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.
Milo Werner is a General Partner at DCVC leading the firm's climate investments, bringing a rare combination of deep operational experience - nearly a decade at Tesla launching the Model S, Model X, and dual-motor powertrain - and a track record of venture investing at Khosla Ventures, Ajax Strategies, and MIT's The Engine. She founded The NextGen Industry Group, a nonprofit helping ~140 companies navigate the treacherous 'missing middle' between pilot production and commercial scale. At DCVC, she focuses on breakthrough deep tech ventures that decarbonize high-emitting industries and transform value chains.