EmFPecora

At the DOE Solar Technologies Office, I support the creation, negotiation, execution, and monitoring of Funding Opportunities, with a specific focus on research & development awards to start-ups and large companies creating and commercializing new technologies spanning the entire value chain of the solar industry.

I am the technology manager of a $60M portfolio of R&D projects spanning different areas (innovation in manufacturing, software for energy load management, blockchain-enabled energy transactions, machine learning applications, creation and validation of new investment funds and business models to bring new capitals into the clean tech space…)

I am also the SBIR-STTR Office Portfolio Manager. I oversee all office-wide SBIR-STTR program, ensure alignment of topic development and award selection with office goals, monitor awards progress and impact.

In addition, I lead an office effort to use data-driven statistically-rigorous methodologies to measure the impact of government funding in technology transfer and other variables in the success of startups. Demonstrated that a robust investor ecosystem and an independent technology validator are needed in the same location (“innovation hubs”) to enable technology maturation.

There is one question I ask myself every day: how can I make a real impact on people lives? Technology expertise and commitment to leadership are my answers.

Innovation can be made only by a diverse team of people focused on the same goal. Getting the best out of each of us is the most challenging role of a leader. I had the possibility to manage small and large groups of people, achieving unexpected great results, with a large impact on the group members as well as on a large community.

My strengths are: excellent time management, people values and interests evaluation, peer support and consulting, mentoring experience, events organization, tasks organization and coordination.

I am the founder and first organizer of TEDxSSC, and now licensee and organizer of TEDxCatania, TEDxCataniaSalon, and TEDxCataniaWomen; I was President of my Alma Mater Alumni Association; and facilitator for several events on communication and management at Stanford University. My passion about innovation brought me to volunteer for the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing, where I assessed the business model for new technologies. I was also a communication coach for start-ups in the StartX accelerator.

Energy and communication are the most important challenges of the next century. Recently, I focused my interests in developing and supporting new approaches to enable cost-competitive renewable energy sources and their integration in the electric grid. In my previous research activity, I worked with light and matter and created semiconductor nanostructures specifically designed to be efficient light sources; on a different topic, I manipulated and trapped light to envision next generation of silicon-based solar cells. I have large experience and ability to design, fabricate and test new materials and device prototypes, developing a new idea from the basic physical principles to an actual implementation.

I am a physicist by training (Ph.D. in Physics, University of Catania, Italy, 2010) but my research activity has always been across Physics, Materials Science, and Engineering. The perfect balance between fundamental concepts applied to real devices. I always had a strong interaction with semiconductor industries. After finishing my PhD, I was a PostDoc at Boston University (2011-2013) and Stanford University (2013-2016) working on the development of more efficient solar cells and new materials to make communication with light possible.

I am author or co-author of more than 40 scientific papers, presented my works at more than 20 international scientific conferences, and published a book on my research activity. I am a reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals and mentor of several young students.