US Department of Energy

ArcelorMittal USA LLC, based in Chicago, Illinois, is a manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of steel products, including flat products like hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, steel plates, coated steel products, and tin sheets. The company also produces long products such as railroad rails and ingots, as well as welded products and various tubular products. In addition to steel, ArcelorMittal USA manufactures iron ore and metallurgical coal. Its diverse customer base spans several sectors, including automotive, energy, construction, packaging, transportation, and heavy machinery. Established in 2002, the company operates additional facilities in East Chicago, Indiana, and Richfield, Ohio. As of December 2010, it operates as a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Caterpillar Inc., established in 1925, is a leading American corporation that designs, manufactures, markets, and sells heavy machinery, engines, and financial products globally. The company operates through four segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy & Transportation, and Cat Financial. Its extensive product portfolio includes construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, diesel-electric locomotives, and financial services. Caterpillar's global presence is supported by over 2,700 dealer branches across the world, ensuring widespread availability of its products. The company is committed to innovation, investing over $2 billion annually in research and development, and holds thousands of patents worldwide. Additionally, Caterpillar Ventures invests in early-round ventures to foster growth and sustainability, while the Caterpillar Foundation focuses on enhancing human, ecological, and basic services infrastructure.

NanoGraf Corporation is a materials science company based in Chicago, Illinois, focused on the development and commercialization of advanced materials for the energy storage market. Founded in 2012, the company specializes in silicon-graphene electrode materials designed for lithium-ion batteries, which offer higher energy density and reduced charging times compared to traditional graphitic-based anodes. These innovative materials have potential applications across various sectors, including consumer electronics and electric vehicles. NanoGraf's technology aims to enhance battery capacity while enabling cost-effective production through a chemistry-based manufacturing process.

Gas Technology Institute is a research, development, and training organization addressing energy and environmental challenges to enable a secure, abundant, and affordable energy future. The company provides economic value to the natural gas industry and energy markets by developing technology-based solutions for industry, government, and consumers. Its research initiatives address issues impacting the natural gas and energy markets across the industry’s value chain—supply, delivery, and end use. GTI offers an integrated systems perspective to expand the supply of affordable energy, ensure a safe and reliable energy delivery infrastructure, and promote the efficient use of energy resources. GTI is based in Des Plaines, Illinois, founded in 1941 as a non-profit corporation.

NETenergy is a Chicago-based company specializing in thermal energy storage technology. It has developed an innovative thermal battery that stores cold energy during off-peak hours. This stored energy can then be utilized to cool buildings during peak hours, when energy costs are typically higher. By implementing this technology, building owners can significantly reduce their energy consumption, lower their energy bills, and decrease their carbon emissions. NETenergy's approach aims to enhance energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings, contributing to a more sustainable energy future.

Eden Park Illumination, Inc. is a lighting technology company based in Champaign, Illinois, established in 2007. The company specializes in the research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of advanced lighting systems, particularly focusing on ultraviolet (UV) lamps. Its product offerings include various ultraviolet lighting systems, such as the patented Far-UVC 222nm disinfection lamps, which are designed to safely disinfect air and surfaces, helping to mitigate health threats like Covid-19. Eden Park's lamps are recognized for their toxicity-free design, uniform soft glow, and consistent color and intensity, making them suitable for diverse applications including architectural projects, retail displays, and interior lighting. The company benefits from a strong technological foundation, supported by over fifty years of expertise through its affiliation with the Laboratory of Optical Physics and Engineering at the University of Illinois.

ALLETE, Inc. is an energy company based in Duluth, Minnesota, incorporated in 1906. It operates through two primary segments: Regulated Operations and ALLETE Clean Energy. The Regulated Operations segment includes Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power Company, which provide electric, natural gas, and water services to a significant number of customers in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Additionally, this segment encompasses an investment in American Transmission Company, a utility that maintains electric transmission infrastructure across parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. ALLETE Clean Energy focuses on the development, acquisition, and operation of clean and renewable energy projects, operating around 660 megawatts of wind energy generation. The company is also involved in coal mining operations in North Dakota and real estate investments in Florida, while owning and operating multiple substations with substantial capacity.

TH Foods, Inc., established in 1984 and headquartered in Loves Park, Illinois, is a global snack food producer. It specializes in a wide array of products, including snack crisps, sesame sticks, corn sticks, baked wheat crackers, rice-based snacks, nuts, dried fruits, and confections. The company is renowned for its commitment to customer service and the quality of its products. As of 2020, TH Foods operates as a subsidiary of Kameda Seika Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1890 as the Armour Institute, the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private, independent, nonprofit research university located in Chicago. IIT offers a wide range of programs, including engineering, science, architecture, business, law, design, human sciences, and applied technology, granting degrees up to the Ph.D. level. The university's Chicago location enhances its global recruitment efforts and provides extensive opportunities that inform its educational and research initiatives. Through its innovative research and collaborations, IIT aims to contribute positively to the city of Chicago, fostering a mutually beneficial relationship that supports both the institution's growth and the community's development.

ArcelorMittal USA LLC, based in Chicago, Illinois, is a manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of steel products, including flat products like hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, steel plates, coated steel products, and tin sheets. The company also produces long products such as railroad rails and ingots, as well as welded products and various tubular products. In addition to steel, ArcelorMittal USA manufactures iron ore and metallurgical coal. Its diverse customer base spans several sectors, including automotive, energy, construction, packaging, transportation, and heavy machinery. Established in 2002, the company operates additional facilities in East Chicago, Indiana, and Richfield, Ohio. As of December 2010, it operates as a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Gas Technology Institute is a research, development, and training organization addressing energy and environmental challenges to enable a secure, abundant, and affordable energy future. The company provides economic value to the natural gas industry and energy markets by developing technology-based solutions for industry, government, and consumers. Its research initiatives address issues impacting the natural gas and energy markets across the industry’s value chain—supply, delivery, and end use. GTI offers an integrated systems perspective to expand the supply of affordable energy, ensure a safe and reliable energy delivery infrastructure, and promote the efficient use of energy resources. GTI is based in Des Plaines, Illinois, founded in 1941 as a non-profit corporation.

ALLETE, Inc. is an energy company based in Duluth, Minnesota, incorporated in 1906. It operates through two primary segments: Regulated Operations and ALLETE Clean Energy. The Regulated Operations segment includes Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power Company, which provide electric, natural gas, and water services to a significant number of customers in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Additionally, this segment encompasses an investment in American Transmission Company, a utility that maintains electric transmission infrastructure across parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. ALLETE Clean Energy focuses on the development, acquisition, and operation of clean and renewable energy projects, operating around 660 megawatts of wind energy generation. The company is also involved in coal mining operations in North Dakota and real estate investments in Florida, while owning and operating multiple substations with substantial capacity.

Argonne is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center, where “dream teams” of world-class researchers work alongside experts from industry, academia and other government laboratories to address vital national challenges in clean energy, environment, technology and national security. Through collaborations with researchers here at Argonne and around the world, they strive to discover new ways to develop energy innovations through science, create novel materials molecule-by-molecule, and gain a deeper understanding of their planet, their climate and the cosmos. Surrounded by the highest concentration of top-tier research organizations in the world, Argonne leverages its Chicago-area location to lead discovery and to power innovation in a wide range of core scientific capabilities, from high-energy physics and materials science to structural biology and advanced computer science. Embracing the nation’s greatest challenges, Argonne’s world-renowned scientists and engineers conduct pioneering research that advances America’s scientific excellence and leadership and helps pave the way to a secure nation with a plentiful supply of safe, sustainable energy, a healthy environment, and a competitive economy. They pursue big, ambitious ideas that redefine what is possible. Their pursuit of groundbreaking discoveries pushes the boundaries of fundamental science, applied science and engineering to solve complex challenges and develop useful technologies that can transform the marketplace and change the world. A center for world-class discovery and scientific excellence, their diverse and dynamic research agenda spans 15 scientific divisions, 14 centers, and six national user facilities. This rich scientific environment provides their researchers – and those who visit us from all corners of the globe – with an extraordinary range of cutting-edge facilities and scientific tools that support in-depth research, drive technological breakthroughs, and improve their nation’s competitiveness and quality of life. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science

Illinois Green Alliance is to advance communities and structures that provide people with greener, brighter, healthier places to live, work, and study.

Celadyne Technologies, founded in 2018 and based in Chicago, Illinois, specializes in the development of advanced nanocomposite membranes for use in electrolyzers and fuel cells. These membranes are designed to facilitate efficient heat and water management, offering several advantages over traditional ceramic separators, such as reduced hydrogen crossover. The technology allows for operation under low humidity and elevated temperature conditions, promoting better catalyst durability and contributing to a more cost-effective hydrogen economy. Celadyne Technologies aims to enhance the performance and efficiency of energy systems through its innovative membrane solutions.

A major research university in the heart of one of the world's greatest cities, UIC provides a world-class education for its students. We are committed to creating and disseminating new knowledge as a university of growing national and international stature. The largest university in the Chicago area, UIC has 27,580 students, 15 colleges-including the nation's largest medical school-and annual research expenditures exceeding $335 million. UIC operates the state's major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois' physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other health-care professionals. A truly global institution, more than a third of UIC students speak English as a second language. UIC's student body-approximately 61 percent undergraduate and 39 percent graduate and professional-is recognized as one of the nation's most diverse. We consider this one of our greatest strengths.

Sivananthan Laboratories is a high tech business incubator focused on promoting economic growth in Illinois and the United States through fostering cutting-edge, fundamental research and development. Sivananthan Laboratories’ corporate model is the famous Bell Laboratories, whose many fundamental research contributions helped drive our nation’s leadership in technology and manufacturing. Indeed, the demise of major industrial laboratories such as Bell Labs and others has left a large gap in domestic technology development and threatens future economic growth. We are trying to bridge this gap by creating and assisting small businesses in nurturing their ability to research new technologies, create jobs, and generate innovative products and services. We at Sivananthan Laboratories cherish an ecosystem of scientific collaboration among academia, industry, and government while working with external partners to commercialize successful research. We will leverage these collaborations in order to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

Argonne is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center, where “dream teams” of world-class researchers work alongside experts from industry, academia and other government laboratories to address vital national challenges in clean energy, environment, technology and national security. Through collaborations with researchers here at Argonne and around the world, they strive to discover new ways to develop energy innovations through science, create novel materials molecule-by-molecule, and gain a deeper understanding of their planet, their climate and the cosmos. Surrounded by the highest concentration of top-tier research organizations in the world, Argonne leverages its Chicago-area location to lead discovery and to power innovation in a wide range of core scientific capabilities, from high-energy physics and materials science to structural biology and advanced computer science. Embracing the nation’s greatest challenges, Argonne’s world-renowned scientists and engineers conduct pioneering research that advances America’s scientific excellence and leadership and helps pave the way to a secure nation with a plentiful supply of safe, sustainable energy, a healthy environment, and a competitive economy. They pursue big, ambitious ideas that redefine what is possible. Their pursuit of groundbreaking discoveries pushes the boundaries of fundamental science, applied science and engineering to solve complex challenges and develop useful technologies that can transform the marketplace and change the world. A center for world-class discovery and scientific excellence, their diverse and dynamic research agenda spans 15 scientific divisions, 14 centers, and six national user facilities. This rich scientific environment provides their researchers – and those who visit us from all corners of the globe – with an extraordinary range of cutting-edge facilities and scientific tools that support in-depth research, drive technological breakthroughs, and improve their nation’s competitiveness and quality of life. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science

Fermilab is an American particle physics and accelerator laboratory dedicated to exploring high-energy physics. It leads the world in neutrino science with particle accelerators, leads the nation in the development of particle colliders and their use for scientific discovery, and advances particle physics through measurements of the cosmos. The laboratory’s 1,750 employees include scientists and engineers from all around the world. It collaborates with more than 20 countries on physics experiments based in the United States and elsewhere. Fermilab's 6,800-acre site is located in Batavia, Illinois, and is managed by the Fermi Research Alliance, a partnership of the University of Chicago and Universities Research Association, a consortium of 86 research universities, for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. Fermilab builds and operates world-leading accelerator and detector facilities, performs pioneering research with national and global partners, and develops new technologies for science that support U.S. industrial competitiveness. Fermilab was founded in 1968.

A major research university in the heart of one of the world's greatest cities, UIC provides a world-class education for its students. We are committed to creating and disseminating new knowledge as a university of growing national and international stature. The largest university in the Chicago area, UIC has 27,580 students, 15 colleges-including the nation's largest medical school-and annual research expenditures exceeding $335 million. UIC operates the state's major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois' physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other health-care professionals. A truly global institution, more than a third of UIC students speak English as a second language. UIC's student body-approximately 61 percent undergraduate and 39 percent graduate and professional-is recognized as one of the nation's most diverse. We consider this one of our greatest strengths.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, founded in 1867 and located in Champaign, Illinois, is a prominent institution known for its commitment to excellence in education, research, and public engagement. With over 3,000 faculty members, the university fosters innovation and discovery, contributing significantly to the state's economy and garnering numerous prestigious awards. The campus offers outstanding academic programs and resources that attract high-achieving students who engage in various research initiatives, study abroad, and participate in numerous student organizations. With a network of more than 425,000 alumni, the university has cultivated leaders across diverse fields globally, reflecting its influence and legacy in higher education.

mHUB is an independent innovation center located in Chicago, Illinois, that specializes in hardtech and manufacturing. Incorporated in 2013, mHUB focuses on the development and manufacturing of physical products, including robotics, connected devices, sensors, energy technologies, medical devices, smart buildings, and unmanned vehicles. It serves as a collaborative space for startups and small businesses, fostering a community of over 428 active members, including product designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Since its launch in 2017, mHUB has facilitated the creation of more than 1,256 products, generated over $1.1 billion in revenue, and supported the hiring of more than 4,153 employees. The center provides essential resources such as funding, co-working space, and industry expertise, enabling innovators to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses and advance the manufacturing sector.

mHUB is an independent innovation center located in Chicago, Illinois, that specializes in hardtech and manufacturing. Incorporated in 2013, mHUB focuses on the development and manufacturing of physical products, including robotics, connected devices, sensors, energy technologies, medical devices, smart buildings, and unmanned vehicles. It serves as a collaborative space for startups and small businesses, fostering a community of over 428 active members, including product designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Since its launch in 2017, mHUB has facilitated the creation of more than 1,256 products, generated over $1.1 billion in revenue, and supported the hiring of more than 4,153 employees. The center provides essential resources such as funding, co-working space, and industry expertise, enabling innovators to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses and advance the manufacturing sector.

Argonne is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center, where “dream teams” of world-class researchers work alongside experts from industry, academia and other government laboratories to address vital national challenges in clean energy, environment, technology and national security. Through collaborations with researchers here at Argonne and around the world, they strive to discover new ways to develop energy innovations through science, create novel materials molecule-by-molecule, and gain a deeper understanding of their planet, their climate and the cosmos. Surrounded by the highest concentration of top-tier research organizations in the world, Argonne leverages its Chicago-area location to lead discovery and to power innovation in a wide range of core scientific capabilities, from high-energy physics and materials science to structural biology and advanced computer science. Embracing the nation’s greatest challenges, Argonne’s world-renowned scientists and engineers conduct pioneering research that advances America’s scientific excellence and leadership and helps pave the way to a secure nation with a plentiful supply of safe, sustainable energy, a healthy environment, and a competitive economy. They pursue big, ambitious ideas that redefine what is possible. Their pursuit of groundbreaking discoveries pushes the boundaries of fundamental science, applied science and engineering to solve complex challenges and develop useful technologies that can transform the marketplace and change the world. A center for world-class discovery and scientific excellence, their diverse and dynamic research agenda spans 15 scientific divisions, 14 centers, and six national user facilities. This rich scientific environment provides their researchers – and those who visit us from all corners of the globe – with an extraordinary range of cutting-edge facilities and scientific tools that support in-depth research, drive technological breakthroughs, and improve their nation’s competitiveness and quality of life. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science

SolarBridge Technologies, originally founded as SmartSpark Energy Systems in 2004, specializes in microinverter and monitoring solutions for residential and small commercial solar power installations. The company pivoted to focus exclusively on the solar industry in 2009, leveraging power electronics technologies developed at the University of Illinois. With significant research and development facilities in Champaign, Illinois, and a corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, SolarBridge aims to enhance the efficiency and reliability of solar energy systems. Their offerings include an energy management system that integrates a microinverter directly with photovoltaic modules, providing alternating current power to the grid. Additionally, SolarBridge provides a solar information module that gathers performance data from each microinverter, allowing system owners to analyze and monitor their solar installations remotely via the Internet. Through these innovations, SolarBridge Technologies seeks to lower the Levelized Cost of Energy for solar installations while improving overall energy production and simplifying installation processes.

SolarBridge Technologies, originally founded as SmartSpark Energy Systems in 2004, specializes in microinverter and monitoring solutions for residential and small commercial solar power installations. The company pivoted to focus exclusively on the solar industry in 2009, leveraging power electronics technologies developed at the University of Illinois. With significant research and development facilities in Champaign, Illinois, and a corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, SolarBridge aims to enhance the efficiency and reliability of solar energy systems. Their offerings include an energy management system that integrates a microinverter directly with photovoltaic modules, providing alternating current power to the grid. Additionally, SolarBridge provides a solar information module that gathers performance data from each microinverter, allowing system owners to analyze and monitor their solar installations remotely via the Internet. Through these innovations, SolarBridge Technologies seeks to lower the Levelized Cost of Energy for solar installations while improving overall energy production and simplifying installation processes.

Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. specializes in producing and distributing specialty chemicals derived from natural plant oils through a process known as oil metathesis. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Woodridge, Illinois, the company develops a diverse range of products, including cleaning ingredients, coating materials, personal care components, and chemical intermediates for various industries such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and polymers. Elevance's offerings cater to applications in detergents, coatings, and engineered polymers, among others. In addition to its product lines, the company provides manufacturing consulting, engineering, and technical consulting services focused on bio-based feedstocks and intermediates. By transforming renewable oils into high-performance specialty products, Elevance is positioned to address consumer demand in a growing market.