UC Davis Industry & Materials Decarbonization Symposium

April 16, 2026 | UC Davis Conference Center
Video Playlist

Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 am

Check-in and Refreshments

9:00 – 9:30 am

Welcome and Introductions

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• Kelly Kissock, Faculty Director, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute (view slides)
• Sabbie Miller, Faculty Director, UC Davis Materials Decarbonization and Sustainability Center (view slides)

9:30 – 10:30 am

Opening Plenary Panel: Collaborating Toward a Decarbonized Future in a Shifting Landscape

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Moderators

• Kelly Kissock, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
• Sabbie Miller, UC Davis Materials Decarbonization and Sustainability Center

Speakers

• Andrew McAllister, California Energy Commission (view slides)
  
• Rajinder Sahota, California Air Resources Board (view slides)
• Brenden Jiang, California Department of General Services
• Jeremy Peterson-Self, Caltrans (view slides)

10:30 – 11:00 am

Break

11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Breakout Session 1: Industrial Decarbonization Tools and Methods

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Moderator

• Vijay Gopalakrishnan, DNV

Speakers

• Zach Siefker, Cleaver-Brooks (view slides)
• Chris Fraughton, AtmosZero (view slides)
• Tara Schuelke, Hilmar Cheese Company (view slides)
• Ovais Khan, UC Davis (view slides)
• Clay Monahan, Atlas602 (view slides)

Breakout Session 2: Producing, Specifying, and Designing with Low-Carbon Materials

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Moderator

• Somayeh Nassiri, UC Davis

Speakers

• Cheng Qi, Ash Grove Cement (view slides)
• Jenny Emrick, Prologis (view slides)
• Josefine Olsson, UC Davis/LBNL (view slides)
• Steve Bryan, Ecocem Americas (view slides)
• Sam Bailey, Clean Air Task Force (view slides)

12:15 – 1:30 pm

Lunch and Poster Session

1:30 – 2:45 pm

Breakout Session 3: The Decarbonization Journey

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Moderator

• Edwin Hornquist, EPRI

Speakers

• Ali Qamar, UC Davis (view slides)
• Vinod Narayanan, UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center (view slides)
• Mark Chung, Verdigris (view slides)
• John O’Donnell, Rondo Energy (view slides)
• Vedant Sinha, Sustainability Research Scientist, Amazon

Breakout Session 4: Advancing Low-Carbon Materials Adoption Through Policy and Technology Breakthroughs

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Moderator

• John Harvey, UC Pavement Research Center

Speakers

• Ben Skinner, RMI (view slides)
• Kyle Heinzman, Sparkz, Inc. (view slides)
• Seth Kane, UC Davis (view slides)
• Tom Tietz, CNCA (view slides)
• Charley Rea, CalCIMA (view slides)

2:45 – 3:15 pm

Break

3:15 – 4:30 pm

Closing Plenary: What Will Drive Adoption of Leading-Edge Solutions?

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Moderator

• Richard Hart, ACEEE

Speakers

• Sean Mulderrig, NYSERDA
• Christy Stanker, ClimateWorks Foundation (view slides)
• Lauren Kubiak, Natural Resources Defense Council (view slides)
• Eric Masanet, UC Santa Barbara (view slides)
• Jeffrey Rissman, Energy Innovation (view slides)

5:00 – 5:15 pm

Closing Remarks and Next Steps

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• Kelly Kissock, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute
• Sabbie Miller, UC Davis Materials Decarbonization and Sustainability Center

5:15 pm

Reception and Networking

Symposium Conveners

Kelly Kissock
Faculty Director
UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute

Sabbie Miller
Faculty Director
UC Davis Materials Decarbonization and Sustainability Center

Symposium Speakers

Sam Bailey
Senior Manager of Industrial Innovation
Clean Air Task Force

Steve Bryan
President
Ecocem Americas

Mark Chung
Co-Founder and CEO
Verdigris

Jenny Emrick
Global Construction Sustainability Manager
Prologis

Chris Fraughton
Senior Director
AtmosZero

Vijay Gopalakrishnan
Principal Engineer
DNV

Richard Hart
Industry Director
ACEEE

John Harvey
Faculty Director
UC Pavement Research Center

Kyle Heinzman
Plant Manager
Sparkz, Inc.

Edwin Hornquist
Principal Technical Leader
EPRI

Brenden Jiang
Engineering Branch Chief
California Department of General Services

Seth Kane
Postdoctoral Scholar
UC Davis

Ovais Khan
Graduate Researcher
UC Davis

Lauren Kubiak
Senior Scientist
Natural Resources Defense Council

Eric Masanet
Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies
UC Santa Barbara

Andrew McAllister
Commissioner
California Energy Commission

Clay Monahan
Co-Founder
Atlas602

Sean Mulderrig
Demonstrations Program Manager
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

Vinod Narayanan
Director
UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center

Somayeh Nassiri
Associate Professor of  Civil and Environmental Engineering
UC Davis

John O’Donnell
Chief Innovation Officer
Rondo Energy

Josefine Olsson
Postdoctoral Scholar
UC Davis/LBNL

Jeremy Peterson-Self
Division Chief of Construction
Caltrans

Ali Qamar
Graduate Researcher
UC Davis

Cheng Qi
Technical Center Director
Ash Grove Cement

Charley Rea
VP of Policy and Communication
CalCIMA

Jeffrey Rissman
Senior Director of Industry
Energy Innovation

Rajinder Sahota
Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research
California Air Resources Board

Tara Schuelke
Director of Engineering Services
Hilmar Cheese Company

Zach Siefker
Director of Integrated Thermal Systems
Cleaver-Brooks

Vedant Sinha
Sustainability Research Scientist
Amazon

Ben Skinner
Climate-Aligned Industries Manager
RMI

Christy Stanker
Industry Program Manager
ClimateWorks Foundation

Tom Tietz
Executive Director
California Nevada Cement Association