{"id":150959,"date":"2026-02-19T09:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//?p=150959"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:56:36","slug":"forbes-2026-30-under-30-winner-capacitech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//forbes-2026-30-under-30-winner-capacitech/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//","title":{"rendered":"Forbes 2026 30 Under 30 Winner: Capacitech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Âé¶¹Ó³»­´«Ã½ electrical engineering alum Joe Sleppy /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201918 started his first company in high school /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2014 an adaptative equipment for exercising, inspired by his mother/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s bout with carpal tunnel. When it came time to decide on where to further his education, he wanted to be where the action was./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201cThere/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s a lot of places that say, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2018Hey, look at all the things we/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019ve done./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019 And then there/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s Âé¶¹Ó³»­´«Ã½ that says, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2018Look at all the things we/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019re doing,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019 /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201d Sleppy says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201cI wanted to be part of building the future./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201cI wanted to be part of building the future./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201d /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2014 Joe Sleppy/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

In his first year, he landed undergraduate research opportunities thanks to Âé¶¹Ó³»­´«Ã½/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s Compass program, which offers students opportunities for career exploration and experiential learning in STEM the first two years of their college career./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

In Âé¶¹Ó³»­´«Ã½ Professor of Nanotechnology Jayan Thomas/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019 lab, the two partnered on the idea that would eventually become Capacitech Energy, where Sleppy has served as CEO since its inception in 2016 during his sophomore year./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

Future-Proofing the Power Grid/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

Capacitech is a rapid response energy storage leader building high-power and space-conscious energy storage systems for an increasingly complex grid. Essentially, Sleppy and his team turn supercapacitor components into modular, plug-and-play systems that harden power infrastructure against power demand spikes, outages and equipment damage./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

Sleppy explains traditional power infrastructure, such as generators and batteries, are like a marathon runner whereas supercapacitors are more like a sprinter. Modern facilities /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2014 like data centers that power AI /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2014 demand power 24/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959//7 but also demand even more power than normal for just a few seconds. Ideally, both a sprinter and marathon runner are required. So, Capacitech/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s products make it practical to form relay teams between the traditional infrastructure (marathon runners) and supercapacitors (sprinters)./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201cIf we can use supercapacitors to complement batteries, generators, fuel cells and the broader grid to serve this demand profile that/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s coming from manufacturing facilities and data centers, then we/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019re making the world a better place /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2014 economically, but also in terms of power sustainability and security. And I think that that/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u2019s very important,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/u201d Sleppy says./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n

They made their first commercial sale in 2022 to Red Bull and have been running full force ever since./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/150959/n