# Carlos Araque

> Carlos Araque is the co-founder, president and CEO of Quaise Energy, a Houston- and Cambridge-based startup trying to drill the deepest holes in human history to tap superhot geothermal heat. A Medellin-born mechanical engineer with two MIT degrees, he spent 15 years at oilfield-services giant Schlumberger, then ran technology at MIT's venture platform The Engine, where he met the plasma physicist whose millimeter-wave drilling idea became Quaise. His pitch: vaporize rock instead of grinding it, reach depths where water turns supercritical, and use the resulting heat to run the same turbines and power plants fossil fuels use today.

- **Role:** Co-founder, President & CEO at Quaise Energy
- **Organizations:** Quaise Energy, Avila VC, The Engine, Schlumberger, MIT
- **From:** Medellin, Colombia
- **Nationality:** Colombian-American
- **Education:** BS, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MS, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Quaise Energy and raised more than $90M total to commercialize superhot geothermal energy, Led the team that demonstrated millimeter-wave (gyrotron) drilling, vaporizing rock instead of mechanically grinding it, Reached a 118-meter borehole using millimeter-wave technology in 2025

## Career timeline

- **2001-2002** — Earns BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT; member of the MIT Electric Vehicle Team, building cars from scratch
- **2002-2017** — Spends roughly 15 years at Schlumberger leading downhole product and technology development in oil and gas drilling
- **2017-2018** — Serves as Technical Director at The Engine, MIT's fund and platform for commercializing tough tech
- **2018** — Meets Dr. Paul Woskov of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center and co-founds Quaise Energy around his millimeter-wave drilling research
- **2022** — Quaise raises funding round and demonstrates gyrotron rock-vaporization; Araque speaks at MIT Technology Review ClimateTech
- **2024** — Quaise raises $21M (reported as Series A tranche) to accelerate deep geothermal field operations
- **2025** — Quaise conducts major millimeter-wave drilling demonstration in Texas, reaching 118 meters with no mechanical bit
- **2026** — Pilot superhot geothermal plant under construction in the western US; company extends field drilling toward 1,000 meters and commissions a 1-megawatt gyrotron

## Achievements

- Co-founded Quaise Energy and raised more than $90M total to commercialize superhot geothermal energy
- Led the team that demonstrated millimeter-wave (gyrotron) drilling, vaporizing rock instead of mechanically grinding it
- Reached a 118-meter borehole using millimeter-wave technology in 2025
- Attracted backers including Vinod Khosla / Khosla Ventures, Engine Ventures, Safar Partners, Collaborative Fund, Mitsubishi and Nabors
- Two MIT engineering degrees and 15 years of downhole technology leadership at Schlumberger

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Quaise's millimeter-wave drilled hole reached 118 meters deep in field tests in Texas
- **2026-01** — Construction underway on a pilot superhot geothermal project in the western US; plans to drill confirmation wells and run a flow test to validate superhot conditions
- **2026-01** — Company commissioning a 1-megawatt gyrotron (about 10x more powerful than prior systems) and extending field drilling from 100 toward 1,000 meters

## Links

- Website: https://www.quaise.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-araque-a75159364/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/quaiseenergy
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@quaiseenergy

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/carlos-araque
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01