Media Contact:

Suzanne Offen

UW Clean Energy Institute

206.685.6410 (office)

[email protected]

Former Cleantech Executive Leads Development of

University of Washington Energy Research and Technology Center

Kevin Klustner Named Executive Director of

Center for Advanced Materials and Clean Energy Technologies

Seattle, WA (May 9, 2019)— The University of Washington (UW) and its Clean Energy Institute (CEI) named Kevin Klustner executive director of the Center for Advanced Materials and Clean Energy Technologies (CAMCET). When complete, CAMCET will be a 340,000-square-foot building that will bring together UW scientists and engineers with industry, civic, and nonprofit partners to accelerate clean energy solutions for a healthy planet. The building will house space for research, learning, and cleantech prototyping, testing, and validating. It will also offer space for organizations aligned with UW’s clean energy innovation mission. CAMCET is the first building under consideration for a location in the UW West Campus—an area designated in the Campus Master Plan for 3 million square-feet of new development that will foster a thriving collaboration ecosystem for UW and partners.  

“UW and its Clean Energy Institute have helped establish Washington as a leader in clean energy innovation and the CAMCET building will catapult Washington to even greater heights,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. “With this center, our students will get the best education and prepare for jobs of the future, while our cleantech companies will grow and create good jobs for our economy.”

“UW is a powerhouse in advanced materials and clean energy research and development,” said Klustner. “CAMCET will connect these UW researchers with local and global industry and nonprofit partners to bring critical clean technologies to the world. CAMCET, and West Campus at large, represents a new model for buildings on campus that will greatly benefit our students, faculty, and region and I’m proud to help lead this effort.”

Klustner has held a variety of executive roles in technology and cleantech companies. Most recently, he was the CEO of Powerit Solutions, a cloud-based industrial energy efficiency platform, which was acquired by Customized Energy Solutions. Prior to Powerit, he was the CEO of Verdiem, a venture-backed software company in the energy efficiency space. Klustner was also the chief operating officer of WRQ, a privately held enterprise networking company. While there, he helped grow the company from $15 million to $200 million in revenues.

“Kevin brings a wealth of cleantech industry experience that will help ensure CAMCET builds on UW’s strengths to create a hub for clean energy research and technology in the Pacific Northwest,” said Daniel Schwartz, UW CEI Director and Boeing-Sutter Professor of Chemical Engineering. “External partners that join UW in CAMCET will have access to a fantastic talent pool and the instruments and technology testbeds needed to advance their ventures. With CAMCET, UW will chart an exciting course for how we educate future clean energy leaders and build a community dedicated to getting clean energy technologies to market faster to combat climate change.”

In January 2018, the Washington State Legislature allocated $20 million to UW to establish CAMCET. The building will house:

  • Research
  • UW Clean Energy Institute (CEI): CEI supports the advancement of next-generation solar energy and battery materials and devices, as well as their integration with systems and the grid.
  • Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry, and Technology (NW IMPACT): A joint research collaboration of the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and UW.
  • Wet, dry, and computational lab space for advanced materials and clean energy research and training.
  • Market-rate leasable research spaces.
  • Industry/ Government/ NGOs
  • Washington Clean Energy Testbeds: CEI’s open-access, fee-for-use facility for prototyping, testing, and validating clean technologies. The facility takes no intellectual property from external users. It also hosts Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Investor-in-Residence programs available to cleantech innovators across the region.
  • Startup lab modules and hot desks.
  • Market-rate leasable spaces.
  • Learning
  • Active learning spaces for students.
  • Seminar and meeting rooms.
  • Collaboration Spaces.
  • Public
  • Venues for events, conferences, and K-12 and public outreach.

UW’s West Campus is located just south of the forthcoming U District Link Light Rail Station and within short walking distance of greenspace and the Portage Bay waterfront.

Subject to UW Regents’ approval, UW will seek a developer for CAMCET in 2019, with construction currently slated to begin in fall 2020.

Images available for download here.

About the Clean Energy Institute

The Clean Energy Institute (CEI) at the University of Washington (UW) was founded in 2013 with funds from the state of Washington. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of a scalable clean energy future that will improve the health and economy of our state, nation, and world. To accomplish this mission, CEI supports the advancement of next-generation solar energy and battery materials and devices, as well as their integration with systems and the grid. The institute creates the ideas and educates the people needed to generate these innovations, while facilitating the pathways to bring them to market. cei.washington.edu      

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