Ugwem Eneyo
Ugwem Eneyo is Nigerian-American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur, currently serving as the co-founder and CEO of SHYFT Power Solutions (formerly known as Solstice Energy Solutions), a venture-backed, award-winning energy technology company. The company is a bi-product of her research as a former Stanford MS/PhD student in Civil & Environmental Engineering. Prior to Stanford, Ugwem worked as an Environmental and Regulatory Risk Advisor for infrastructure projects throughout South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Ugwem has been recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy, Climate & Capital Media's Ten to Watch and Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy Honors, among other recognitions. She’s one of the early black, female founders to have raised over one million dollars in venture capital. Ugwem has been a speaker at the World Bank State of the African Union Forum, Global Climate Action Summit (opening prior to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore), and Ceres. In addition to energy technology, Ms. Eneyo addresses topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech, hardware start-ups.
Her work with SHYFT Power Solutions is pioneering the use of AI, industrial IoT, and integrated software to build the electricity grid of the future by intelligently managing and integrating distributed resources like solar and batteries into the grid. Forbes marked SHYFT (Solstice) as one of the “Top 60 Women-Led Tech Companies Around the World Shaking Up Tech.” Headquarted in Oakland, California with a subsidiary in Lagos, Nigeria SHYFT Power Solutions is ensuring that the future of energy can deliver resilient, clean, and affordable energy to all.
Women in Technology
As a former Engineering Ph.D. student, an engineer in the oil and gas industry, and now tech entrepreneur, Ugwem has seen the challenges and opportunities for women in technology and the role women are playing in shaping the future.
Sustainable Development of Megacities
At Shyft, Ugwem leads a team that is addressing the environmental and social implications of development in urban areas, particularly in emerging markets. She’s spent much of her career answering questions on how to reimagine infrastructure in growing cities while also considering sustainability.
Africa's Emerging Tech Ecosystem
Just take a look at how Africa leap-frogged traditional landlines to cell phones, or the current adoption of mobile money and you can see that the continent is a true innovators canvas. Ugwem’s company is another company using technology to transform the energy sector, but through this lens, she sees the forefront of Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem.