OPT CEO Testifies at NJ Wave Energy Hearing

OPT President & CEO Philipp Stratmann was among experts and business leaders invited to testify before a New Jersey Legislature hearing about wave energy. The Assembly Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources and its chairman, Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, asked the guests to share their expertise and knowledge on wave energy and its outlook for growth in the state OPT calls home.

Others providing testimony to the committee included Eco Wave Power CEO Inna Braverman, CalWave Power founder and CEO Marcus Lehmann, New Jersey League of Conservation Campaigns Director Patty Cronheim, and Professor Muhammad R. Hajj, Chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering and Director of the Davidson Laboratory at New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology.

Along with educating the committee about the great potential of wave energy and how OPT can capture and convert that to electrical power, Philipp also outlined challenges for companies working in this space and steps the state can take to become a leader in ocean and blue technology. As the leader of a proudly New Jersey-based company, he specifically noted the state’s unique natural resources, rich talent pool, and location in the Northeastern US tech corridor as reasons for New Jersey “to invest in infrastructure to allow tech startups, especially those working in the ocean space, to grow and thrive.”

Philipp spoke of his hope that the state would establish a central ocean technology cluster where companies and thought leaders can share ideas and collaborate on breakthrough technologies. “This state has incredible access to old, aging infrastructure that can be revitalized and used by new technology companies to bring good paying, stable jobs to this state,” he said.

Philipp also promoted public-private educational partnerships with the state’s university system as a means of fostering the next generation of innovation and talent. “Establishing local partnerships would ensure continuous information exchange between industry and universities, help spur further technological innovation, and create new jobs, apprentices, and internship positions in New Jersey,” he said.