After three dynamic years of advancing cleantech innovation, the Energy Transition Centre (ETC) is entering a new chapter. On April 30, 2025, Innovate Calgary will officially pass the torch to the newly launched ETC Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on carrying forward the mission of accelerating energy transition solutions through community-building and venture support.
But before we look ahead, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the Centre’s journey — and the remarkable impact it made along the way.
The Energy Transition Centre was made possible through an initial investment from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) and CIBC, bringing together the University of Calgary, Innovate Calgary, and Avatar Innovations in collaboration with the energy industry.
When the ETC officially opened its doors in November 2022, Honourable Dan Vandal, emphasized the importance of supporting the energy sector through innovation. He noted that Canada’s energy workers must be equipped to lead in the global shift toward cleaner technologies.
“Our investments in the Energy Transition Centre,” said Vandal, “will make a positive and lasting impact on our economy, the environment, and the many families and communities who depend on Alberta’s energy sector for good-paying jobs and a high quality of life.”
And so, the ETC was built with a bold vision: to create a space where researchers, startups, and industry professionals could work together to accelerate energy solutions quickly.
“The energy transition isn’t a problem for ten years from now — it’s a need for today,” said Puneet Mannan, Associate Director of the ETC. “The ETC was about creating practical collisions between academia and industry that could lead to implementable solutions within a few years, not decades.
Over the past three years, the ETC has delivered on its promise. Some key highlights include:
- Hosting 150+ innovation and thought leadership events with more than 8,000 participants
- Supporting 52 graduate student internships in partnership with the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Graduate Studies
- Helping 731 highly qualified personnel complete the Avatar program
- Assisting 62 SMEs with membership, programming, referrals, and networking
- Enabling ETC members to attract $8.1M in private-sector investment
- Supporting the commercialization of 20 cleantech opportunities
The ETC became a catalyst — especially for early-stage ventures navigating the fast-paced, messy middle, from idea to execution. Sedigheh (Sedi) Mahdavi, the Centre’s Technology Scale-Up Advisor, helped founders validate technologies, connect with research providers, and translate lab concepts into market-ready products.
“Startups and researchers come from very different worlds,” Sedi explains. “Academics often pursue ideal conditions without thinking about feasibility, while industry professionals sometimes skip the small-scale steps. My job was to help them meet in the middle — to ask the hard questions early and find the right experts who could guide them forward.”
That role — as a bridge between deep research and commercial reality — became a defining feature of the ETC.
Beyond the numbers, what stands out most is how the ETC deepened collaboration across the ecosystem. Many graduate students and postdocs got hands-on commercialization experience for the first time. Industry leaders engaged earlier in the research process. And a community emerged — one rooted in practical problem-solving and long-term sustainability.
“This was about building relationships between sectors that don’t always speak the same language,” says Mannan. “The more we break down those silos, the faster we’ll find meaningful solutions.”
As John Wilson, CEO of Innovate Calgary, describes it: “It was a place where people could have this conversation together. We brought together hundreds of energy professionals with a set framework. We crystalized and tried to find the best ideas, with the best technologies, to go forward and be part of the energy transition for Calgary and Alberta.”
As the ETC evolved into the ETC Foundation, that spirit of connection and collaboration remains at its core.
“The ETC was always about building a bridge between people, ideas, and action,” says Wilson. “Now that work continues — with a foundation that can take everything we’ve learned and carry it forward.”
Those who participated — entrepreneurs, mentors, researchers, partners, and funders — each brought something unique that helped shape the Energy Transition Centre into a hub of innovation for Calgary and the province.
The path to a more sustainable energy future remains a long one, but the ETC’s impact over just a few short years has undoubtedly brought that future a little closer.