Paul Alivisatos
Raising the Energy Level at the Berkeley Lab
April / May 2010
Volume 8 Number 2
He has an endearing laugh, an amiable personality and a sense of informality that puts people at ease. But behind the affable demeanor is a man with a mission. Paul Alivisatos, the new director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, isn’t wasting time or energy in his assault on global warming. He’s determined to establish the lab as an energy research hub and to accelerate the transfer of technology in ways that can have significant impact. To accomplish this, he’s asking his 4,000 employees to overhaul the lab’s culture, priorities and collaborative processes. And could they please do this yesterday?
With a Ph.D. in chemistry, Alivisatos is soft-spoken but resolute. “Our lab needs to be much more strategic and much better coordinated in its approach to research on climate and the carbon cycle,” he says. “The scale of innovation that is required to address these global problems is enormous and there is an urgent need for us to step up with more focus and more resources.” In his view, it’s time to get scientists out of their silos, encourage them to work as a team on common objectives and convert their research into deliverable applications.
Alivisatos, 50, was named in November to the position that was formerly occupied by Steven Chu, who was appointed secretary of the Department of Energy last year. Alivisatos was acting director until the University of California’s Board of Regents made the appointment permanent. Managed by the University since 1931, Berkeley Lab—which was the first in the national laboratory system—performs research in nanoscience and advanced materials, life sciences, computing, energy and earth sciences, physics and cosmology.
It might be argued that Alivisatos, who was raised in Chicago but spent part of his childhood in Greece, has big shoes to fill, and quite a legacy to inherit. But, as deputy director during Chu’s tenure at the lab, he’s been well-groomed for management, which is often outside the comfort zone of academics. “He’s an incredible scientist with incredible judgment on a variety of issues,” Chu says of his former colleague. “He’s level-headed and calm, and he has an ability to inspire people. Also, he has the leadership to take projects from material science to real-world applications.”
Indeed, the multi-tasking Alivisatos, who still conducts his own nanoparticle research and still regularly meets with a group of grad students at the university, knows something about what it takes to create a business. He was a scientific founder of Nanosys Inc. and Quantum Dot Corporation and is a board member of Solexant, Inc. Nanosys, which was launched in 2003, produces materials that give LCD displays better color and brightness and extend the capacity of lithium ion batteries. Quantum Dot, a nanotech startup acquired by Invitrogen in 2005, develops tiny semiconductor crystals that fluoresce brightly with small amounts of light, thus providing detailed imaging tools for medical researchers studying the behavior of cells and organs. Solexant, founded in 2006, manufactures third generation thin film photovoltaic technologies that significantly increase the efficiency of solar cells and thus reduce the cost of solar modules. All of these technologies spun off from projects that Alivisatos spearheaded at the lab.
Being involved with startups, he says, has been a sometimes humbling and frequently enlightening experience. “When you take things from the lab to the marketplace, there are so many considerations and so many ways to work that issue,” he says. The commercial success of a new company, he adds, has more to do with the talent of the leadership, especially the CEO, than with the technology. Without strong marketing, sales and production efficiencies, groundbreaking discoveries can have difficulty finding a life outside of the laboratory—a reality that often confounds scientists, says Alivisatos.
A key challenge for the Berkeley Lab, as well as for the nine other DOE labs across the country, is coming up with a system of collaborating with industry. Last year, the Government Accountability Office issued a report on shortcomings in the labs’ technology transfer programs. It said that the facilities lacked parameters such as consolidated goals, performance measurements, incentives, funding and flexibility.
While the Berkeley lab has a track record of giving birth to startups and licensing its science, Alivisatos acknowledges that sometimes the catalyst is little more than “throwing it over the fence”—a comment punctuated by his trademark laugh. “But the consensus is that this is not the preferred model,” he says, “and that we need to think about better structures.” One organization that is trying to tackle the bottlenecks, he adds, is the Joint BioEnergy Institute, a San Francisco Bay Area partnership that consists of the Berkeley Lab and five other nearby labs and institutions, among them Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories. Their mission is to stimulate development of the next generation of biofuels—liquid fuels derived from the solar energy stored in plant biomass.
“When we talk to our friends in industry, both the large established companies and the startup entrepreneurs, we often find that each one has a different idea on how to interact with us,” he says. “We have to be flexible, and hopefully the DOE will be flexible. It’s very possible that a nimble industry innovator will be able to do things that our lab would never be able to do, and yet our lab has the basic science that is a good resource. We might need to do research cooperatively in different ways. It might be that we would have a consortium, if it is a competitive situation, or particular partners that want a closer relationship. There are a lot of challenges, but we have to be excited about the opportunities.”
Certainly, Alivisatos is turning up the wattage at Berkeley Lab, which is situated on a hill above the UC campus but also maintains satellite facilities in west Berkeley and neighboring Oakland. Among his five key objectives is a major reorganization of the physical layout. He’d like to consolidate the outliers into a second campus and revitalize the main campus by replacing old, seismically challenged buildings with new ones. Potential sites for the second complex are being identified and a recommendation is in the wings. While the need exists to add more staff and work space (and, not incidentally, more grants), Alivisatos is reaching out to the surrounding neighborhoods with assurances that the main campus will not extend beyond its existing footprint, thus addressing the concerns of environmentalists and residents.
As part of a new community relations initiative to dispel the lab’s walled garden impression, Alivisatos regularly meets with members of the Berkeley City Council, inviting them to come up and visit. And he’s formed an advisory group to engage friends and critics alike, providing updates and inviting feedback on existing and proposed projects. Given the “green” sensibilities of Berkeley and the local economic stimulus from the lab, that sort of relationship would seem natural. However, the reality is that it hasn’t been warm and fuzzy in years past. “We haven’t done a good job of telling our story,” says James Krupnick, chief of operations and a lab veteran of 33 years. “But Paul has a knack for explaining things in layman’s language.”
Another goal is to improve efficiency at the lab. Alivisatos wants to initiate peer and scientific reviews of all 14 divisions, which function with their own directors and set their budgets independently. He wants to see if the operations staff can tighten up on administrative costs and if scientists can network more frequently with other teams. These reviews, suggests Krupnick, are aimed at eliminating duplication, as well as reorienting the staff to focus on key technological objectives. The vision is that if the fundamental and applied science groups can work cooperatively at much higher levels than they have in the past, real progress can be made on the innovations that are needed to affect climate change.
Alivisatos has identified two key science initiatives that hold the most promise for commercial applications: Carbon Cycle 2.0 and Next Generation Light Source. The second of these is an extension of his own pioneering research in nanocrystals, and reflects his involvement in creating startups. He believes there are more opportunities to develop low-powered light sources, using quantum dots and quantum rods for a variety of electronics and medical devices, and thus reduce demand from the grid.
But his overriding priority is an ambitious, all-hands-on-deck effort to eliminate carbon emissions. “Our lab is supposed to solve big problems,” he told his staff in a February call-to-action briefing. The goal of this initiative, he said, “is to make sure that the lab itself has the biggest impact that it is capable of having. We have lots of people who are making wonderful discoveries in fundamental science but who could contribute more to the issues of carbon cycle research than they are today.”
The lab scientists are being tasked to create more precise climate modeling and to move the needle on biofuels, solar photovoltaics, battery efficiency and carbon capture. Also, said Alivisatos, they should expedite their research into the relatively new field of artificial photosynthesis, which holds long-term promise. Berkeley Lab has been working on something called the Helios project, in which the goal is to create photovoltaic cells in the form of a semiconductor membrane of nanocrystals that would mimic natural photosynthesis, the process by which green plants convert sunlight into electrochemical energy. The end product would be the storage of solar energy in the form of renewable liquid transportation fuel. Alivisatos has calculated that 58 million acres of non-arable land covered with photovoltaic nanocrystals would be enough to replace all of the gasoline consumption in the United States. In this effort, the lab is investigating three prototype systems: generating biofuels from biomass and algae, and using solar energy to directly convert water and carbon dioxide to fuels.
While some teams are developing new technologies, others, he says, need to concentrate on short-term solutions. Specifically, the lab should address how to make more efficient use of fossil fuel, since reliance isn’t going away anytime soon, and to temporarily store carbon dioxide—in processes referred to as capture and sequestration—without releasing it into the atmosphere.
Clearly, life will change for the scientists at Berkeley Lab as they rally around a new, more critical mandate. But there is little doubt that Alivisatos is held in high esteem by his colleagues and knows how to manage change. “It’s amazing to see how Paul handles both his academic research and his administrative duties,” says Peidong Yang, himself a world-renowned Berkeley chemist with expertise in nanoscience and solar-based nanotechnology. Years ago, Yang worked with Alivisatos to build a molecular foundry at the lab and, more recently, is helping him develop a solar innovation hub as an outgrowth of the Helios project. “Paul has always had vision and a deep grasp of the science behind the problems,” says Yang. “He communicates exceptionally well with scientists from various disciplines, with chemists, physicists and engineers. He has this ability to pull people together.”
With his multiple talents, Alivisatos seems to be the right man in the right place. And he embraces a profound chance to make history. “This is an amazing period for the lab,” he says, one in which he anticipates expansion, improved integration and transparency, and more financial support from the federal government. “Since the nation has decided to rely on science to lay a foundation for the future, as well as help dig ourselves out of recession, our job with the labs is to make sure there is good return on investment.”
Paul Alivisatos realizes that his is a high-stakes assignment. Time is running out, and every nanosecond counts.
Ken Castle is a freelance writer who reports from California for Innovation.
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