UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the latest episode of Invent Penn State’s "Dare to Disrupt" podcast, host Ryan Newman interviews alumnus Deep Chakraborty, the co-founder and CEO of Enact Systems, a leading software platform revolutionizing the solar and energy storage industry. Chakraborty graduated from Penn State in 2000 with a master’s in mechanical engineering. 

In this episode, Chakraborty discusses his journey in building a North American subsidiary of CentroSolar, a German solar company, from the ground up. He also explains how Enact serves diverse customer segments by providing innovative software solutions that streamline the solar implementation process. Additionally, he shares his predictions for the future of alternative energy sources and how Enact plans to adapt to industry shifts and trends. 

“Solar, in my view, is one of the cheapest sources of electricity that has ever been invented ... It's going to remove the central distribution of energy as the foundation of electricity sales, just like it happened with the telephone industry,” Chakraborty said during the podcast episode.   

Listen to Deep Chakraborty’s episode of "Dare to Disrupt" here.

At the end of the episode, current Penn State student Gauri Patil joins the conversation. Patil is a senior at Penn State studying computer science. She participated in Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship program and placed in the social impact pitch competition during Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC. Patil and Chakraborty talk about how Chakraborty overcame challenges he faced when founding Enact, as well as how his Penn State education helped position him for success. 

Students can apply or be nominated to be on the show here.   

About 'Dare to Disrupt'

"Dare to Disrupt" is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs. Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success. 

Past episodes include interviews with Garry Gilliam, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner. New episodes release monthly. Learn more at the "Dare to Disrupt" website. Subscribe to "Dare to Disrupt" on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.