Industry leaders will work directly with Advanced Energy and HardTech founders as they move technologies toward commercial products.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (August 31, 2026) – Spark Innovation Center has announced the formation of the SparkShop Advisory Board in partnership with the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) and named Stewart Milne as Director of SparkShop. Spark is the commercialization platform of the University of Tennessee Research Park, aligned with UT’s five Innovation Gateways in Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Energy and Environment, Future Mobility, and Health and Wellness. Supported through a U.S. Department of Energy cooperative agreement, SparkShop advances the commercialization of companies across the value chains driving America’s advanced energy and advanced manufacturing renaissance.
SparkShop is part of the Spark Accelerator, where companies use place-based innovation to define the engineering pathway, work through regulatory and market requirements, and connect with Energy Valley’s technical, manufacturing, customer, and capital resources. In partnership with TAEBC, the inaugural SparkShop Advisory Board has been established to work with Milne to strengthen the curriculum, review engineering plans and MVP targets, and connect companies across the advanced energy value chain.
“East Tennessee has the companies, talent, and institutions to lead this energy renaissance,” said Cortney Piper, Executive Director of TAEBC. “The next generation of companies should not have to relearn every lesson the hard way. SparkShop gives experienced operators a way to bring what they already know into the development process early.”
The inaugural Board gives Milne a deeper bench of operating experience across nuclear deployment and enrichment, safety, manufacturing, and commercialization. Members include Ben Jordan, Director of Business Development at Centrus Energy; Patrick Ellis, Director of Business Development at Type One Energy Group; Matt Cole, Vice President of Technology at Alpha Safety; Jeff Kanel, CEO and Founder of J.S. Kanel & Associates, LLC; and Kevin Givens, Vice President of Enrichment Operations at BWXT.
“With TAEBC, we built SparkShop around the strengths that make Energy Valley special,” said Bill Malkes, Executive Director of Spark Innovation Center. “America is rebuilding its manufacturing base and competing to lead the world in energy. East Tennessee has the people, institutions, and industrial muscle to help do both. SparkShop is about making sure the next generation of companies gets built here.”
Milne took over SparkShop in July 2026 after a career spent at the intersection of engineering and execution. He led engineering at SkyNano Technologies, held leadership roles at Schneider Electric, and served as an Army officer leading technical teams and construction operations. That mix of product development, manufacturing, and field leadership fits SparkShop’s week-by-week work with HardTech founders.
“My engineering and military experience taught me to define the objective, test assumptions, and solve problems early,” said Milne. “That is what I want to bring to SparkShop and the founders we serve.”
For more information, contact Rachel Anderson at [email protected].
About Spark Innovation Center
The Spark Innovation Center is the University of Tennessee Research Park’s commercialization platform for Advanced Energy and HardTech companies. Spark helps founders develop, validate, and deploy complex products by integrating them into East Tennessee’s technical, manufacturing, customer, and capital network, anchored by the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Through its accelerator, incubator, SparkShop, and year-round commercialization programs, Spark helps companies grow, create jobs, attract investment, and build lasting operations in the region. Spark is supported by the University of Tennessee, the City of Knoxville, and regional and federal partners. For more information, visit tnresearchpark.org/spark.
About Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC)
TAEBC champions advanced energy as an economic development and job creation strategy. Advanced energy is technology-neutral and includes electricity and transportation. Anything that makes energy cleaner, safer, more secure, or more efficient is in the tent. No other entity in the state concentrates specifically on this robust sector. We educate public officials and business leaders about Tennessee’s advanced energy economy, establish strategic partnerships to connect assets with opportunities, and inform policy that expands and strengthens the industry. TAEBC hosts the Energizing Tennessee podcast, which explores the latest news and insights about the advanced energy sector. For more information, visit https://tnadvancedenergy.com.
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