Sunshine state

Solar energy is considered by many to be the third wave of technological innovation Leaving Ireland in the stagnant 1980s, Conrad Burke has found his niche in Silicon Valley, writes Karlin Lillington

From UCD and TCD physics degrees to heading one of Silicon Valley's hottest solar energy technology companies, Bray man Conrad Burke has had a fascinating career.

Testimony to the interesting places a science degree can take a person, Burke has gone from optoelectronic research labs in Japan to running major divisions of multinational companies, to working as a venture capitalist to running start-ups.

Now, based in Silicon Valley, a part of the world he adores ("I love the California spirit"), Burke is currently getting lots of kudos and press interest as the chief executive of InnovaLight, a company that has just developed a breakthrough product - silicon "ink" made of nanoparticles that he claims should make it possible to cheaply "print" flexible solar panels.

With $28 million in investment announced two weeks ago, InnovaLight is gearing up to make its silicon ink - made of tiny crystal particles that are an order of magnitude more efficient than current solar technology - a commercial product within two years.

The company, which was listed as a World Economic Forum technology pioneer in 2006, is in hiring mode (from about 30 now, Burke expects to triple that number in the next 12 months) and is gearing up to open a 30,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California.

That has sparked major interest in the Valley, where green technology is not just a growth sector.

Analyst CSLA predicts the market for solar energy will rise from $15 billion this year to $36 billion by the end of the decade.

Burke says it is considered by many to be the "third wave" of technological innovation (following the rise of semiconductors and computers and, subsequently, the development of the internet).

All this is a long way from an undergraduate physics degree in a class of 12 in the 1980s. Few jobs were on offer then in Ireland, the economy was stagnant and like many graduates of the time, he wanted to roam.

"I was keenly into optoelectronics and fibreoptics," says Burke, and that took him to a research post in Japan, with NEC. "I think I wanted to see the world, and when I saw this job in Japan, I ran."

He used his research in Japan as the basis for a written masters in physics from TCD and, looking for "more commercial work" instead of research, found a job with US telecommunications giant AT&T, in its Japanese office.

AT&T soon brought him to the US where he started climbing the corporate ladder, eventually running the $4 billion optoelectronic division of AT&T spinout Lucent at only 32.

"I was the youngest AT&T director ever," he laughs. One of his last major accomplishments was to lead the $2.95 billion acquisition of optoelectronic component manufacturer Ortel in 2000.

"At this point, the telecommunications business, and especially fibreoptics, was on fire," he says.

He decided he wanted to run a start-up, San Diego company OMM, as chief executive. The timing was terrible - just prior to the dotcom crash. "We tried to go public, but unfortunately in 2002- 2003, the market unravelled".

Some $135 million had been invested in OMM "and we had to close it down". One of OMM's major investors, the well-established venture capital firm Sevin Rosen (investments include Lotus, Citrix, Silicon Graphics and Electronic Arts), then asked Burke if he would join its investment team.

A year with Sevin Rosen honed his skills as an investor and gave him a completely different perspective on building start-ups.

He was itching to get back into an operational role with a company and went to work as senior vice-president for worldwide sales at optical component company Bookham, but only stayed six months.

"I never got my heart back into it," he confesses. He wanted to be back in front of a start-up.

"My passion is building businesses. I'm certainly not a turnaround person. I'm a growth person." He also says he enjoys the close interactions with clients and customers that comes from such a role.

In 2005, he linked up with InnovaLight, a small, six-person Minnesota-based solar energy start-up working on solar silicon technology developed in Texas by one of the company founders.

He moved the company to Silicon Valley, started hiring engineers and a new chief technology officer and they were off - almost immediately, with global warming and peak oil hitting headlines, the small company garnered interest from the likes of Time magazine.

Not that jumping into solar was easy - indeed, he notes that going into an area that promises major change is "extra hard" because the technological and market challenges are enormous, but, he says: "I like leading edge technology. I like disruptive technology. I like things that can change the world."

That's why he loves working in the Valley, he says. "There's such boundless energy here for difficult problems. That energy is so different from anywhere else. You have a culture of risk taking."

He says his academic background in science and technology has "helped enormously" whereas the lack of a business degree has made no difference at all. "I think it's much harder for someone with a business background to do something in technology," he says.

He confesses that, despite running a solar company, he doesn't use solar energy in his own house - "too costly still". If InnovaLight fulfils its promise, solar electricity could be "an order of magnitude" cheaper, perhaps 10 times less than it costs to generate now, he says.

"I absolutely adore what I'm doing," he says. "I love having an influence on what's going to happen."