Since James Watt, a Scottish inventor, improved the efficiency of steam engine, human civilization relies more and more on a steady energy supply. Today, the world is poised on the brink of two historic energy transformations: replacing oil with electricity in transportation, and replacing high carbon, finite-supply coal and natural gas with renewable wind, solar, marine and biomass energies for electricity production. This symposium is about current state of the art small scale technologies being applied to solve energy challenges,