"Music can be a good mobilizer"

Dr. Neil Fromer is the Executive Director of the Resnick Institute, Caltech’s endowed program for energy and sustainability. Neil works with the faculty, staff and students across the entire campus to develop new ideas and research technologies related to a clean energy future. Neil received his PhD in semiconductor physics from UC Berkeley, and his BS in Engineering/Physics from Brown University. Neil’s scientific background is in the interactions of light and matter, and he has over a decade of experience working on solar energy technologies. However, lately he has also been very interested by energy storage, clean fuel generation and use, smarter energy distribution systems, and energy efficiency. Prior to his arrival at the Resnick Institute, Neil was the director of advanced projects and the director of Reliability and testing for Soliant Energy, a concentrating photovoltaic company. While at Soliant, Neil directed the development, testing and certification of a new solar panel, designed specifically to generate the most energy on commercial rooftops. During this time, Neil was actively involved in defining the certification process of this new panel, and was responsible for Soliant receiving the first certification to the UL8703 safety certification for concentrating PV systems. Neil is still active on the technical review panel for UL8703. Previously, Neil worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, developing new low-cost solar cells from inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles, and also on the commercialization of energy efficient LED light bulbs and fixtures.