Eco Austin 2015

Bamboo for Water has created new sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment using multi-species bamboo plantations on soil (when appropriate) or on selected substrates, which can be tailored to various pollution and environmental contexts. This innovative water treatment named “Bambou-Assainissement®” was patented in 2002.

Bamboo for Water addresses comprehensive or tertiary treatment solutions for from agricultural, food-industry, washing and cleaning, and domestic wastewaters. The system can be also designed for stormwater or sludge management and treatment. As a tertiary treatment, the Bambou-Assainissement® constitutes a buffer zone which allows completing any other conventional treatments and thus contributes to protect the environment.

Serbel’s business philosophy is to systematically examining existing technologies to determine their strengths and weaknesses, then enhance those strengths into Serbel’s technologies without adopting the weaknesses. Most existing water treatment technologies process water at the point of use and are based on costly “consumables” business models.

Serbel technologies focus on water treatment at the point of entry (or, in certain instances, point of exit), require little to no energy to operate (considerably reducing costs), and require minimal maintenance, creating a global solution to systematically supply optimised water quality. Serbel products have no direct competitors and comply with the growing worldwide demand for organic and sustainable development coupled with an economy of water and energy.

Philippe Léonard is an innovator and consultant engaged in various ethical projects focusing on innovation, environment and energy challenges.

Looking into two major issues nowadays, the environment and energy, Philippe imagined, researched, patented and developed AeroCube, a smart micro-scale and highly innovative roof-top wind turbine specifically designed for domestic and residential use in urban and sub-urban environment. Out of this idea, he started several companies on both sides of the Atlantic, including UrbanWindDesign, an Austin-based start’up dedicated to licensing patented renewable energy solutions on international markets.

Kathleen Baireuther serves as the Executive Director of CleanTX, the regional cluster development and trade association for clean energy and technology.

Kathleen Baireuther is a strategic planning and business development professional with 13 years combined experience in economic development, management consulting, and technology commercialization.  

As the Principal of the Clean Energy Incubator at ATI, she provides direction to portfolio companies and promotes the clean energy ecosystem in Austin. She also manages a Department of Energy (DOE) grant designed to identify and promote best practices in clean energy incubation both regionally and nationally.

BoostHEAT develops improved innovative solutions to solve some of the world’s largest energy challenges: energy efficiency and security, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, flexibility of energy networks and renewable energy.  

BoostHEAT addresses the need for energy efficiency, energy flexibility and renewable energy into one affordable solution and developed the boostHEAT Thermal Compressor technology, a new generation of very efficient and renewable heating, hot water and cooling systems.

Concurrent Design works in the continuum from idea generation, IP development, conceptual design, engineering design, and prototyping to manufacturing scale-up. Concurrent Design has developed a strong portfolio in sectors such as electronics, semiconductor, nanotechnology, clean technologies and medical products.

The idea of “Engineering for Humankind,” and hence the interest in clean technologies (solar, wind, storage, solid state lighting, water, etc.) and medical technologies (medical and biomedical products, medical devices, and durable medical equipment). During twenty years, Concurrent Design grew to serve start-ups through Fortune 50 clients, booking well over 1600 projects locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

As a founding member of Omni Water Solutions, and with over 11 years of experience in water treatment technology development and commercialization, Billy is responsible for developing the design, optimization, and implementation of innovative water treatment technologies into multiple markets domestically and abroad. 

Omni Water Solutions is a technology-driven company which specializes in developing and deploying mobile water treatment systems for turning contaminated water into usable water. Through its patented Octozone™ automation technology, Omni’s systems are able to treat a wide variety of contaminated water sources, including produced, brackish, and sea water. The result is output water custom-tailored to our customer’s requirements at significantly lower energy and maintenance costs. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and currently operates systems in North America and Africa.

Solairedirect was founded in 2006 on the basis of the firm conviction that solar power is the petroleum that will fuel the 21st century, a clean, sustainable energy source that is available everywhere. Our fundamental aim at Solairedirect is to generate solar power that is reliable, efficient, intelligent and, above all, competitive and that will become one of the world’s main energy sources. Solairedirect is much more than just a projects developer, installer and producer of photovoltaic modules: it is an operator which offers an integrated model for the production of solar electricity.

Marc-Alain Behar is responsible for business development across the Americas region at Solairedirect, France’s leading Independent Solar Power Producer.
Marc-Alain’s primary focus is to develop the company’s footprint in the US and Latin America, coordinating internal business development activities as well as M&A and strategic partnerships. He is also in charge for the design and implementation of innovative business models based on competitive solar power.