West Gate @Mines

Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program
Hosted by NREL

West Gate at Mines

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the latest expansion of its Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program to accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technologies. Hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with support from the Colorado School of Mines, West Gate will join three existing sites of the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program to equip scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs with the training, technical resources, and mentorship they need to develop next-generation technologies that will pave the way to a zero-carbon economy. 

“We launched the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship program seven years ago to provide clean energy innovators with a critical bridge between discovery and commercialization,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman. “We’re thrilled to expand this mentorship program and support more entrepreneurs whose novel ideas will power our clean energy future and ensure that’s it’s made right here at home.”   

Support program

Through West Gate, up to five innovators will be selected via a competitive process and will each receive: 

  • Two-year paid fellowships: Each fellowship provides an annual stipend of $100,000 with healthcare and relocation benefits for qualifying candidates.
  • National laboratory access and research funding: Participants will gain unparalleled access to NREL’s facilities, equipment, and expertise, as well as receive $175,000 of research and development funding to foster research collaboration.
  • Business mentors, entrepreneurial training, and networking: Fellows will have access to experienced business mentorship, entrepreneurial training programs, and exclusive networking opportunities.  These programs will  expose fellows to a wide range of leaders from academia, industry, government, and finance that can serve as advisors and partners. 

Cohort eligibility

We are looking for talented scientists, engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs with a promising technology they seek to commercialize. Selected innovators must relocate to the greater Denver area and commit full-time to building their company for the duration of the program. To be eligible for the program, interested participants must:

A formed company is not a requirement for application. However, individuals selected to join West Gate will need to incorporate their company upon acceptance into the program.

Cohort 1 innovators

Andrew Gabor is the chief technology officer and director of business development for BrightSpot Automation, which provides the solar energy industry and photovoltaic researchers with specialized manufacturing and measurement tools. During Gabor‘s time with West Gate, he will focus on the development of new solar panel defect imaging tools based on UV fluorescence technology and the automated analysis of solar panel and solar cell defect images through machine learning software. Gabor is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Grant Gunnison is the founder of Zero, a home-electrification marketplace that simplifies deployments for single-family homes. He previously developed CubeSat laser communication terminals at NASA and MIT and ran a general contracting business. Gunnison understands residential market challenges and leverages his expertise to change how solutions are delivered to accelerate deployments. During Gunnison’s time with West Gate, he will further develop his platform and build out his team. Gunnison is supported by the Building Technologies Office.

Mike Konev is pioneering a new method to separate and depolymerize polyester plastics from postconsumer synthetic textiles and packaging to enable their full circularity. During his time with West Gate, he will optimize and validate this method from bench to multi-kilogram scale, characterizing postconsumer-sourced inputs and product outputs. Upon successful demonstration of the scale-up and purification processes, he will produce prototype material for engineering-grade 3D printing resins. Konev is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Stefan Streckfus is a co-founder and chief technology officer of Renewell Energy, which converts inactive oil and gas wells into gravity energy storage. During Stefan’s time with West Gate, he will focus on the design and development of Renewell Energy’s first to-scale prototype and the creation of the ideal team to build out this concept. Streckfus is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Cohort 1 innovators

Andrew Gabor is the chief technology officer and director of business development for BrightSpot Automation, which provides the solar energy industry and photovoltaic researchers with specialized manufacturing and measurement tools. During Gabor‘s time with West Gate, he will focus on the development of new solar panel defect imaging tools based on UV fluorescence technology and the automated analysis of solar panel and solar cell defect images through machine learning software. Gabor is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Grant Gunnison is the founder of Zero, a home-electrification marketplace that simplifies deployments for single-family homes. He previously developed CubeSat laser communication terminals at NASA and MIT and ran a general contracting business. Gunnison understands residential market challenges and leverages his expertise to change how solutions are delivered to accelerate deployments. During Gunnison’s time with West Gate, he will further develop his platform and build out his team. Gunnison is supported by the Building Technologies Office.

Mikhail Konev is pioneering a new method to separate and depolymerize polyester plastics from postconsumer synthetic textiles and packaging to enable their full circularity. During his time with West Gate, he will optimize and validate this method from bench to multi-kilogram scale, characterizing postconsumer-sourced inputs and product outputs. Upon successful demonstration of the scale-up and purification processes, he will produce prototype material for engineering-grade 3D printing resins. Konev is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Stefan Streckfus is a co-founder and chief technology officer of Renewell Energy, which converts inactive oil and gas wells into gravity energy storage. During Stefan’s time with West Gate, he will focus on the design and development of Renewell Energy’s first to-scale prototype and the creation of the ideal team to build out this concept. Streckfus is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.