MIT Proto Ventures | Fusion & Clean Energy
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1. Market Needs
Folder: 1.-Market-Needs
167 items under this folder.
Apr 11, 2025
A data backbone for a smart grid with high penetration of distributed energy resources
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
A more effective way to replace aging utility distribution poles
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Accurate data for line type & nameplate capacity rating across the entire distribution network
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Adapting to inevitable global warming and the associated disruptions
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/adaptation
Apr 11, 2025
Affordable supply of Helium-3
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
An accurate system of record for distribution network equipment
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Augmenting technical and trade labor in the power sector with AI and robotics
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Automated recovery of electronic components from e-waste
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Avoiding grid buildouts or building them faster
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Backup power sources with low particulate emissions for urban critical loads
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Better data about copper flows
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Better fault current limiters for power grid
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Better flywheels for grid stabilization
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Better generators in wind turbines
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Better long-term utility planning that can incorporate uncertainty
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Better plasma simulation software for fusion companies
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Better real-time charger availability and pricing info for roaming EV drivers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Better tools for climate disaster planning
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/adaptation
Apr 11, 2025
Cameras that work in high-radiation environments
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Carbon capture
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Cements that cure at high temperatures
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Cheaper Li-ion battery recycling processes
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Coatings that prevent tritium permeation
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Compact, low-cost cryogenic systems for fusion plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Cost-effective conversion of ammonia into hydrogen
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/hydrogen
Apr 11, 2025
Cost-effective conversion of hydrogen to ammonia
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/hydrogen
work/industries/green_chemicals
Apr 11, 2025
Cost-effective recycling solutions for electric vehicles
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Cryogenic refrigeration for quantum computers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/computing
Apr 11, 2025
Cryogenic refrigeration for scientific research
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Cryogenic refrigeration for x-ray telescopes in space
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/space
Apr 11, 2025
DC microgrids
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Data centers need a better way to offer virtual power plants to electric utilities
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
work/proto_ventures/team_projects/data_centers
Apr 11, 2025
De-tritiation from air and from water
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing ammonia
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing cement
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing ethylene
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/green_chemicals
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing heavy-duty vehicles
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing maritime shipping
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/shipping
Apr 11, 2025
Decarbonizing steel
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Design integration tools for fusion plant design teams
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Detecting batteries in waste streams
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Determine the optimal way to dismantle and valorize an end-of-life electric vehicle
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/recycling/automotive
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Distributed renewable fertilizer production for farms
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/green_chemicals
Apr 11, 2025
Distribution network planning for large spot loads with confidence
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Diverter with high helium selectivity for fusion plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Domestic sources of recycled copper for US manufacturers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Drilling electronics that operate at high temperatures
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Durable tritium-compatible vacuum pumps
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Dynamic and up-to-date distribution-level power network capacity maps
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Easier to use, more integrated, commercial-grade simulation and design software for fusion plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Easily measuring temperatures at cryogenic temperatures
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Easy-to-access hydrogen isotope handling facilities with integrated testing capabilities for fusion research
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Electronics that can sustain Single Event Effects in space
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/space
Apr 11, 2025
Enabling communities located on the path of potential transmission projects to organize and name their price
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Energy-efficient generation of high-power RF for fusion
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Explosives that work at high temperatures
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Export control management for tritium and lithium technologies
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Extending nuclear plant lifetimes
climate
work/proto_ventures
needs
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
Extremely fast AC Optimal Power Flow optimization models
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Fast, automated inbound material identification (IMI) and inspection for metal scrap yards
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Fusion-compatible ceramics
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Heat exchangers that operate at high temperatures without melting or corrosion
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Helping data center developers identify optimal sites and estimate network upgrade costs and interconnection time
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Helping manufacturing companies optimize their reserves of critical materials
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Helping utilities forecast electrical load from EVs
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Helping utilities making the business case to their regulator of a new technology
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Helping utilities manage data center load
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
High-precision engineering and manufacturing for fusion components
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
High-throughput alloy design for fusion vacuum vessels and plasma-facing components
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
High-throughput manufacturing of screen grids for tetrodes
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Hosting capacity maps that incorporate the latest queue of projects under consideration
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Hydrogen production that can ramp down with variable renewable energy and doesn't depend on critical minerals
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/hydrogen
Apr 11, 2025
Identifying and separating non-grain oriented steels in scrap streams
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/recycling
work/industries/minerals
work/industries/recycling/automotive
Apr 11, 2025
Improved Efficiency of EMT Simulations for Interconnection Studies of IBRs
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Incentivizing site owners to host EV chargers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Increasing the efficiency of thermal power plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
Inspecting externally sourced copper feedstock
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Ion propulsion systems that can withstand solar wind damage in space
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/space
Apr 11, 2025
Irradiated vacuum vessel removal, de-tritiation, and disposal
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Local performance validation of HTS tape under high-field, low-temperature conditions
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Long-lived gyrotrons
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Low-carbon high-grade industrial heat
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Low-loss transmission lines for power grid
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Lower-cost high-temperature superconducting magnets
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Lower-cost underground power lines
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Magnetohydrodynamic modeling for fusion breeder blanket design
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Maintenance in a radiation-hard environments
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
Managed heating demand
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Market price-dependent processing and sorting of metal scrap
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Material inputs for batteries
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Materials performance data in representative fusion environments
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Materials that can resist corrosion by FLiBe
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Measuring the amount of tritium in a solid material
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Medical imaging in ambulatory or remote settings
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/healthcare
Apr 11, 2025
Medical isotopes
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/healthcare
Apr 11, 2025
Methods for joining refractory materials to structural materials
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Mining ore beneficiation
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Modern, integrated modeling tools for engineering teams developing a fusion plant
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries
Apr 11, 2025
Molten salt pumps
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Monetizing plastic components or sub-components in end-of-life vehicles
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/recycling/automotive
Apr 11, 2025
Monitoring and quantifying tritium diversion in fusion power plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
More Durable Shredder Cutting Tools for Metal and Battery Recycling
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
More Effective Material Liberation in Li-ion Batteries
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
More cost-effective Automatic Transfer Switch systems for sites with critical electricity loads
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
More economical hydrogen storage
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/hydrogen
Apr 11, 2025
More economical hydrogen transportation
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/hydrogen
Apr 11, 2025
More efficient HFC-free air conditioners
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
More efficient and economical power distribution in microgrids and data centers
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
More efficient ways of splicing distribution power cables
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Motors with high specific power for electric aircraft
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Neutron shield materials for fusion
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Novel ways of breaking down & sorting mining ore
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Nuclear fission waste remediation
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
Overhead electrification assets that don't have ignition risk
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Pellet gun system for D-T fuel pellets
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Plasma heating solutions that can deliver tens of megawatts at high duty cycle for several years
work/proto_ventures
needs
Apr 11, 2025
Plasma-facing material that can withstand fusion conditions
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Plasma-facing materials that can withstand fusion conditions
work/proto_ventures
needs
Apr 11, 2025
Power quality issues on a grid with heavy renewables penetration
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Precisely locating electrical faults in underground distribution power lines
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Predictive maintenance for power plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Preventing Li-ion battery fires in scrap yards and recycling plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
work/industries/recycling/automotive
work/industries/recycling
Apr 11, 2025
Preventing and mitigating wildfires
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/adaptation
Apr 11, 2025
Preventing fouling on heat transfer surfaces
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Preventing manhole fires
work/industries/grid
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Preventing nuclear proliferation from fusion plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Queue intelligence for energy project developers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Queue management for distribution planners
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
RF antennas that can withstand fusion conditions
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Readily available electric transformers
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Real-time monitoring and control systems for dynamic management of the distribution grid
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Real-time monitoring technologies for drilling, stimulation and heat extraction in deep geothermal
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Recovering copper from automotive scrap
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Recovering tritium from the fusion breeder blanket
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Recruiting or training technical staff with fusion operational experience
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Reducing emissions of super-pollutants
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Reducing methane flaring, venting, and leaking to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and increase natural gas supply
work/proto_ventures
needs
Apr 11, 2025
Reliable state information for battery systems
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Reliable supply of FLiBe
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Removing methane from the atmosphere
work/proto_ventures
needs
Apr 11, 2025
Residential decarbonization in hard-to-electrify urban areas
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Robotic tools for remote maintenance of fusion plants
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Seismic methods for measuring permeability and fluid mobility in the lithosphere
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Separating NiCd batteries from small-format Li-ion batteries
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Separating tritium from helium
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Shortening the grid interconnection queue for distribution-level projects
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Shortening the transmission grid interconnection queue for new electricity projects
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
SiC-SiC composite heat exchangers for very high temperature cycles
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Small-batch production of metal powder alloys for new alloy development
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Smarter bidding tools for end-of-life vehicles
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/recycling/automotive
Apr 11, 2025
Speeding up the process of installing & interconnecting EV charging infrastructure
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
Apr 11, 2025
Streamlined process for building cooperation agreements with partner entities
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Sustainable fuels for aviation & trucks
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Techno-economic model to let investors evaluate fusion companies
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
The ability to use scrap instead of cathode with minimal added costs or product quality implications
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
The last mile problem (logistics)
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/logistics
Apr 11, 2025
The transmission & distribution grid cannot handle all-electric winter heating
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Tritium accountancy and accountability
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Tritium storage, transportation, and marketplace for startup inventory
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Tritium testing facilities
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/fusion
Apr 11, 2025
Understanding materials degradation in a deuterium-tritium fusion environment
needs
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
Understanding materials degradation in a nuclear fission reactor
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
Upcycling phosphogypsum
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/minerals
Apr 11, 2025
Valorizing automotive shredder residue (fluff) in shredder operations
needs
work/industries/recycling/automotive
work/proto_ventures
Apr 11, 2025
War-proof nuclear plants
work/proto_ventures
needs
work/industries/nuclear_fission
Apr 11, 2025
War-proof power systems, for example self-healing grid topologies
work/proto_ventures
needs
work/industries/grid
Apr 11, 2025
Ways to separate specialty alloys from end-of-life electric vehicles
needs
work/proto_ventures
work/industries/electric_vehicles
work/industries/minerals