I-Pulse Co-founders Robert Friedland, CEO, and Laurent Frescaline, CTO, announced today a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office for a $250 million award for the further development of I-Pulse’s proprietary semiconductor and pulsed power technology.
“With today’s announced investment, the Trump administration is strengthening America’s capabilities and enhancing its national and energy security goals,” said Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick.
Co-founder Robert Friedland said: “We are excited to partner with the U.S. government to advance our unique, American technology suite to benefit our great nation. This award supports the development of world-leading critical components in the pulsed power technology stack, with profound implications for energy security and national defense.”
The CHIPS award strengthens U.S. supply chain resilience by boosting domestic semiconductor manufacturing and reducing reliance on foreign-made semiconductors. The I-Pulse program will deliver on key CHIPS Act goals and initiatives: furthering American semiconductor research, strengthening domestic production capabilities, cultivating a local semiconductor workforce, and delivering commercialized products that directly enhance America’s global technology leadership.
The CHIPS award provides funding for R&D to advance I-Pulse’s American program, which develops high-temperature, high-performance semiconductor components. I-Pulse’s proprietary semiconductor and pulsed power drilling technology will unlock significant untapped resources of geothermal power within the United States, leveraging domestic supply chains, technology, and world-leading expertise.
I-Pulse will develop silicon-carbide semiconductors in partnership with United States national laboratories, universities, and specialized manufacturers. The company’s advanced research and development program will commercialize cutting-edge, high-temperature, high-current, high-voltage solid-state switches. These switches have a multitude of applications including underground mining, rock crushing, manufacturing, and defense systems.
I-Pulse’s silicon-carbide switches will enable unparalleled drilling performance in high-temperature rock conditions. Proprietary high-temperature semiconductors and capacitors are required for our disruptive geothermal drilling technology. I-Pulse employs high-voltage switches to apply extremely high-power electrical pulses to hot granites and other geothermal formations. These powerful electrical pulses fracture and soften the rock ahead of the drill bit, multiplying drilling speed and vastly extending the life of the drill bit. I-Pulse’s proprietary components will be assembled in our drilling platform to deliver massively reduced drilling costs, enabling the next-generation of advanced geothermal power plants in America’s massive hot dry granite formations. Advanced geothermal power plants are desperately needed for base-load, 24/7, secure, low-cost power for our growing fleet of data centers and domestic industrial efforts. I-Pulse’s geothermal activities will be conducted by its subsidiary G-Pulse as well as various subsidiaries in the United States. Compared to the intermittency of solar and wind power, the heat from the Earth is ever present and harnessing it efficiently will change everything.
Introductory video to G-Pulse, an I-Pulse geothermal subsidiary:
https://www.ipulse-group.com/g-pulse-video/
Live demonstration of I-Pulse tool drilling in granite at order of
magnitude faster drilling rate & vastly extended drill bit lifetime:
https://www.ipulse-group.com/i-pulse-drill-video/
PULSED POWER IS THE THIRD AND MOST EFFICIENT
FUNDAMENTAL WAY TO USE ELECTRICAL ENERGY
Not since the 19th century “War of the Currents” between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla has the world seen the next iteration of humanity’s use of electricity. Now, after nearly two decades of research and development, I-Pulse changes that narrative. I-Pulse has pioneered the application of high pulsed power technology to revolutionize the use of electrical energy beyond the traditional uses of alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). I-Pulse’s disruptive technology enables the release of short but immensely powerful electrical discharges using only fractional amounts of stored energy. Taking the tiny amount of energy contained in a cell phone battery, we safely and repeatedly compress that small quantum of energy into the equivalent power output of a nuclear power plant over less than ten millionths of a second. I-Pulse’s pulsed power technology is bringing disruptive changes to a range of industries, including mining, mineral resource discovery, geothermal power, manufacturing, defense, and agriculture. In the future, pulsed power will be the most efficient way to utilize electrical energy as humanity colonizes the Moon and Mars.
Robert Friedland said: “The CHIPS award will be utilized by our team at I-Pulse Albuquerque, headed by Dr. Rick Spielman and Dr. Randy Curry who will lead the largest concentration of experts in pulsed power assembled at any American company. Albuquerque, the home of Sandia National Laboratories and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, is the global center of pulsed power research. It was at Sandia National Laboratories, located adjacent to our laboratories, that Dr. Spielman led the development of the “Z Machine”, the world’s most powerful pulsed power accelerator.”
To learn more about the “Z Machine” visit:
https://www.sandia.gov/z-machine/
To learn more about pulsed power and the history of
Sandia National Labs:
Click Here to Read Document Online
|
. |
“Pulsed power technologies were first employed in the 1960s by Sandia National Laboratories to simulate weapons effects,” noted Dr. Rick Spielman, President of I-Pulse Albuquerque and I-Pulse Group’s Chief Scientist. “Today, I-Pulse will deliver pulsed power technologies to the civilian sector with breakthrough products and capabilities. The CHIPS award will allow us to build semiconductors to enable the deployment of pulsed power in a plethora of commercial and defense applications. I-Pulse is proud to lead a 100% American effort to forge this new industrial paradigm.”
“I-Pulse’s next-generation silicon carbide-based technology is a game-changer for operations in extreme environments,” said Bill Frauenhofer, Executive Director for Semiconductor Investment and Innovation at the Department of Commerce. “I-Pulse’s high-power, high-frequency switches and packaging are engineered to withstand harsh shocks and temperatures, empowering critical industries to push past previous technical limits.”
ABOUT I-PULSE
I-Pulse is a privately held U.S. company co-founded by Robert Friedland and Laurent Frescaline to bring high pulsed power technology into civilian sectors. I-Pulse technology – which repeatedly compresses and releases brief yet immensely powerful electrical discharges – holds the potential to address critical global issues like the unlocking of competitive geothermal base-load energy sources, efficient critical mineral production in the mining and rock crushing processes, non-invasive high definition mineral and water exploration programs, agricultural crop protection, and disruptive welding, metal-forming and crimping solutions at industrial scale. Founded in 2007, I-Pulse has facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Detroit, Michigan and Toulouse, France.
Visit www.ipulse-group.com to learn more and follow @I-Pulse Group on LinkedIn
Follow Robert Friedland on X: @robert_ivanhoe
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260625994248/en/
Media gallery
