Marcius Extavour comes to XPRIZE after over a decade working at the intersection of science, policy, education, and technology development. As leader of the Energy team, he combines his experience in partnership building and strategy with his training in physics and engineering to help lead the transition to a clean energy future. This works includes leading the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, a global competition to recycle CO2 into valuable products.
Before joining XPRIZE, Dr. Extavour served as Director of Government and Corporate Partnerships in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto. In this role he brought together academic researchers, industry labs, and public sector leaders to build research and educational partnerships.

Dr. Extavour is active in science and energy policy more broadly, having held positions at the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resource as the OSA/SPIE/AAAS Congressional Science & Technology Policy Fellow, and at the Council of Canadian Academies, a science policy consultant to the Government of Canada. In the private sector, Dr. Extavour has developed risk management software for North American electric power markets at Ontario Power Generation, and designed and fabricated optoelectronic devices at Nortel Networks Research Labs.

Dr. Extavour received a PhD and MSc in Physics from the University of Toronto, where he explored the quantum mechanics of light and matter near absolute zero. He also holds a BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto, where he built a pancake-making robot and combined nanomaterials with solar cells. Dr. Extavour loves teaching, and is active in engaging kids in science and engineering, and connecting with young scientists interested in careers inside and outside of academia.