new fuel be manufactured affordably and "at scale," and 3) Is this new fuel "backwards compatible" to fuel vehicles that are on the road today. Optima's quest to find that perfect fuel and engine combination will take place in stages. The first step will consist of creating a predictive knowledge base that will allow determination of the best available fuels for any given combustion environment and will also include general screening of new fuel properties. The second step will include further refinement of fuel properties with concurrent engine development. "The effort will likely identify multiple solutions depending on the weighting of the various criteria. Identifying the best option will require judgement and consensus. All of the options will also have negatives, but hopefully a robust dataset will allow down-selection to an affordable solution that major stakeholders can support," said Davis. After all, the key to success will depend on the extent to which stakeholders in fuel and auto industries can work together to co-design new engines operating on a new fuel that can achieve broad-based market introduction and success.
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SMI, Inc.
1020 19th Street, NW, Suite 375
Washington, DC 20036
202-467-5459
www.strategicmi.com |
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