WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will hold its third annual Energy Innovation Summit on Feb. 27-29, 2012, at the Gaylord Convention Center near Washington, D.C. According to DOE, the summit is designed to unite key players from all sectors of the U.S. energy community to share ideas for developing and deploying the next generation of clean energy technologies. The event is co-hosted by ARPA-E and the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu and ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar will be joined by Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp.; Susan Hockfield, president and professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Lee Scott, former CEO of Wal-Mart; and other leaders as keynote speakers.

In addition to featuring an expanded showcase, the Innovation Summit will again this year include top U.S. businesses focused on developing energy technology. The summit connects top corporate businesses with clean energy researchers and entrepreneurs with the goal of building partnerships for commercialization. Some of last year’s corporate participants included Bosch, Dow, and DuPont.