Green.org sat down with Chaitanya Sharma, the CEO of IM3NY, to learn about his passion for solving the world’s energy problem.
Who is Chaitanya Sharma?
Mr. Sharma had always aspired to be an entrepreneur and start his own venture. It is for this very reason that when he got exposed to the Verdigris revolution of trying to bring together a group of talented individuals who are all future entrepreneurs and collectively build a large company, he dove right in. Now, Chaitanya is the CEO of IM3NY, a Lithium-ion Gigafactory, which is on a journey to make the world a better place through leading the New Energy Revolution..
Chaitanya, thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about your background.
I am a Mechanical Engineer by education, grew up in India and obtained my Bachelors of Technology degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and then came to the US to pursue a Master’s of Science degree from Stanford University. I am spent my entire career in the energy sector initially focused on helping different types of built environments achieve better efficiencies in their energy management and then transitioning into the exciting world of lithium ion technology. Accelerating the adoption of these technologies both for mobility as well as stationary energy storage is now a personal mission of mine.
Why do you think sustainability is such an important topic today?
Sustainability is an important topic today because the ill effects of fossil fuel based energy infrastructure are now for everyone to see and experience. The impacts of climate change are being felt worldwide and so people are now more inclined to adopt sustainability as a mindset, as a philosophy and not just as a noble cause gesture. Many companies are now adopting sustainability as one of their core values and we need to continue this trend to make a dent in this war against climate change.
What do you envision your industry looking like in ten years?
There are many exciting technologies being developed in the energy storage space, ranging from more advanced lithium ion technologies, to solid state electrolytes and now even sodium ion batteries. In ten years I expect more penetration of these energy storage technologies into different applications – mobility (cars, trucks, buses, aviation etc) as well as stationary storage (utility scale deployments, commercial & industrial applications, communication towers etc)
