Dr. Handschy most recently served at the U.S. Department of Energy as Senior Science and Technology Advisor to Under Secretary Kristina Johnson. A physicist and entrepreneur, Dr. Handschy led a cross-departmental team responsible for developing DOE's Strategic Technology Energy Plan (STEP). Dr. Handschy and his team evaluated the potential for existing clean energy technologies to meet an 83% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. STEP presents an aggressive, yet achievable pathway for the clean energy economy. Dr. Handschy also provided technical and business counsel in evaluating and awarding proposals to the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program, reviewed all American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awardees, and helped set up the Advanced Research Project Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), ensuring that the tax payers funded only the highest caliber projects.
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Handschy founded and served as President and Chief Technology Officer for Displaytech, Inc., a liquid crystal high definition display company producing miniature displays for a range of consumer products, including camcorders and digital cameras for Sony and other major consumer electronics companies. Displaytech sold over 10 million displays before its acquisition in 2009 by Micron Technology, a major U.S. semiconductor memory manufacturer. Dr. Handschy received his B.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder under the direction of Professor Noel Clark.
