PowerTechs — Preparing US Workforce for a Transition to Clean Energy

Global electricity demand is projected to extremely grow by 2050, which means we’ll need more energy sources — conventional and alternative.

And the reason why we exist is a huge labor shortage, caused by this growth and by the US transition to sustainable energy. The problem is this transition is happening faster than people are being trained.

The lack of skilled workers is already a bottleneck for the industry infrastructure deployment, delaying it. It’s only going to get worse with a peak of this crisis in 2030-2035 with more than 4M of new job openings in the US only. Community colleges, unfortunately, won't meet this escalating demand for skilled personnel as the existing programs aren’t prioritizing job skills and career readiness.

We build PowerTechs to address this problem.

We develop XR Cockpits to address the significant talent shortage in the clean energy sector. By identifying transferable skills, we not only convert and upskill the retiring workforce from coal and gas but also attract and retain younger generations, creating a talent pool for the emerging energy and manufacturing industries.

Our main competitive advantage is a remote assessment of physical skills using XR and full-flight simulator methods.

PowerTechs acknowledges the imminent shift in the US energy landscape, with approximately 75% of coal and gas plants slated for closure by 2040 due to the nation's transition to alternative energy sources. Our primary focus lies in extending support to workers affected by this transition, particularly those employed in the coal and gas industries facing job displacement.

User Case Scenario:

Consider a coal technician, James, facing job insecurity due to declining demand for coal and his employer — a coal plant — to be shut down by 2030. He’s one of more than 150,000 coal industry employees in the same situation. James wants to keep his salary and needs a new job, so he enrolls in a community college offering the PowerTechs solution. He takes an initial assessment on the platform, which identifies his expertise in problem-solving, machinery operation, and safety protocols which can be applicable to new jobs in the clean energy space. PowerTechs suggests tailored courses and virtual labs in renewable energy and advanced manufacturing based on his skills to fillin his gaps faster and cheaper. James engages with XR cockpits practicing maintenance in a virtual nuclear or hydrogen facility, thus gaining practical experience before transitioning to a new career with confidence.

Our team amalgamates a diverse range of experiences, from entrepreneurship and technological innovation to industry-specific expertise. While some members possess direct engagement with disadvantaged communities, others bring transferable skills and insights that can inform the project's success in fostering inclusivity and facilitating the transition to a clean energy economy for all stakeholders involved.

We also considered three research sites for our project: Gadsden Steam Plant, AL, Naughton Power Plant, WY, and a cluster of oil plants in Houston, TX. All of them will be converted to alternative energy sources which perfectly match our project’s objectives. 

Our previous experience in engaging and supporting disadvantaged communities, and/or other transferable experience:

Beyond her entrepreneurial achievements, Ksenia created and managed a large community of 500,000K individuals interested in building global careers. This community included immigrants and low-income families, and Ksenia has previously initiated programs supporting these underrepresented groups, fostering opportunities for disadvantaged communities to access career development and economic empowerment. Victor has experience in an HRTech product building for a comparable community of white-collar. 

The successes of these projects resulted in a significant increase in engagement and retention rates, especially using social media, while failures were about a hybrid of process automation and human support. The main outcomes are about the right balance between automation and human interaction we’ll be happy to apply now.

Successes and Lessons Learned:

Our team has successfully initiated programs supporting underrepresented communities, creating pathways for career growth in clean energy. These successes have been foundational in understanding the importance of community involvement, tailoring education to diverse needs, and ensuring equitable opportunities. Lessons learned from prior engagements underscore the necessity of cultural sensitivity, collaborative partnerships, and adaptable solutions.

Community of Interest & their Needs:

We have established a direct connection with these workers through proactive engagement, recognizing the challenges they confront amid industry shifts. Our team has conducted outreach programs, engaging directly with individuals impacted by plant closures, and understanding their skill sets, concerns, and aspirations for transitioning into new clean energy careers. Collaborations with labor unions, industry associations, and local support groups have provided us with insights into the needs, aspirations, and challenges of this community.

The team's commitment is to bridge this transition effectively by offering tailored training, skills development, and career transition opportunities. By leveraging our expertise and partnerships, we aim to empower these workers with the necessary tools and knowledge to seamlessly transition into the burgeoning clean energy job market, ensuring their roles in a sustainable and equitable energy future.

We started working on this idea in September 2022, got accepted to Techstars, and received the first investment. 

1. We've made significant progress with proof-of-concept, 1,000+ pilot users, a successful first round of funding, and an exceptional team — both co-founders are 3x entrepreneurs and boast prior startup successful exits.

2. We also acquired more than 10 clients in our pipeline, including significant names like Greater Houston Partnerships with a set of oil and gas plants to be converted to hydrogen, the City of Kemmerer, set to launch the first of Bill Gates' 20 nuclear power plants, Texas Nuclear Group, Southern Company which is the top-3 US energy provider, as well as 5 community colleges.

3. Finally, we became an official partner of the US Department of Defense to help transition Military Forces to civilian jobs and also engaged with the US Department of Energy as we want not only to build software but also create certification regulations and become an industry standard.

1. Funding: Being a significant part of our solution, R&D requires additional funding before we have revenue from commercialization. This is why we’re looking for grant opportunities to strengthen the tech team and accelerate product development.

2. Strategic Partnership: Our ultimate goal is not only to create a technical solution, but also to establish an industry standard. As a startup, we can gain rapid traction, but we require a big partner to collaborate with us from the outset to develop a Workforce Benchmark for Clean Energy.

3. As our main focus is on Nuclear and we build our solution to help the Workforce Transition from Coal to Nuclear we have a very specific ask about MIT's networks and resources in Nuclear

The main competitive advantage of the technology is a remote assessment of physical skills using XR and full-flight simulator methods.

Our forte lies mostly in Learning Engineering, which enables us to
identify existing transferable skills that people already have and can
apply to New Nuclear — even if they don't know they have those skills —
and to create a diverse talent pool.

We provide a revolutionary approach that addresses this critical skills shortage by using AI simulator-based assessments that measure not only hard skills and practical knowledge but also safety compliance, communication skills, and even work attitudes and other soft skills and abilities. So that we radically reskill the US workforce from conventional to alternative energy, manufacturing, and heavy industries which aligns with the US energy policy of phasing out coal plants by 2030, followed by gas plants in 2030-2040. The policy also includes the launch of new nuclear, wind, and solar power and the extension of heavy industries during the same period.

We anticipate that using PowerTechs, utilities will reduce the cost of a “bad hire” by 20% at least. 

Moreover, our simulator-based skills assessments and pieces of training can increase workforce retention by 15-20% within 2 years. The measurement methodology involves creating control and experimental groups for both “bad hire” cost reduction and workforce retention analyses. For the former, recruitment, training, and termination costs are compared between the groups. For retention, employee turnover rates and average tenure are tracked over two years for comparison.

Our work during the MIT Challenge will establish a foundation for expanding our efforts to similar communities. Currently, there are over 50 such communities that are transitioning their workforce as a result of coal plants shutting down, located in 11 states throughout the country. Through our efforts, we aim to enable more than 150,000 workers to secure new and fulfilling jobs in the clean energy sector while maintaining their current salaries.

In the next 5 years, we have plans to expand this experience to other sectors such as hydrogen, wind, solar, EV, green cement, clean steel, and other manufacturing and heavy industries, to reach at least 4 million people in the US alone.

We set impact goals of offering a great place to work, reduction of

unemployment, job matching and satisfaction with following metrics: % of
employment, open jobs dynamics, time of on-boarding, cost of a bad
hire, NPS, staff performance

The technology is a combination of XR (VR/AR), Artificial Intelligence, and Learning Engineering, which allows us to identify existing transferable skills applicable to Clean Energy. The same technology makes it possible for us to organize the whole process online and remotely and accomplish skills assessment and training 4x faster and cheaper compared to traditional educational programs.

You’ll find more details on how it works in our demo here.

2 full-time (founders)

5 part-time (advisors and researchers)

Since September 2022

As Techstars EnergyTech Alumni, our team is uniquely positioned to tackle the challenges ahead, boasting a highly complementary skillset:

• Ksenia Solomatina (Project Director, CEO): A successful entrepreneur with a remarkable exit in the workforce development and education space, Ksenia brings her expertise in business strategy and leadership to PowerTechs. She’s responsible for the overall project execution and results. Ksenia has expertise in the following areas: design and development of education technology products; education theory and practice; education research for the development and evaluation of education technology, and the commercialization of education or technology-related products.

• Victor Kuznetsov (Contractor Security Liaison, CTO): Specialized in digital twins of power plants, Victor has a successful exit from an AI TalentTech startup and plays a crucial role in laying the technological groundwork for PowerTechs' innovative platform and R&D. Victor has expertise in the following areas: design and development of education technology products; education research for the development and evaluation of education technology, and the commercialization of education or technology-related products.

• Dr. Kevin Clarno (Research Team), former Oak Ridge National Lab who has previously developed high-performance computing software, researched new algorithms for SCALE and performed analyses of nuclear reactors for a diverse set of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and DOE projects.

• Dr. William Charlton (Research Team), Director of the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory, was previously the Research Director for the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska. NSRI is the University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) for the U.S. Strategic Command and the U.S. Department of Defense for Combatting Weapons of Mass Destruction.

• Alex Stolyarik (Research Team) is a Stanford AI Robotics and Education Lab (AIRE) researcher, lecturer, and recipient of the Digital Design Challenge award. Alex is a founder of the VR platform Univirtual.Academy designed for teacher training and collaboration, receiving the recognition of the 2023 GSV Elite 200 Most Innovative Startups. In 2022, Alex established a Non-profit Univirtual School Without Borders, receiving a charitable grant from the Unity Foundation. 

• Dinara Ermakova (SME, Nuclear): An esteemed Ph.D. from Berkeley with over 15 years in the Nuclear Industry, Dinara spearheads the industry-specific component of our solution. 

• Anton Artemov (UX, Game Development): 20+ years in GameDev, UX, and Product Design, including global leaders like Wargaming and Unity.

B2B Saas charging companies per user per month

Acquiring 13 paying clients with an average check of $80,000 will enable

us to achieve our initial Revenue milestone of $1 million. To get $100M
in Revenue we need 1,250 companies which is possible with 54,085
utility businesses in the US today and the clean energy market growing
with a CAGR of 27.2%.