Next-Gen Nuclear, No Red Tape

Liz Muller Co-Founder & CEO of Deep Fission Liz is a serial entrepreneur at the forefront of nuclear energy and environmental innovation. She is the co-founder and CEO of Deep Fission, a nuclear energy startup redefining the industry by placing small modular reactors (SMRs) a mile underground for faster, cheaper, and more scalable deployment. Deep Fission is Liz’s second major venture in the nuclear space. She previously co-founded and led Deep Isolation, a pioneering nuclear waste company, where she now serves as Executive Chairwoman. Liz also co-founded Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit delivering critical data science on climate change. A named inventor on multiple patents, Liz was recognized as a Clean Energy Rising Star by Business Insider in 2020. Beyond her professional achievements, she is a published author, backpacker, dance instructor, and proud mother of two, based in the Bay Area.

Jack Ryan currently serves as the Senior Program Manager in the Energy Portfolio at Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Prior to DIU he was the Program Manager for the Army SBIR Accelerator Program at FedTech and has extensive experience in the energy construction arena. Jack is also a Navy veteran from the expeditionary warfare community. He attended Norwich University where he received his BS and MBA as well as the University of Texas at Austin where he received a Master’s in Technology Commercialization.

Riffat Manasia is an Executive Director at Station Texas.

Bobby is a serial deep tech energy entrepreneur, inventor, former offshore oilfield engineer, and former Army officer building the next wave of deployable fission power. He is the Founder, CEO & CTO of Deployable Energy, now emerging from stealth with the Unity Nuclear Battery—a 1 MW, factory-built, plug-and-play microreactor that fits inside a 20-ft ISO container. Using standard light-water reactor fuel and materials, Unity targets diesel-beating cost and performance, scales from 1 to thousands of megawatts, and offers >5 year refueling intervals to deliver resilient, emissions-free power for data centers, mining, oil & gas, remote communities, maritime operations, and dual-use missions. Deployable Energy is Bobby’s second hard-tech venture. He previously founded Kinetic Pressure Control, scaled it into a global leader in pressure-control safety, which achieved a nine-figure exit—advancing technologies aimed at preventing disasters like Deepwater Horizon. Named on 15+ patents and experienced across five continents, Bobby bridges investors, regulators, end users, and engineers to turn new tech into fieldable capability. Based in Houston, he’s a father of three who enjoys BJJ and time in the water or mountains.