Biography
Vanessa Z. Chan is an accomplished entrepreneur, angel investor, speaker, and educator renowned for her expertise in commercializing technologies. She is the inaugural Vice Dean of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Penn Engineering, Undergraduate Chair of the MSE department, Director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, and the Jonathan & Linda Brassington Professor of Practice.
In 2021, President Biden appointed Dr. Chan Chief Commercialization Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, where she advanced clean energy technologies through the "Pathways to Commercial Liftoff" reports and created Adoption Readiness Levels, a widely adopted commercialization framework. Time named her to its 2024 list of 100 most influential climate business leaders.
Previously, she spent 13 years at McKinsey & Company co-leading innovation and founded re.design, a consumer products company. Dr. Chan holds a Ph.D. from MIT and a B.S.E. from Penn, both in MSE.
Sessions with this speaker
Register for AEC 2026
Join the leaders shaping the energy transition. Registration for AEC 2026 is now open.