Dr. Raj B Apte joined Alphabet’s X as a Rapid Evaluator in 2015. He is currently Science Adviser for new projects, responsible for identifying and developing early stage moonshots. While at X he initiated and led Malta, a breakthrough pumped heat energy storage solution that will stabilize the electrical grid and enable greater use of wind and solar energy. Prior to joining X, Raj managed a clean room and research team at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, where he worked on polysilicon circuitry for ultrasonic and x-ray imaging, the internet of things, novel MEMs displays, electronic paper, organic and printed transistors, and amorphous-silicon x-ray cameras. Six Fortune 50 companies have licensed or acquired his inventions, and he was responsible for $25M in contracts.

Raj holds MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University and BS with Distinction from UC Berkeley, all in Electrical Engineering. He holds over 75 publications and 50 issued patents.

Raj also likes to make things. He has built a wood-fired pizza oven, a cross-flow smoker, a RIMS brewery, an espresso machine and grinder, and a sinew-backed recurve bow. He restored Ward’s Ginger Beer Plant to the wild. Raj has served both New Belgium Brewing and Thin Film Electronics in advisory roles.