Tesla co-founder program | The future is electric

||| FROM CHRIS HAYNES for ROTARY CLUB OF THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS |||

On October 10, 6 -7:30PM, at the San Juan Island Yacht Club, islanders and guests are invited to hear Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla Motors, present “The Future is Electric,” a fascinating program about bringing new technologies to market for a carbon-reduced future.

Eberhard is a much sought-after, world-renowned inventor and speaker with ties to San Juan Island. His brother Karl Eberhard is the current President of the Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands. Martin is an engineer, a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and inventor on at least 29 granted patents, with another dozen or so in the works.

Jay Kimball from the OPALCO team and chair of the County’s Climate and Sustainability Committee will address the future of electricity in San Juan County. A Q&A will follow.

Martin co-founded Network Computing Devices in 1987. In 2002, Eberhard and colleague Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors, where Martin was its original Chairman and CEO until late 2007. As the University of Illinois, his alma mater, stated in naming Martin the Inaugural Leader in Residence, “he and his team reinvented the electric car, changing public perception of electric cars to be fast, sexy desirable cars that will obviously become the future of transportation.”

The Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands is organizing the event, along with generous local sponsors. Admission is free with donations welcome at the door. Proceeds will help the San Juan Island School District’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program’s travel to state-wide competitions.

Eberhard will have his Serial #2 iconic TESLA Roadster, parked nearby for viewing. Benefit Raffle Tickets for a ride with Martin in his SN#2 Roadster will be on sale at the SJI Farmer’s Market or at the event or by contacting RotarySJI@gmail.com. $25 a ticket or 5 for $100 only 300 tickets will be sold.

Rotary of the San Juan Islands is looking for new members, if you are interested in having fun and giving back to the community please check out our websites: portal.clubrunner.ca/1358 and rotaryfoundationsanjuanislands.org or  contact membership chair: Steve Bowman steve.bowman52@gmail.com.