Entrepreneurship Program

Research & Development Technical Section (RDTS)

Connecting innovators, start-ups, and practitioners to accelerate technology deployment and scalable impact.

View Upcoming Activities Meet the Program Team
Program Leadership Overview Focused Initiative Program Highlights Upcoming Resources Get Involved
Program Leadership

Entrepreneurship Program Chairs & Directors

Program contacts for entrepreneurship-focused RDTS initiatives, content, and partnerships.

Dr. Ali Marzban

Program Chair

Abdelrahman I. El-Diasty

YP Representative

Dr. C. Matt Freeman

Deputy Program Chair

Johnbaptist Eshana Kauta

YP Representative

Gautam Swami

Deputy Program Chair

Dr. Jun Zhang

Deputy Program Chair

Peter Brewer

Member-at-Large
Program Overview

What the Entrepreneurship Program Delivers

A practical bridge between ideas, pilots, and scalable deployment.

The RDTS Entrepreneurship Program cultivates a cross-disciplinary environment where members can explore emerging ideas, test new approaches, and accelerate technology deployment. The intent is to make innovation actionable—by pairing strong technical content with real-world commercialization and adoption pathways.

Start-up / Operator Engagement
Commercialization Pathways
Pilots & Field Validation
Value Proposition & Business Models
Funding & Partnerships
Scale-Up & Change Management
Program objectives:
  • Showcase entrepreneurs and innovators who are translating R&D into deployable technologies.
  • Create a consistent platform for learning: what worked, what failed, and what it took to scale.
  • Connect start-ups, academia, service companies, and operators to shorten the deployment cycle.
Focused Initiative

Entrepreneurship Playbook

A practical guide to help innovators move from concept to field-ready deployment.
Entrepreneurship Playbook
Focused Initiative Playbook

A structured resource for innovators, intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs and deployment champions

The Entrepreneurship Playbook is a focused RDTS initiative designed to translate entrepreneurial ambition into practical execution. It brings together lessons learned, proven frameworks, and deployment-oriented thinking to help members navigate the path from early concept through pilot design, stakeholder alignment, and scale-up.

This initiative is intended to support founders, young professionals, researchers, and technical leaders who are working to turn promising ideas into real-world industry impact.

  • Clarify the problem statement and value proposition.
  • Strengthen pilot design, field validation, and success metrics.
  • Support engagement with operators, partners, and investors.
  • Bridge technical innovation with commercialization readiness.
Program Highlights

Featured Themes & Visuals

Spotlight Case Studies

From Idea to Pilot

Short, pragmatic stories on how teams validated the problem, proved the technology, and navigated adoption barriers.

Toolbox Execution

Commercialization Playbooks

Templates and lessons on stakeholder mapping, field trial planning, KPIs, and scaling beyond a first deployment.

Network Ecosystem

Partnership & Funding Pathways

How innovators collaborate with operators, service companies, labs, and investors to derisk deployment.

SPE ATCE Startup Village Celebrates Innovation on Display
Entrepreneurship event visual
Now & Next

Upcoming Activities

Replace placeholders with confirmed titles, dates, and registration links.
2026 · Virtual Session

Entrepreneur Spotlight Series

Short-format talks with founders and intrapreneurs: problem framing, differentiation, pilots, and adoption outcomes.

Webinar Entrepreneurs
Registration link (TBD)
2026 · Panel

Operator–Start-up Collaboration Models

Practical playbooks for aligning incentives, procurement, KPIs, and field trial governance.

Panel Deployment
Event page (TBD)
2026 · Workshop

Pitch-to-Pilot Clinic

A structured clinic to refine value propositions, validate use cases, and design pilots with measurable success criteria.

Workshop Pilots
Agenda (coming soon)
Resources

Recommended Readings & Tools

Curate links to SPE content, templates, and partner ecosystems.
Toolkit

Pilot Design Checklist

Define scope, KPIs, data needs, HSE requirements, stakeholder roles, and exit criteria.

Link (TBD)
SPE / JPT / ATCE

Innovation & Commercialization Articles

Curated readings on scaling technologies and building adoption pathways.

Link (TBD)
Community

Partner Ecosystems

Links to accelerators, incubators, and industry initiatives relevant to energy innovation.

Link (TBD)
Get Involved

Contribute & Collaborate

Propose Content

  • Suggest a founder story, pilot case study, or technology spotlight.
  • Nominate speakers and panelists (operators, start-ups, academia, investors).
  • Share frameworks, templates, and practical tools for members.
Email RDTS

YP & Student Engagement

Help shape future programming, moderate sessions, and build an entrepreneurship community inside RDTS.

  • Volunteer as a session moderator.
  • Contribute a short “lessons learned” write-up after events.
  • Bring your local ecosystem and start-up network into RDTS.

For broader RDTS membership and leadership information, visit the RDTS Home page or the Section Officers page.

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