Electroposium 2.0 Energizes U of M Crowd
A group of people gather around a red electric car parked in front of McNamara Alumni Center
A number of Electroposium attendees check out one of the electric cars parked outside of McNamara Alumni Center

The atmosphere was electric on the U of M campus Monday, as nearly 400 representatives of industry, academia and government gathered for Electroposium 2.0, the second annual symposium showcasing the electrification industry. Throughout the day there were plenty of  speakers, breakout sessions and vendors sharing their experience and best practices about what promises to be a linchpin of the 21st century economy.

While discussions and networking sessions happened inside, a bevy of electric vehicles were on display outside, including an electric bus recently added to the MTC fleet and passenger vehicles from Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. The University of Minnesota’s electric-powered racer was on the pavilion outside McNamara as well, as was one of the Thermo King electrified refrigeration units and electric lawn and garden equipment developed by Toro.  

The Electroposium was sponsored by many of the regional players in the electrification field, including TLI, Toro, Thermo King, MinnPoly, the Defense Alliance, Design Ready Controls, Tektronix, and Great River Energy, in collaboration with the MN Department of Employment & Economic Development (DEED). Electrification is a rapidly-growing global industry, as countries turn away from fossil fuels in favor of more environmentally sustainable systems.

 

A man in a gray polo shirt stands at a lectern and speaks to a large crowd
Chip Laingen of TLI kicks off Electroposium 2.0 on Monday morning.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had originally been scheduled to keynote the event as he did last year, but recent changes to his schedule made it impossible for him to attend. Instead, a number of panelists ably took up the keynote mantle: Kyle Shelton of the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies and the MN Center for Electrification Opportunity Committee and Tammy Meehan Russell from the Plum Catalyst kicked things off, followed by John Hacker of Design Ready Controls,  Kim Nelson of Riverland Community College in southern Minnesota and Stephanie Dorman of Recharge America talking about collaboration between industry and academia. Brandon Klein of Collaboration.ai spoke about making connections with industry peers. 

The afternoon was filled with exhibits, vendors and breakout sessions, with topics such as electrification training programs, clean transportation, geothermal heat pump technology, energy storage, railroad decarbonization and how to prepare companies for future electrification. 

Outside the building attendees looked at an array of electric passenger vehicles, including the attention-grabbing Tesla Cybertruck. 

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