Alumni update: Ian McCluskey joins energy storage startup
Better batteries are key for clean energy
Ian McCluskey '15 (Environmental Science) recently joined Seattle-area startup Group14 Technologies, a leader in the silicon-carbon lithium battery space. Since Ian joined in June 2020, Group14 won a Department of Energy grant in support of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge worth over $4 million, and closed a Series B funding round of $17 million.
Ian was initially inspired to pursue renewable energy by ESS senior lecturer Stephanie Hughes. He spent his first two years post-graduation in the solar industry as a system designer. To understand the solar installation process, Ian became an install team leader with Oakland-based non-profit Grid Alternatives and gained North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certification. Through Grid Alternatives, Ian connected with a solar startup in Nicaragua and moved there as a self-employed consultant in 2018. Unfortunately, violent government repression shook Nicaragua beginning in April 2018. However, during his work-travel through Central America and Mexico, Ian witnessed the power of energy independence.
Ian hopes Group14's groundbreaking products will contribute to the new energy revolution and bring clean energy independence to people around the world.