Advisory Council - Chain Reaction Innovations

About

The Advisory Council comprises individuals who serve as the brain trust to Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI). The goals of the Advisory Council are to advise on the long-term success and impact of CRI, to inform about the trends in markets and industries relevant to CRI, and to aid in building a network around CRI that supports the success of its innovators. Read the Advisory Council charge.

History

To more effectively execute its mission, CRI established an Advisory Council in 2019. That council provided integral support and advice to the CRI team, enabling CRI innovators to benefit from the program and achieve unprecedented results in follow-on funding and job creation. The successes of the CRI program’s “startup phase” was recognized by the UChicago Board of Governor’s Distinguished Performance Award in 2021 and a 2023 Chicago Innovation Award.

With a solid foundation under it, CRI matured to the “scaling phase” of the program, in lockstep with the broader DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP). As such, the CRI Advisory Council charge has been updated to better reflect the goals and needs of the program. A new slate of council members was seated in FY24.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Argonne takes very seriously actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Accordingly, Advisory Council members must recuse themselves from any transaction or conversation that would appear to create a conflict of interest. Read the full statement.

Ian Adams

Managing Director, Evergreen Climate Innovations

Ian Adams is the Managing Director at Evergreen Climate Innovations where he is a strategist and investment professional working to accelerate the clean energy transition. He brings more than a decade of experience working in energy and climate across investing, operations, and government. He works to identify technology and market trends, evaluates new investment opportunities, and develops new initiatives to support the companies in Evergreen’s investment portfolio. Prior to Evergreen, Ian served in the administration of President Barack Obama. He is a graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Ankush Agarwal

Director of Innovation, Technology and R&D, Exelon

Ankush Agarwal is the Director of Innovation, Technology and R&D at Exelon. His key focus is driving cost benefits for grid investments, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing organization safety for the organization. Ankush co-founded Exelon’s Analytics Academy program which helps enable awareness and adoption of analytics and accelerate development of an analytics-driven culture. As an advanced analytics leader, he has expertise in developing analytics programs to enable a data-driven culture and transform operational and risk business functions. He currently directs Exelon Utilities’ Grid, Ops and Safety Data Science program, Analytics Academy, and multi-year Grid T&D analytics deployment.

Haven Allen

CEO and Co-Founder, mHUB

Haven Allen, chief executive officer and co-founder of mHUB and managing partner of the mHUB Product Impact Fund, is a business leader and technology strategist focused on driving hardtech and manufacturing entrepreneurship to create economic opportunity. Since 2017, Haven’s leadership has translated into mHUB being recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing hardtech innovation centers. To date, mHUB has supported over 450 startups and 200 manufacturers who have engineered and designed over 1,610 products, been awarded over 533 patents, attracted over $1.89B in investment and exits, generated over $1.57B in revenue, and creating over 5,540 jobs.

Latane Brackett

Innovation Program Manager, Jackson State University

Latane Brackett is a highly accomplished Supply Chain/Manufacturing Operations Executive developing future leaders, creating performance cultures, and driving sustainable productivity. He has 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and food manufacturing industry as a corporate engineer, plant manager, director of operations, and vice president of supply chain and operations. Brackett also served as Executive Director of Student Affairs at Tennessee State University and as an Adjunct Instructor for the Great Lakes and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Hub. Previously he was the Principal Manager of Innovation Programs at the National GEM Consortium, partnering with the National Innovation Network. He currently serves as Jackson State University’s Innovation Program Manager.

Beth Conerty

Associate Director, Business Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Beth Conerty is the Associate Director of Business Development for the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. IBRL is a pilot plant facility meant to help scale bioprocessing and bioenergy technologies and help drive innovation in bioprocessing. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois and an M.S. in Bioenergy from the Professional Science Master’s program. She received her Ph.D. in Energy Science and Engineering from the Bredesen Center, a joint program between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Pranav Gokhale

Chief Technology Officer, Infleqtion

Pranav Gokhale is the Chief Technology Officer of Infleqtion. Prior to this role, he was the CEO and co-founder of Super.tech, a quantum software company that was acquired by Infleqtion (formerly ColdQuanta) in May 2022. He was a member of CRI’s fourth cohort. His work focuses on breaking down the abstraction barriers between quantum hardware and software to accelerate the realization of practical quantum applications. Gokhale earned his Ph.D. in quantum computation from the University of Chicago. Before graduate school, he studied computer science and physics at Princeton University. With experience spanning research, entrepreneurship, and technology leadership, Gokhale brings a systems-level perspective to advancing quantum technologies.

Eve Hanson

Senior Vice President, Research & Innovation, Energy Impact Partners

Eve Hanson is the Senior Vice President of Research & Innovation at Energy Impact Partners (EIP) where she leads research on carbon management and clean fuels. Prior to joining EIP, she worked at Third Derivative, the climate tech accelerator arm of RMI. Previously, she founded, and led the customer engagement team at AI startup Citrine Informatics. Hanson started her career as a business consultant at Applied Predictive Technologies, an analytics startup acquired by Mastercard. She holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University and a B.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University, magna cum laude.

Henry Heitzer

Director, Earth Foundry

Henry Heitzer leads the market intelligence function at Earth Foundry, where he identifies emerging technology trends, evaluates the market potential of early-stage innovations, and helps shape the fund’s investment thesis. His work bridges deep technical insight and commercial strategy, supporting investment decisions that translate scientific breakthroughs into scalable businesses. Before joining Earth Foundry, Heitzer spent six years as a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Chicago. He advised clients on portfolio strategy, growth initiatives, and mergers and acquisitions. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University and holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Chemistry from Carleton College.

Ryan Jeffery

Vice President, Sustainability, gener8tor

Ryan Jeffery is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and advisor who helps leaders and organizations do their best work. With over 15 years of experience founding and building high-growth organizations, Ryan is now focused on supporting early-stage companies at the forefront of the climate and environmental crisis as the Vice President of Sustainability at gener8tor. Jeffrey is a three-time founder (one acquired), investor, board member, and adjunct professor at Northwestern’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

BJ Johnson

Product Strategist, Mainspring Energy

BJ Johnson is a product strategist for Mainspring Energy. His mission is to identify the clearest paths for economical, efficient and immediate energy solutions. Previously, he co-founded ClearFlame Engine Technologies, a company that was a member of CRI’s first cohort. He earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he focused on creating technology that can make an immediate impact. He turned his Ph.D. thesis into ClearFlame, a company for which he raised 50 million dollars and led teams to commercialize the technology with some of the largest fleets in the country, demonstrating a pathway for a transportation industry revolution

Kevin Kaye

Innovation Manager, Alabama Power Company

Kevin Kaye is the Innovation Manager at Alabama Power Company, where he is responsible for growing the culture of innovation, looking for commercialization opportunities associated with Alabama Power IP, and pursuing partnerships with companies that align closely with Alabama Power verticals. His goal is to enhance these partnership arrangements to work better for both counter-parties and support commercialization efforts of local startups to fuel technology-based economic development. Previously, he served in a variety of roles at Alabama Power including Financial Manager, Assistant to the EVP, CFO, and Treasurer, as well as a costing analysis manager.

William Lese

Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Braemar Energy Ventures

Bill Lese leads Braemar Energy Venture’s activities in the power, resources, and infra-tech segments. He is responsible for Braemar’s investments in General Fusion and Metalenz. Prior to starting Braemar, Lese was a Partner at Mantis Holdings, a venture firm focused on environmental and energy efficiency businesses. He was also one of the original team members at Sithe Energies, a global leader in independent power development, and Director of Corporate Development for NPS Industries. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy (NYC ACRE).

Mike Lightman

Hate Your Deck Founder

Mike Lightman is the founder of Hate Your Deck, an agency focused on taking complex business concepts and making them digestible within 2-3 minutes. Hate Your Deck also has a course on deck building and storytelling, which has been taught to over 350 entrepreneurs and fund managers across six continents. Lightman’s background includes a blend of investor, accelerator builder & operator, and storyteller. Some highlights include: Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, working with small business owners; venture capitalist where he fundraised for and launched a $50M global venture fund; startup ecosystem builder for the World Bank supporting startup programs worldwide; and children’s book writer, his newest endeavor.

Shyama Majumdar

Interim Senior Director of Science Accelerators and Investments, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, UChicago

Shyama Majumdar is the interim Senior Director of Science Accelerators and Investments at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, where she leads domain-focused accelerators, gap-funding programs, and entrepreneurial initiatives for faculty and students. Her work supports the commercialization of early-stage technologies and the launch of investor-backed ventures. Previously, Majumdar built and launched the Transform data science and AI accelerator in 2023 and has helped startups raise more than $24 million through programs she created. She brings over a decade of experience as a cancer research scientist and holds a Ph.D. in Biology and an MBA from the University of Delaware.

Rebecca Motley

VP, Economic Development, World Business Chicago

Rebecca Motley is Director of Business Development for Life Sciences & Deep Tech at World Business Chicago (WBC), where she leads efforts to strengthen Chicago’s position as a hub for life science, quantum, and deep technology innovation. In this role, she connects emerging companies with partners, investors, and resources that accelerate regional growth and impact. Under Motley’s leadership, WBC hosted the ReCode Edge Event, a healthcare innovation and AI summit that highlighted the momentum in Chicago’s health-tech ecosystem. She is known for building partnerships across industry, research institutions, and civic organizations, and believes strategic connection-building is essential to driving sustainable innovation and positioning Chicago as a destination for transformative science and technology companies.

Uuganbayar Otgonbaatar

Director of R&D, Grants, and Partnerships, Constellation

Uuganbayar (Ugi) Otgonbaatar, Ph.D., is Director of R&D, Grants, and Partnerships at Constellation, where he leads initiatives that advance resilient, affordable, and reliable energy systems. He oversees research, demonstration, and deployment efforts that strengthen Constellation’s innovation strategy. With more than thirteen years of experience in the energy sector, Otgonbaatar brings deep expertise in applied R&D, large-scale demonstrations, and cross-sector collaboration. He has secured and managed a broad portfolio of grants and partnerships with research institutions, industry, and government agencies, translating scientific advances into operational impact. Otgonbaatar’s work focuses on bridging research and real-world deployment to improve system performance and reliability at scale.

Jitesh Soares

VP, Science, Research & Sustainability, Office of Science, Research & Sustainability, American Chemical Society

Jitesh Soares is Vice President of Science, Research & Sustainability at the American Chemical Society (ACS), where he leads initiatives that advance scientific research, innovation, and community engagement across chemistry and related fields. In this role, he oversees programs that strengthen connections between academia, industry, and funding organizations, helping translate scientific discovery into real-world impact. Soares brings deep experience in research program leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional development for scientists and engineers. He holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry and applies his scientific expertise to support ACS’s mission as a catalyst for research excellence, collaboration, and sustainable innovation.

Kate Waimey Timmerman

CEO, Chicago Quantum Exchange

Kate Waimey Timmerman is CEO of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, which connects universities, national labs, and companies to advance quantum information science and engineering, train the future workforce, and drive the quantum economy. The CQE leads the US EDA-designated Bloch Quantum Tech Hub and the NSF Regional Innovation Engine development award. The CQE includes UChicago, Argonne, Fermilab, UIUC, UW-Madison, Northwestern, Purdue, and more than 40 industry partners. In addition to serving on the Advisory Council, Timmerman is board member at P33. Timmerman earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from UC Davis and bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College.

Brian Tolliver

CEO & Founder, Banyon Power Co.

Brian Tolliver has held leadership positions in strategy, corporate development, business development, finance, and engineering across a unique mix of 20+ years in large multinational corporations and fast growth businesses spanning high tech, industrials, investment banking, energy, and e-commerce. His specialties include strategy, business development, M&A, clean-tech, microgrids, EV, energy storage, smart home, Internet of Things (IoT), deal structure, portfolio management, buy-vs-build analysis, due diligence, additive manufacturing (3D printing), digital marketing, renewable energy, divestitures, channel strategy, intellectual property (offensive and defensive), e-mobility, joint ventures, valuation, competitive analysis, international, energy storage, software, hardware, internet, anti-trust, new product development, pricing & licensing, mapping, governance, finance/accounting, energy markets, multi-channel retail, and mobile devices.