Reference Sheets
Practical, searchable references for deep-tech diligence and engineering decisions.
Energy
How electricity gets generated, stored, moved, and converted, and what happens to the carbon.
Battery ChemistriesWhich battery chemistry fits this product?Lithium-ion and beyond — energy, power, cycle life, safety, and cost trade-offs across rechargeable, primary, and grid-scale chemistries.52 chemistries
Carbon Capture & RemovalHow does this CO2 get captured, and what does a ton cost?Point-source capture, direct air capture, ocean and mineral removal, biomass and land sinks, plus the pipelines and pore space that store the CO2 — with cost per ton, permanence, and how much of each is actually running.36 approaches
Energy StorageHow should this energy be stored?Beyond batteries — pumped hydro, compressed air, thermal, hydrogen, gravity, and long-duration storage, mapped on the duration-versus-cost axis.27 technologies
Grid & TransmissionHow do you move this power, and what is actually in the way?Overhead lines, underground and subsea cable, HVDC, transformers and switchgear, protection and control, stability services, and the distribution edge — with voltage class, lead time, and how hard each one is to site.34 technologies
Hydrogen and E-FuelsWhere does this hydrogen come from, and what does it cost delivered?Making, moving, storing, and burning hydrogen — electrolyzers, reforming with and without carbon capture, ammonia and other carriers, synthetic fuels, and the industries that already buy 100 Mt a year.31 technologies
Nuclear ReactorsWhich reactor design fits this program?Fission and fusion designs — light-water workhorses, SMRs, molten salt, fast reactors, microreactors, and every major fusion approach — with capex, fuel-cycle, regulatory, and timeline context.25 designs
Power ElectronicsWhich switch, which topology, and what does it cost per kilowatt?Silicon, silicon carbide and gallium nitride switches, the converter topologies built from them, and the inverters, drives, chargers and power supplies they end up in — compared on voltage class, power level, switching loss, and what each one costs per kilowatt.41 devices
Power GenerationWhat should generate this electricity?How electricity actually gets made (solar cells, wind, hydro, geothermal, gas turbines, coal, fuel cells), compared on cost, capacity factor, dispatchability, and build time.32 technologies
Robotics and Manufacturing
How parts get made, and the actuators, grippers, and sensors that robots are built from.
Industrial AutomationWhat runs this line, and what does it cost to build and keep running?The controllers, networks, field devices, safety systems and software that run a factory or a process plant — compared on which layer they sit at, how deterministic they have to be, how locked to one vendor they are, and what the integration actually costs.35 technologies
Manufacturing ProcessesHow should this part be made?Producing stock, shaping parts, joining, surface and property modification, semiconductors, optics, and inspection, with selection guidance.212 processes
Robot ActuatorsWhat should move this robot?Motors, gearing, fluid power, piezo, and artificial muscles — compared on torque density, backdrivability, precision, and cost.25 actuator types
Robot End EffectorsHow should this robot grasp and work?Grippers, hands, and process tools, from parallel-jaw to vacuum, soft, jamming, and dexterous, compared on task fit, versatility, reliability, and cost.16 effector types
Robot SensorsHow should this robot perceive the world?LiDAR, radar, cameras, IMUs, force-torque, tactile, encoders, and GNSS — compared on range, cost, compute burden, and how they fail.21 sensor types
Infrastructure and Transport
How buildings get put up, and how cargo crosses the ocean.
Construction TechnologyWhat actually gets built faster or cheaper, and where does the saving come from?Structural systems from cast-in-place concrete to mass timber, off-site modular and panelized building, on-site robots and 3D-printed concrete, low-carbon cement, BIM and delivery models — compared on where the work happens, what it actually changes, and how much capital it takes to start.36 methods
Maritime and ShippingWhat moves this cargo, on what fuel, and what does the regulation cost?Ship types and trades, two-stroke diesels and the dual-fuel engines replacing them, LNG, methanol and ammonia bunkering, wind assist and hull efficiency, port automation and shore power, plus the IMO and EU rules that now price the carbon — compared on emissions cut, capital cost, and how much of the fleet can actually take it.38 technologies
Materials
Where raw materials come from, how ore becomes metal, which material to specify, and what happens at end of life.
Critical MineralsWhere does this material actually get refined?Lithium, rare earths, copper, gallium, uranium and the rest — where each one is mined, where it is refined, what a substitute costs, and where the real chokepoints sit.33 materials
Engineering MaterialsWhat should this part be made of?Metals, plastics, elastomers, ceramics, glass, composites, and functional materials — compared on strength-to-weight, service temperature, cost per kg, and how you shape them.32 materials
Mining & Mineral ProcessingHow does this ore become a salable product?Surface and underground mining, solution and in-situ recovery, crushing and grinding, flotation and gravity concentration, hydro- and pyrometallurgy, and tailings and closure — with throughput, energy intensity, and water use for each step.32 processes
Recycling and CircularityWhat actually happens to this at end of life, and does it pay?Sorting, metal and battery recycling, e-waste and solar panels, mechanical and chemical plastics routes, and the policy machinery underneath — compared on what comes out the other end, whether it pays without a subsidy, and how clean the feed has to be.37 processes
Semiconductors
The process steps that turn a blank silicon wafer into a finished chip.
AI ComputeWhich chip runs this workload, and what does a token cost?The chips that run machine learning and the systems built from them — architectures, memory bandwidth, cluster fabric, numeric formats, and the software stack — compared on what each one suits, what it draws, and where the cost per token actually goes.38 technologies
Semiconductor ManufacturingHow does this chip get made, and who can make it?Wafers, lithography generations, transistor and memory architectures, compound semiconductors, advanced packaging, and test, with the tool costs and supply concentration that decide who can build what.32 technologies
Computing and Photonics
The hardware computing runs on: data center power and cooling, optical components, and quantum platforms.
Communications SystemsWhich link carries these bits, at what latency and what cost per bit?Spectrum and propagation, 5G and Open RAN, satellite links and direct-to-cell, fiber and submarine cable, free-space optical and tactical radio, plus the routing, encryption and licensing underneath — compared on reach, capacity, latency, and cost per bit.37 links
Data Center InfrastructureHow do you power and cool a rack that draws 130 kW?Power delivery, standby generation and UPS, air and liquid cooling, heat rejection and water, facility types and siting, plus racks, optics and operations — with the rack density each approach supports and whether it fits an existing hall.35 systems
Optics & PhotonicsWhich light source, optic, or detector does this job?Lasers and other light sources, lenses, coatings and fiber, modulators and scanners, detectors from photodiodes to single-photon counters, imaging and spectroscopy, and integrated photonics — with wavelength band, form factor, and unit cost.36 devices
Quantum TechnologiesWhich qubit or quantum device is worth betting on?Qubit platforms from transmons to neutral atoms, quantum sensing and atomic clocks, quantum communication and post-quantum cryptography, plus the cryogenics, lasers, and error correction underneath — with operating temperature, maturity, and what is actually holding each one back.29 platforms
Defense and Aerospace
How vehicles get to orbit, how they know where they are, and how unwanted ones get stopped.
Counter-UAS and EWHow do you stop a drone without spending more than it cost?Ways to detect and defeat drones — jamming, spoofing, lasers, high-power microwave, guns, interceptors, and nets — plus the wider electronic warfare toolkit, compared on effectiveness, collateral risk, and cost exchange.28 approaches
In-Space SystemsWhat keeps a spacecraft working once it is up there, and who is paying for it?Rendezvous and docking, satellite servicing and refueling, propellant depots and cryogenic transfer, solar arrays and radiators, in-space assembly and manufacturing, lunar resource extraction, and the reentry and disposal end — compared on orbit, mass, power, and whether anyone is paying for it yet.36 systems
Propulsion SystemsWhat should push this vehicle, and how fast and how far?Turbofans, ramjets, scramjets, rockets, ion and Hall thrusters, nuclear thermal, and detonation engines — compared on thrust, specific impulse, speed regime, and maturity.41 propulsion types
Sensing and NavigationHow does this system find a target and know where it is?Radar, EO/IR, SIGINT, sonar, hyperspectral and quantum sensing, plus GNSS, inertial, terrain and celestial navigation and missile seekers — compared on range, counter-stealth, jam resistance, and cost.46 technologies
Space Launch and SatellitesHow does this get to orbit, and what spacecraft does it need?Launch vehicles from small lift to super heavy, the orbits worth flying, spacecraft buses, communications and sensing payloads, ground segment, and in-space logistics — compared on mass, cost, orbit, and maturity.32 options
Uncrewed SystemsWhich uncrewed system fits this mission, and what does one cost?Drones and uncrewed vehicles across air, sea, and ground — Group 1–5 UAS, loitering munitions, USVs, UUVs, and UGVs, compared on endurance, payload, autonomy, and cost per unit.33 system classes
Biotechnology
What a therapy is, how it gets manufactured, the tools for reading and writing biology, and the hardware that images and repairs the body.
BioprocessingHow should this biologic be manufactured?Expression hosts, bioreactors, the downstream purification train, fill-finish and release testing, plus mRNA, viral vectors, cell therapy, and precision fermentation.32 processes
Diagnostics & AssaysWhich assay answers this question?Amplification and immunoassays, mass spectrometry, culture and cytometry, molecular oncology and screening, and the continuous and at-home tests, compared on detection limit, turnaround, setting and cost.25 assays
Gene Editing & DeliveryWhich editor, and how does it get there?Nucleases, base and prime editors, RNA and epigenetic editing, programmable insertion, and the viral and non-viral carriers that have to get them into the right cells.28 tools
Medical Imaging and DevicesWhich instrument sees this, and what does it take to get it into a hospital?CT, MRI, PET, ultrasound and optical imaging, surgical robots and catheters, pacemakers and neuromodulation, plus the FDA pathways and reimbursement codes that decide whether any of it reaches a patient — compared on capital cost, invasiveness, and how a new entrant actually gets in.37 devices
Sequencing & SynthesisHow should this DNA be read or written?Short-read, long-read and targeted sequencing, single-cell and spatial methods, library preparation, and the chemistry for writing DNA from oligos up to whole genes.26 methods
Therapeutic ModalitiesWhat should this therapy be?Small molecules and degraders, antibodies, peptides and enzymes, oligonucleotides, vaccines, gene therapy, and cell therapy, with what each costs to develop, make, and dose.35 modalities