Close Of Business

In our last episode of Season 1 on the Future of Food & Beverage, the podcast team sits down with Dan Fucich & Kelsey Abernathy, co-founders of AlgenAir. As the 21st Century food and beverage disruption are underway, we look at how there are other use cases for plants and microbes outside of food consumption. With the use of algae, AlgenAir’s Aerium product removes carbon dioxide and produces oxygen as effectively as 25 house plants for a fraction of the cost, time, and space!! Tune in to learn:·         What is AlgenAir and what is its mission?·         How does the algae purify the air and what other benefits does the Aerium provide?·         Is the use of algae as an air purifier scalable beyond a residential applications?All this and more, on Generation STEM!Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.comThis podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Although not commonly thought of, technological advancements in farming have led to the most dramatic socio-economic shifts. From the plow to the combine, efficiency in farming has increased productivity and produced greater yields. These seemingly minor technological inventions led to mass urban migrations and population booms as people searched for new occupations and fed more mouths. Now we have entered the 21st Century….but how is technology continuing to be implemented in outdoor farming? The podcast team sits down with Dr. William Aderholdt, Director of Program Management, and Brian Carroll, Director of Grand Farm, to discuss how they are utilizing the 40+ acres of farmland south of Fargo, North Dakota, to be a ground zero for innovation in the outdoor farming space. Tune in to learn: What is Grand Farm and what is its mission? How does farming need to evolve to meet the growing food demand? What type of innovative technologies are being implemented in outdoor farming? All this and more, on Generat

The agriculture industry has come a long way from manned equipment fertilizing and harvesting fields of crops to robots analyzing the needs and delivering precise amounts of nutrients in a controlled environment. On today’s episode, we sit down with Andrew Blume, Strategic Sales Manager at Iron Ox, to discuss controlled environment agriculture and the innovative technologies Iron Ox implements to reduce waste and grow produce more sustainably, using “vastly less energy and less water on smaller amounts of land”. Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Have you ever wondered how your food gets from the farm to table…..we have! To better understand the supply chain and logistics process, the podcast team sits down with Mike Beveridge, who is a Senior Associate Merchant of Meat & Poultry at FreshDirect. Located in the Bronx, New York, FreshDirect has been perfecting their online grocery delivery business for over 20 years and delivers over 100,000 orders a week!! Tune in to learn:What is the business model of FreshDirect and how do you source your products?What are the steps in the supply chain? How do grocers balance the constant supply and demand fluctuations? How long do products sit in warehouses or grocers before being consumed?What are the online grocery trends and how has COVID affected FreshDirect?All this and more, on Generation STEM!Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.comThis podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

It may seem like something out of Jimmy Neutron or some sci-fi movie, but the cell-based protein market is starting to plant some serious roots….or should I say propagate cells. The podcast team sits down with Aryé Elfenbein, who is the Co-founder of Wildtype, which is one of the emerging cell-based protein alternative manufacturers. Tune in to learn:Who is Wildtype and what type of protein alternatives do they make?What exactly is cell-based protein and what does the cultivation process look like?How can cell-based protein contribute to a more sustainable food chain?What excites you about this vertical and what are some of the hurdles in its way?All this and more, on Generation STEM!Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.comThis podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

5 years ago, most vegetarians wouldn’t touch a plant-based alternative if they saw it on the menu or in the store. Now, the proliferation of high-quality plant-based alternatives can be seen in almost 50% of households. What changed and why is the plant-based alternative space here to stay?? The podcast team sits down with Paul Shapiro, who is the CEO and Co-founder of Better Meat Co. as well as Ted Talk alum and author of “Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World”. Tune in to learn:Who is Better Meat Co.?How is a plant-based alternative protein made?Is plant-based alternative production more sustainable than traditional meat production?What excites you about this vertical and what are some of the hurdles in its way?All this and more, on Generation STEM!Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.comThis podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Technology and innovation is rapidly being adopted in all facets our lives….but how is it being adopted in the food and beverage space? How is STEM enabling us to feed the ever growing world population? As we kick off the podcast’s new season, Ryan sits down with NextGen Ag’s Managing Director Kim Lovan & Process Engineer Bailey Stults to learn more. Who else is hungry?? Tune in to learn: · Who is NextGen Ag? · How is Black & Veatch’s NextGen Ag enabling food & beverage tech? · What is the future of food & beverage? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Have you ever wondered how infrastructure tunnels are constructed or if they are being constructed underneath you as we speak? Us co-hosts have. Listen in as we sit down with Black & Veatch’s, Clint Wilson. Tune in to hear: How are large tunnels constructed and how much do they cost? What do you have to consider when excavating a tunnel in an urban area? What markets rely on tunneling? What does the future of tunneling look like? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Cryptocurrency, NFTs…..digital assets have become a huge trend in the financial world the past couple of years and the GenSTEM squad has been wondering….how do they work? What’s the science behind it? How are these encrypted assets made? Enter BLOCKCHAIN. On this episode, Ryan and Kevin chat with a leading entrepreneur in the blockchain space, Shekhar Gupta. Tune in to learn: What is blockchain? How does it work? How does this apply to Crypto and NFTs? What problems does it solve? How is blockchain the key to solving problems of the future? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

The new administration has made it clear that offshore wind energy is going to be a focus for their renewable growth and goal to decarbonize our power supply. Class is in session as we sit down with Black & Veatch’s Vice President of Power, Jim Juras. Tune in to hear: How does offshore wind differ from onshore wind? What are the technological differences? What are some permitting & construction considerations to offshore wind? What is the current state of offshore wind in the United States? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Our world has become more and more digital, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, it has kicked the world's transition to a completely digital world into hyperdrive. It got the squad thinking, how is the infrastructure changing to support our data driven and digitized lifestyles? Here's a clue: DATA CENTERS. Enter our guest for this week, Drew Thompson, AVP of Data Centers and Critical Infrastructure at Black & Veatch. Tune in to hear: what are data centers? how to they relate to the cloud? how do we rely on data centers in our everyday life? how have data centers enabled our virtual world since the onset of the pandemic? why is data so important? how are data centers going to enable continued technological advancement globally? how do data centers affect our current goal of combating carbon emissions? what's the future of data centers and infrastructure look like to support human advancement? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media

On this episode, Ryan takes us into a solo interview with our special guest in light of the recent Suez Canal blockage incident, where a cargo ship ended up sideways blocking the canal and disrupting global supply chain. He sits down with Joseph Schwarzstein - Maritime Consultant, First Class Pilot and Commander in the US Navy Reserve to discuss the Suez Canal event, and the world of piloting cargo ships. Tune in to hear: The basics of piloting cargo ships How canals work and how cargo ships are able to pilot through His insights on what happened in the Suez Canal All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

Becca, Kevin and Ryan are ringing in their 5+6 year anniversaries of having adult STEM jobs. On this week's episode of GenSTEM, the squad gets together to talk about their career experiences so far. Tune in to hear: What Becca, Kevin, and Ryan's career path has been like thus far in the STEM industry How their upbringing and college experiences affected their career path What they expected being an engineer would be like versus reality How has their career path expectations changed over time? What's the best career advice they'd give their younger self? What's the biggest career miss or mistake they have made? Are there such things as career mistakes? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

One of the biggest cold weather events in history hit Texas in February, that caused 4.5 million Texans without power for days. On this week's episode, Becca and Kevin interview one of their fellow Black & Veatcher and Managing Director of our Global Distributed Energy business, Rob Wilhite where he breaks down what really happened in Texas that caused massive (electrical) black outs. Tune in to learn: Basics on how the power grid works Who the heck ERCOT is and why is their name tied to the Texas outages? How the freezing temperatures in Texas caused massive power outages We know that it made the power plants not work but.....what does that really mean? Who is to blame? Renewables? Fossil fuels? Is the grid really that fragile? Will this happen more in the future? How can we at home contribute to the prevention of power outages? All this and more, on Generation STEM!   Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstem

Bring the beat back! On this week's episode, Ryan and Kevin chat with producer, writer, rapper, and sustainable energy advocate AY Young! Tune in to hear: AY's music career His views on electricity access and sustainability How he uses music and dance as a way to bring people together with is mission for energy sustainability AY's Battery Tour and how it's providing electricity to those in need All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

We're back this week with another episode of GenSTEM and we're delivering to your ear holes one of our BIGGEST. INTERVIEWS. YET. We got together with (the now) CEO of Virgin Hyperloop, Josh Giegel. Yeah, you read that right. CEO of Virgin Hyperloop is on the pod. Tune in to hear: What is Virgin Hyperloop? How did Josh get involved with the company? Was he one of the first human riders on a hyperloop test track? How will this technology transform the future of transportation? What massive global affects could hyperloop have? Could this help us become more connected with one another? What is Richard Branson like??? When will the first hyperloop be track and open to the public? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

If you've tuned in to our recent episodes, you've heard the GenSTEM squad buzz about something big coming to the utility sector: HYDROGEN. Kevin, Becca, and Ryan had the opportunity to sit down with fellow Black & Veatch'er and Hydrogen subject matter specialist Jonathan Cristiani to talk about how hydrogen could change the future. Tune in to hear: -What even is hydrogen (besides something on the periodic table) and what is it used for?-How is hydrogen produced-How it's used for electricity generation, fuel cell cars, and storage-If it's so great, why isn't hydrogen widely used in our infrastructure now?-Is this the answer to our major global concerns like resource limitations and global warming?And most importantly:-Will Jonathan join Becca and Kevin at a post COVID music festival????? All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black &am

New year, new episode!!! On this episode, the clairvoyant GenSTEM squad looks into their crystal balls to make the their predictions on the biggest STEM trends in 2021. Tune in to hear Kevin, Ryan, and Becca: -announce the winners based on YOUR votes for the semi-STEMy awards (followed but a lot of trash talking by Becca) -dive in to their biggest predictions for transportation, space, AI, health, energy, and consumer products for 2021 Do you agree with their predictions?? Tune in to find out. -All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

We are back with a new episode with some BIG 2021 energy. On this episode, Kevin, Becca & Ryan interview Steph Stoppenhagen of Black & Veatch's Connected Communities + Telecom business to learn all about a new luxury entertainment smart city development in Las Vegas called Bleutech Park. Tune in to hear: -What the heck is Bleutech Park?-How Bleutech Park integrates Smart City technology-Is this the prototype for the world's future of metropolitan cities?-What makes it the next luxury resort in Vegas-How you can gamble with the parks own cryptocurrency-Giant solar trees? Energy generating pavement?? Smart solar roads??? *mind blown emoji* -All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com

It's the GenSTEM squad back at it again!!!! We're excited to bring back an annual tradition REVAMPED.....The SEMI STEMy AWARDS: a year in review of the biggest and most innovative news in STEM in 2020. Tune in to hear Kevin, Ryan and Becca each give their SEMI STEMy nominees for ___ STEM award categories: Transportation Space Energy Health Consumer Products Listen in to give us your choice for the SEMI STEMy award winner for each category! All this and more, on Generation STEM! Want to see more from the Generation STEM team? Check us out on social media @genstempodcast, or visit us at our website at www.genstempodcast.com This podcast is powered by Black & Veatch - www.bv.com