— Amazon’s Uwem Ukpong has a new title, moving from vice president of Global Services to VP of AWS Industries.

Ukpong has been with the tech giant for more than four years, joining from energy technology company Baker Hughes.

Ukpong’s resume is dominated by a 22-year stretch at Schlumberger, a Houston-based software and internet company that has offices internationally.

— Alicia Teel is now acting director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. She was previously deputy director of the department, which supports small businesses and economic growth.

Teel began her career at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce where she worked for more than 15 years.

At the Office of Economic Development, “[o]ur talented team is dedicated to leading projects and making investments that open up access to economic opportunities across our city, reduce the racial wealth gap, and encourage innovation and growth,” Teel said in a statement.

In announcing the appointment, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson thanked former director Markham McIntyre “for his leadership supporting small business recovery after the pandemic.”

McIntyre was in the role for four years. He also previously held leadership positions with the Chamber of Commerce, leaving the title of executive VP.

— Manik Gupta is leaving his role as corporate VP of Microsoft Teams.

“With Teams, I had the opportunity to combine my consumer DNA with learning the scale and complexity of the enterprise. The lessons, playbooks, and friendships I’ve gained will stay with me always,” Gupta said on LinkedIn.

Gupta, who is based in California, joined Microsoft in 2021. He said he’s exploring career options in AI, adding that “I’m convinced that the hardest and most interesting work in AI now lies in turning powerful models into products people can rely on every day.”

— ESS appointed Drew Buckley as CEO of the Oregon-based, long-duration energy storage company. Buckley joined the battery company in August as leader of its investor relations and capital market strategy. He previously spent 17 years as a technology-focused partner at the financial services firm William Blair.

“Drew brings an incredible track record of success, with the experience and industry relationships necessary to lead ESS to its next stage, manufacturing and delivery of our first Energy Base projects, and broader commercialization expected to commence this year,” said Harry Quarls, ESS board chairman.

ESS also named Kate Suhadolnik as chief financial officer from her current role as interim CFO. Suhadolnik has been with the publicly-traded company for more than four years.

Eric Dresselhuys resigned as ESS CEO in February and Kelly Goodman, who had been vice president of legal, became the interim chief executive. Goodman is now chief strategy officer and general counsel.

— Savanna Thompson is chief business operations officer role at fusion company Helion Energy after serving as VP of people & workplace Operations. She has been with the Everett, Wash., business for more than three years.

“As we move from building fusion machines to deploying fusion power plants, this role reflects the importance of scaling our teams, systems, and infrastructure that support our ambitious goals,” said Helion CEO David Kirtley in announcing the promotion.

Thompson joined Helion from 98point6, a Seattle telehealth company.

— Jackie Ostlie has returned to Microsoft, taking the role of director of AI initiatives in Microsoft Learning.

“I am incredibly grateful to Rachel Richardson for the opportunity and am excited to be back with some of the world’s smartest, kindest, most supportive humans in tech,” Ostlie said on LinkedIn.

Ostlie rejoins the company after a leadership role at Google Cloud Learning. Her career has included positions with multiple Seattle-area organizations including Veeam Software, Expedia and the nonprofit World Vision.

— After recently landing a $40 million investment, Seattle AI roleplay startup Yoodli appointed two new leaders.

• Emma Day is principal recruiter at Yoodli, leaving a comparable role at Seattle-based tech hiring platform Karat. “Yoodli has the rare and beautiful combination of an incredible mission — to help people communicate with confidence, a world-class team and a TON of growth ahead,” Day said on LinkedIn.
• Grayson Hay is principal software engineer, building on similar past roles at CodeSee, Tableau Software and Microsoft. Hay’s varied career also includes cinematography and bungee fitness instructor.

— Seattle cryptocurrency company Coinme named Hazen Baron as its general counsel. Baron is based in Arkansas and past employers include Walmart, fintech company Stronghold, and others.

Late last month Coinme announced an agreement with Washington state regulators to pause a temporary cease-and-desist order, clearing the way for the company to resume operations in the state.

— Jason Cavness, a Seattle-based U.S. market development partner for TechBank, is now a fellow with Earth Venture Capital, a Vietnam-based firm investing in climate tech internationally.

— The Microsoft Alumni Network, which represents more than 290,000 former Microsoft employees, has expanded its board of trustees, appointing eight new members:

• Declan Bradshaw, a 22-year employee based in Dublin and Redmond, Wash., who led Xbox’s European launch.
• George Durham, a leader of community engagement, global Technology for Good programs, and other roles after joining in 2004.
• Erendira Gonzalez, who over three decades led multicultural teams and launched the first Microsoft Technology Center in Latin America.
• Bill Kirst, who served as the director of change for Commercial Systems & Business Intelligence.
• Laura Luethe, who leads strategic content and communications as Microsoft HR’s director of communications.
• Somanna Palacanda, a 23-year employee who leads International Social Impact for Microsoft Elevate.
• Michelle September, who spent nearly 20 years at Microsoft and worked in account management, industry leadership, among other roles.
• Andrew Winnemore, VP of Microsoft for HR People Operations.

In addition, Larry Hryb, a longtime Xbox leader, was named vice chair of the Microsoft Alumni Network board.

The $6 billion planned merger between Trump Media & Technology Group and California’s TAE Technologies has sent a shock wave through the fusion industry — and is drawing skepticism from competitors in the Pacific Northwest’s fusion hub.

The partnership aims to site and begin building what it calls the world’s first utility-scale fusion plant next year, with Trump Media committing $300 million in near-term funding.

Physicists for decades have pursued fusion energy, a nearly limitless source of carbon-free power produced by smashing together light atoms in conditions hotter than the sun. So far, no one has demonstrated a fusion technology that’s financially viable for putting electricity on the grid, and some experts believe the field is still many years from that goal.

TAE, however, claimed on Thursday that it has cracked the riddle.

“We have the science solved,” Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE, told The New York Times. TAE has the engineering ready, he said, but has lacked sufficient capital despite raising $1.3 billion from investors.

President Trump is the largest shareholder of Trump Media, the publicly traded parent company of the social media platform Truth Social. His stake — reportedly worth more than $1 billion — is held in a trust managed by his eldest son

Trump Media’s value spiked nearly 50% following news of the merger, which would make TAE one of the first fusion companies to go public.

Washington competitors push back

TAE’s claims triggered pushback in Washington state, home to several fusion companies racing to commercialize the technology.

Helion Energy in July broke ground on what it says will be the first fusion plant to put power on the grid starting in 2028. Pragav Jain, Helion’s chief financial officer, welcomed the merger news while reasserting the company’s head start.

“This is a positive signal for the industry as a whole,” Jain said via email. “The world needs fusion and we’re seeing strong support both from customers and investors, so it’s not surprising to see deals like this.”

Everett-based Helion has raised more than $1 billion and is actively constructing Orion, its planned commercial facility in Eastern Washington. “We’re leading the way to make fusion a reality,” Jain added.

Zap Energy, a fusion company located down the road from Helion, didn’t provide an official comment on the deal when contacted by GeekWire. But spokesperson Andy Freeberg challenged the assertion that anyone has mastered fusion.

“The science has come a long way over several decades of work and is mature enough to build ventures around, that’s very exciting,” Freeberg said on LinkedIn. “But even a superficial knowledge of the state of the technology will show you it’s far from ‘solved’ and statements like this from someone who obviously knows better are completely disingenuous.”

Zap has $330 million from investors and notched scientific milestones, but has been more cautious in setting its own near-time deadlines for commercialized fusion.

Robin Langtry, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Avalanche Energy, which is building smaller-scale fusion devices, praised the deal.

TAE has made “some significant breakthroughs recently” that fusion proponents “should celebrate,” Langtry said via email. He added that the substantial funding needed for fusion infrastructure is tough to raise through venture capital or a traditional IPO.

“In that context a merger with a public company that in principle already has the deep pockets to raise the necessary funds makes a lot of sense,” Langtry added.

RELATED STORIES:

• Helion gives behind-the-scenes tour of secretive 60-foot fusion prototype as it races to deployment
• Inside Zap: Fusion pioneer tries to build ‘a star in a jar’ to unlock abundant clean energy
• Meet the key players in the Pacific Northwest’s fusion energy hub