SeaAhead’s 5th Annual Innovation in Offshore Renewable Energy Summit

Panel Moderator

As a General Partner, Michael spends his time working to accelerate the deployment of new technologies to solve some of the world's greatest challenges, with a particular focus on Climate Change mitigation. He serves as a Board Member for Addis Energy, AtmosZero, Blue Energy, Mantel, Osmoses, Pascal, Sora Fuel and VEIR, and as a Board Observer for Copernic and Terragia.

 Michael's career spans the intersection of finance, research and entrepreneurship. Michael began on the entrepreneurship side, helping launch Ambri, a grid-scale energy storage startup where he led market and business development efforts in the early days of the energy storage industry, working with customers in electric power across the United States.

Michael joined the Engine Ventures after a stint in academia, as the Executive Director of the MIT Roosevelt Project, an interdisciplinary project on energy transition pathways to accelerate progress toward a clean energy economy. Michael's research areas focused on energy and innovation economics and policy and entrepreneurial strategy and has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Research Policy, Strategy Science, National Bureau of Economic Research Innovation Policy and the Economy, and the New England Journal of Medicine, among others.

Michael holds an MS and PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he trained first in systems engineering and then economics. Mike received a BA from Williams College where he was also the captain of the Men's Basketball Team.

Atma is an ecologist and impact assessment practitioner with experience in over 30 countries. He has led teams to successful permitting of over 35 major offshore projects, including scoping and management of environmental and socioeconomic surveys, technical modeling, stakeholder engagement, environmental and social impact assessment, mitigation and management planning, and monitoring. He has also led partnership negotiations and implementation of over $200 million in community development, research, sustainability, and innovation initiatives.

MBA graduate with 14+ years of experience in Supply Chain Management and Business Development within the offshore installation market. Currently responsible for prospect portfolio and positioning, identification of future market developments, industry trends and projects and equipment requirements.

20 total years of history in manufacturing and production, international logistics, demand planning, project/process management, analytics and business strategy.

Member of the Board of Directors for the Oceantic Network since 2021.

Rob is the CTO and Co-Founder of BLUEiQ, a blue tech women-owned business building low power passive acoustic sensors for biodiversity protection and maritime security. BLUEiQ is developing technology that can detect, classify, and track marine mammals and other underwater objects of interest. Rob is an experienced technical leader in all phases of applied research and development programs from prototype to production.

Using a combination of entrepreneurial and Do research experience, Rob has transitioned several R&D projects into innovative field-able products. Rob's experience in technical development and team leadership spans across multiple domains, including low power wearable HR sensing at WHOOP, low SWaP-C acoustic localization of snipers at Raytheon BB Technologies (Boomerang Warrior X and Boomerang Air), and low power distributed underwater sensor network DARPA research at STR.

Rob received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and holds Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology and Engineering Management from the Tufts Gordon Institute.

Panel Moderator

Adam is an experienced VC and Angel investor, mentor, and entrepreneur, with 20 years of sector experience in cleantech & ocean technology companies. Adam has helped to start more than 20 companies in the cleantech space. Most recently, Adam was the Special Advisor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an Advisor to the PropellerVC fund (ocean tech). Currently, Adam as an Angel Investor is a Partner in the Blue Angels investment group (ocean technology), an affiliate member of Launchpad Ventures, and an Emeritus Partner of the Clean Energy Venture Group. Adam Mentors & Judges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Ocean Impact Organization, & MassChallenge.

Formerly, a CEO and a venture capitalist Adam helped to start over twenty renewable energy and environmental companies in central Europe. He invested through Environmental Investment Partners which was funded by family and HNW investor money. Among the companies he helped to start was Continental Wind Partners (wind development, founding CEO), Organica (waste water), Detox (circular economy), GazVest (gas infrastructure). Adam has been presented the Cleantech Investment Forum Pioneer Prize for his work in central Europe. Among the accomplishments of Continental Wind Partners (CWP) was the planning and building of what was then Europe’s largest onshore wind park (600 MW) in Romania. CWP was exited in 2022 to Squadron Energy of Australia for $2.7 billion.

Additionally, as the former Chairman of the AmCham Energy & Environment Committee he acted as a liaison between America and Poland on energy issues.

Adam’s recent aquaculture focused investments have included farm management tools and seafood product tracking technologies. In the High Seas Adam has invested in floating energy systems and autonomous surface and underwater vehicles. Among Adam’s impact investments are companies restoring coral reefs and utilizing invasive species to create leather and food products.

Will joins Crowley after three years of working for Ocean Winds North America working to develop theSouthCoast Wind project across the Commercial and Technical teams with a specific focus on Transportation and Installation of wind farm components. Will also worked as the OSW Supply Chain Director for the state of RI. He started his career in the Coast Guard as an engineer where he specialized in marine salvage operations.

Will holds a MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the US Coast Guard Academy.

Born and raised in Rhode Island, he lives in the Providence area with his wife and son and loves sailing, running, and cooking.

Mr. Gardner is well versed in most aspects of marine operations having supervised and conducted hundreds of surveys in the U.S. and around the world for 34+ years, including geological, geophysical, geotechnical, environmental, and oceanographic studies. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science with a concentration in Geology and a Master of Science degree in Oceanography along with professional geology certifications. He has recently (10+ years) applied his knowledge and expertise as a company owner and direct consultant to the offshore energy and survey industries to support the diverse marine scientific tasks associated with offshore project development, in particular offshore wind. Jeff’s specialty includes the use of geophysical and remote sensing methods to study coastal processes and geology, marine sediments and stratigraphy, underwater archaeology, and benthic habitats.

Geo SubSea staff have been involved with the offshore wind industry since its inception in the U.S. (1999) and have been on the front lines of the offshore energy revolution since its recent buildup in 2016, working with numerous developers to permit and construct projects. The company is thus familiar with all aspects of these projects ranging from procurement and pre-survey planning to conducting offshore surveys to post-survey data processing, interpretation, and product generation. Geo SubSea is particularly proud of its involvement with new offshore technology through promoting and supporting the use of sophisticated autonomous systems as the next wave of advanced data acquisition platforms. The company has been actively trying to integrate these systems into field programs for existing offshore energy projects, and gaining acceptance of the data from both the developers and permitting agencies alike. 

Laura Anderson is a seasoned energy executive and strategic leader with over 20 years of experience driving innovation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth in the global energy sector. With a proven track record at industry giants like Siemens Energy and Schneider Electric, Laura has consistently delivered transformative results in energy services, digitalization, and renewable energy markets.

During her tenure as Senior Vice President and CEO of Controls & Digitalization at Siemens Energy (2018–2022), Laura spearheaded a global business unit specializing in distributed and turbine automation systems, electrical balance of plant, and digital offerings. Notably, Laura pivoted the controls roadmap to capitalize on emerging markets such as offshore wind power, batteries, and electrolyzers, positioning Siemens Energy as an automation leader in the renewable energy transition.

In addition to her deep expertise in wind energy and digitalization, Laura has extensive experience in energy services. At Siemens Power Generation Services (2016–2018), she crafted strategies to address the energy transition's impact on installed fleet utilization and led initiatives in additive manufacturing for gas and steam turbine parts. Her ability to navigate complex challenges has made her a trusted advisor on topics ranging from cybersecurity to supply chain optimization.

Most recently, Laura has expanded her impact in the Boston ecosystem, serving as COO for a venture studio focused on buildings, energy, and transportation. She has also acted as CEO for a pre-seed startup developing digital twins for coastal ecosystems and conducted due diligence on cutting-edge technologies like industrial heat pumps and hydrogen solutions.

Though she be but little, she is fierce - W. Shakespeare

As Operations Manager at Ithaca Clean Energy, Michael manages corporate conference and federal grant applications, collaborates with consultants, and presents to government agencies. Previous experience includes roles at the Boston Planning & Development Agency as a Transportation & Infrastructure Planning Co-Op, conducting curbside management updates and transportation impact analyses. Earlier positions involved environmental research and advocacy at Boundless Impact Research & Analytics and Common Energy, as well as administrative support at Northeastern University’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

Michael holds a Master of Science in Environmental Science & Policy and a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and Geoscience from Northeastern University.