Precourt Institute for Energy
Showing 1-50 of 109 Results
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Nicole Ardoin
Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsNicole Ardoin, the Emmett Family Faculty Scholar, is an associate professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences in the Environmental Social Sciences Department of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS).
Professor Ardoin studies motivations for and barriers to environmental behavior among a range of audiences and in varying settings; the use of social strategies by NGOs to engage individuals and communities in decisionmaking related to the environment; and the role of place-based connections and environmental learning on engagement in place-protective and stewardship actions over time.
Professor Ardoin's Social Ecology Lab group uses mixed-methods approaches--including participant observation, interviews, surveys, mapping, network analysis, and ethnography, among others--to pursue their interdisciplinary scholarship with community collaborators through a field-based, participatory frame. Professor Ardoin is an associate editor of the journal Environmental Education Research, a trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, and chair of NatureBridge's Education Advisory Council, among other areas of service to the environment and conservation field.
RECENT RESEARCH (Selected):
Accelerating 30x30 Through a Collaborative Regional Prioritization Partnership
With support from the SDSS Accelerator
PI: Liz Hadly; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, Debbie Sivas
Empowering Youth in Frontline Communities through Climate Data
PI: Victor Lee; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, Jenny Suckale
A Social Science/Sustainability Incubator: Interdisciplinary scholarship and practice to amplify impact and redefine solutions
With support from Stanford’s Sustainability Initiative
PI: Nicole Ardoin; co-PI: James H. Jones
Tracking Socio-Ecological Recovery after Forest Fire: The Case of Big Basin
With support from: Digital Learning Initiative of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning
The Summen Project: Coastal Fog-mediated Interactions Between Climate Change, Upwelling, and Coast Redwood Resilience
With support from NSF Coastal SEES Program, the National Geographic Society, and the TELOS Fund
In partnership with UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, Carnegie, Oregon State University
Scholars and Land-Trust Managers Collaborating for Solutions
With support from Realizing Environmental Innovations Projects (REIP), Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
PI: Nicole Ardoin; co-PI: Deborah Gordon
Community and Collective Environmental Literacy as a Motivator for Participating in Environmental Stewardship
With support from the Pisces Foundation
Hybrid Physical and Digital Spaces for Enhanced Sustainability and Wellbeing
WIth support from Stanford Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions
PI: Sarah Billington, Civil and Environmental Engineering; co-PIs Nicole Ardoin, James Landay, Hazel Markus
Blue Habits: Leveraging Behavioral Science to Support Pro-Ocean Behaviors
With support from The Oceanic Society
eeWorks: Examining the body of evidence for environmental education with regard to conservation, academic outcomes, civic engagement, and positive youth development
With support from the North American Association for Environmental Education, US EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service, and others -
Ines M. L. Azevedo
Professor of Energy Science Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Earth System Science
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProfessor Azevedo is passionate about solving problems that include environmental, technical, economic, and policy issues, where traditional engineering approaches play an important role but cannot provide a complete answer. In particular, she is interested in assessing how energy systems are likely to evolve, which requires comprehensive knowledge of the technologies that can address future energy needs and the decision-making process followed by various agents in the economy.
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Khalid Aziz
Otto N. Miller Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOptimization and reservoir Simulation.
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Jack Baker
William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Professor, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioJack Baker is a Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He uses probabilistic and statistical tools to quantify and manage disaster risk and resilience. He has made contributions to risk analysis of spatially distributed systems, characterization of earthquake ground motions, and simulation of post-disaster recovery. He is an author of the textbook Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis, Director of the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative, Editor-in-Chief of Earthquake Spectra, and a Co-Founder of Haselton Baker Risk Group.
Prior to Stanford, Professor Baker was a visiting researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). He has degrees in Structural Engineering (Stanford, M.S. 2002, Ph.D. 2005), Statistics (Stanford, M.S. 2004) and Mathematics/Physics (Whitman College, B.A. 2000). His awards include the William B. Joyner Lecture Award from the Seismological Society of America and Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, the Early Achievement Research Award from the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability, the Walter L. Huber Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Helmut Krawinkler Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, and the Eugene L. Grant Award for excellence in teaching from Stanford. -
Zhenan Bao
K. K. Lee Professor, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering and of Chemistry
BioZhenan Bao joined Stanford University in 2004. She is currently a K.K. Lee Professor in Chemical Engineering, and with courtesy appointments in Chemistry and Material Science and Engineering. She was the Department Chair of Chemical Engineering from 2018-2022. She founded the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative (eWEAR) and is the current faculty director. She is also an affiliated faculty member of Precourt Institute, Woods Institute, ChEM-H and Bio-X. Professor Bao received her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from The University of Chicago in 1995 and joined the Materials Research Department of Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies. She became a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 2001. Professor Bao currently has more than 700 refereed publications and more than 80 US patents with a Google Scholar H-index 226.
Bao is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. Bao was elected a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Science in 2021. She is a Fellow of AAAS, ACS, MRS, SPIE, ACS POLY and ACS PMSE.
Bao is a member of the Board of Directors for the Camille and Dreyfus Foundation from 2022. She served as a member of Executive Board of Directors for the Materials Research Society and Executive Committee Member for the Polymer Materials Science and Engineering division of the American Chemical Society. She was an Associate Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Chemical Science, Polymer Reviews and Synthetic Metals. She serves on the international advisory board for Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, ACS Nano, Accounts of Chemical Reviews, Advanced Functional Materials, Chemistry of Materials, Chemical Communications, Journal of American Chemical Society, Nature Asian Materials, Materials Horizon and Materials Today. She co-founded C3 Nano Co. and PyrAmes, which have produced products used in commercial smartphones and hospitals, respectively. Multiple inventions from her lab have been licensed and served as foundational technologies for several additional start-ups.
Bao was a recipient of the VinFuture Prize Female Innovator 2022, ACS Award of Chemistry of Materials 2022, MRS Mid-Career Award in 2021, AICHE Alpha Chi Sigma Award 2021, ACS Central Science Disruptor and Innovator Prize in 2020, ACS Gibbs Medal in 2020, the Wilhelm Exner Medal from the Austrian Federal Minister of Science in 2018, the L'Oreal UNESCO Women in Science Award North America Laureate in 2017. She was awarded the ACS Applied Polymer Science Award in 2017, ACS Creative Polymer Chemistry Award in 2013 ACS Cope Scholar Award in 2011. She is a recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry Beilby Medal and Prize in 2009, IUPAC Creativity in Applied Polymer Science Prize in 2008, American Chemical Society Team Innovation Award 2001, R&D 100 Award, and R&D Magazine Editors Choice Best of the Best new technology for 2001. -
Sven Beiker
Lecturer, Graduate School of Business - Academic Administration
BioSven Beiker is a Lecturer in Management at the GSB, and the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Mobility, an independent consulting & advisory firm. He covers the electrification, automation, connectivity, and sharing of automobiles through the lens of new technologies and business models. This is reflected in his teaching at the GSB as well as in his professional engagements. Prior to his independent consulting work, he served as an Expert Consultant for mobility topics at McKinsey & Company for 2.5 years.
Dr. Beiker is also the former Executive Director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford, an industry affiliates program that he launched in 2008 together with Stanford Professors Gerdes, Nass, and Thrun. Before coming to Stanford, Dr. Beiker worked at the BMW Group for more than 13 years. Between 1995 and 2008 he pursued responsibilities in technology scouting, innovation management, systems design, and series development. He primarily applied his expertise to chassis and powertrain projects, which also provided him with profound insights into the industry’s processes and best practices. In addition, he worked in three major automotive and technology locations: Germany, Silicon Valley, and Detroit.
Dr. Beiker received his MS (1995) and PhD (1999) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University in Braunschweig, Germany. He published various technical papers and holds several patents in the fields of vehicle dynamics and powertrain technology. -
Sally Benson
Precourt Family Professor, Professor of Energy Science Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research is focused on reducing the risks of climate change by developing energy supplies with low carbon emissions. Students and post-doctoral fellows in my research group work on carbon dioxide storage, energy systems analysis, and pathways for transitioning to a low-carbon energy system.
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Stacey Bent
Jagdeep & Roshni Singh Professor in the School of Eng, Professor of Energy Science and Eng, Senior Fellow at Precourt & Prof, by courtesy, of Electrical Eng, Materials Sci Eng & Chemistry
BioThe research in the Bent laboratory is focused on understanding and controlling surface and interfacial chemistry and applying this knowledge to a range of problems in semiconductor processing, micro- and nano-electronics, nanotechnology, and sustainable and renewable energy. Much of the research aims to develop a molecular-level understanding in these systems, and hence the group uses of a variety of molecular probes. Systems currently under study in the group include functionalization of semiconductor surfaces, mechanisms and control of atomic layer deposition, molecular layer deposition, nanoscale materials for light absorption, interface engineering in photovoltaics, catalyst and electrocatalyst deposition.
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Dennis Bird
Professor of Geological Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTheoretical geochemistry of reactions among aqueous solutions and minerals in magma-hydrothermal systems; environmental geochemistry of toxic metals in the Mother Lode Gold region, CA, and the emergence of life in the aftermath of the Moon-forming impact, ca. 4.4Ga.
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Stephen Boyd
Samsung Professor in the School of Engineering
BioStephen P. Boyd is the Samsung Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Information Systems Laboratory at Stanford University, and a member of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. His current research focus is on convex optimization applications in control, signal processing, machine learning, and finance.
Professor Boyd received an AB degree in Mathematics, summa cum laude, from Harvard University in 1980, and a PhD in EECS from U. C. Berkeley in 1985. In 1985 he joined Stanford's Electrical Engineering Department. He has held visiting Professor positions at Katholieke University (Leuven), McGill University (Montreal), Ecole Polytechnique Federale (Lausanne), Tsinghua University (Beijing), Universite Paul Sabatier (Toulouse), Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm), Kyoto University, Harbin Institute of Technology, NYU, MIT, UC Berkeley, CUHK-Shenzhen, and IMT Lucca. He holds honorary doctorates from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, and Catholic University of Louvain (UCL).
Professor Boyd is the author of many research articles and four books: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least-Squares (with Lieven Vandenberghe, 2018), Convex Optimization (with Lieven Vandenberghe, 2004), Linear Matrix Inequalities in System and Control Theory (with El Ghaoui, Feron, and Balakrishnan, 1994), and Linear Controller Design: Limits of Performance (with Craig Barratt, 1991). His group has produced many open source tools, including CVX (with Michael Grant), CVXPY (with Steven Diamond) and Convex.jl (with Madeleine Udell and others), widely used parser-solvers for convex optimization.
He has received many awards and honors for his research in control systems engineering and optimization, including an ONR Young Investigator Award, a Presidential Young Investigator Award, and the AACC Donald P. Eckman Award. In 2013, he received the IEEE Control Systems Award, given for outstanding contributions to control systems engineering, science, or technology. In 2012, Michael Grant and he were given the Mathematical Optimization Society's Beale-Orchard-Hays Award, for excellence in computational mathematical programming. In 2023, he was given the AACC Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award, the highest recognition of professional achievement for U.S. control systems engineers and scientists. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, SIAM, INFORMS, and IFAC, a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Control Systems Society, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea. He has been invited to deliver more than 90 plenary and keynote lectures at major conferences in control, optimization, signal processing, and machine learning.
He has developed and taught many undergraduate and graduate courses, including Signals & Systems, Linear Dynamical Systems, Convex Optimization, and a recent undergraduate course on Matrix Methods. His graduate convex optimization course attracts around 300 students from more than 20 departments. In 1991 he received an ASSU Graduate Teaching Award, and in 1994 he received the Perrin Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in the School of Engineering. In 2003, he received the AACC Ragazzini Education award, for contributions to control education. In 2016 he received the Walter J. Gores award, the highest award for teaching at Stanford University. In 2017 he received the IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal, for a career of outstanding contributions to education in the fields of interest of IEEE, with citation "For inspirational education of students and researchers in the theory and application of optimization." -
Dane A. Boysen, PhD
Research Engineer, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioDr. Boysen is a visionary leader in advanced energy technologies, with over two decades of ex-perience spanning research, entrepreneurship, and executive leadership. Boysen has held pivotal roles, including the CEO of RedoxBlox, where he spearheaded the commercialization of a breakthrough thermochemical energy storage technology, raising over $40 million in venture capital. His career highlights include founding Modular Chemical, Inc. to pioneer modular gas treatment solutions and serving as Chief Technologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Cyclotron Road (now called Activate)—a national lab-embedded incubator—where he developed the program’s core curriculum and mentored over 20 energy-technology startup companies. As the Executive Director of Research Operations at the Gas Technology Institute, he helped build a public-private coalition to launch the RAPID Institute, a $70 million initiative to advance modular chemical processing. At ARPA-E, Boysen managed a $120 million portfolio of cutting-edge energy projects, spearheading initiatives like the MOVE program for natural gas vehicle technology. A prolific inventor and contributor to the field, Boysen holds over 10 patents and authored more than 25 publications—driving advancements in fuel cells, energy storage, and emissions reduction—and solidifying his reputation as a thought leader in cleantech commercialization. With a Ph.D. and M.S. in Materials Science from the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Boysen has consistently bridged the gap between scientific innovation and commercial viability, cementing his status as a transformative force in cleantech commercialization and sustainable energy development.
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Adam Brandt
Professor of Energy Science Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGreenhouse gas emissions, energy systems optimization, mathematical modeling of resource depletion, life cycle analysis
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Mark Brongersma
Stephen Harris Professor, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
BioMark Brongersma is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He received his PhD in Materials Science from the FOM Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1998. From 1998-2001 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Technology. During this time, he coined the term “Plasmonics” for a new device technology that exploits the unique optical properties of nanoscale metallic structures to route and manipulate light at the nanoscale. His current research is directed towards the development and physical analysis of nanostructured materials that find application in nanoscale electronic and photonic devices. Brongersma received a National Science Foundation Career Award, the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, the International Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences (Physics) for his work on plasmonics, and is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the SPIE, and the American Physical Society.
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Thomas Byers
Entrepreneurship Professor in the School of Engineering
On Leave from 04/01/2025 To 06/30/2025Current Research and Scholarly InterestsApplied ethics, responsible innovation, and global entrepreneurship education (see http://peak.stanford.edu).
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Bruce Cain
Charles Louis Ducommun Professor in the School of Humanities & Sciences, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, at SIEPR, at the Precourt Institute for Energy & Professor of Environmental Social Sciences
BioBruce E. Cain is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. He received a BA from Bowdoin College (1970), a B Phil. from Oxford University (1972) as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Ph D from Harvard University (1976). He taught at Caltech (1976-89) and UC Berkeley (1989-2012) before coming to Stanford. Professor Cain was Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley from 1990-2007 and Executive Director of the UC Washington Center from 2005-2012. He was elected the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000 and has won awards for his research (Richard F. Fenno Prize, 1988), teaching (Caltech 1988 and UC Berkeley 2003) and public service (Zale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Policy Research and Public Service, 2000). His areas of expertise include political regulation, applied democratic theory, representation and state politics. Some of Professor Cain’s most recent publications include “Malleable Constitutions: Reflections on State Constitutional Design,” coauthored with Roger Noll in University of Texas Law Review, volume 2, 2009; “More or Less: Searching for Regulatory Balance,” in Race, Reform and the Political Process, edited by Heather Gerken, Guy Charles and Michael Kang, CUP, 2011; “Redistricting Commissions: A Better Political Buffer?” in The Yale Law Journal, volume 121, 2012; and Democracy More or Less (CUP, 2015). He is currently working on problems of environmental governance.
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Brian Cantwell
Edward C. Wells Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Cantwell's research interests are in the area of turbulent flow. Recent work has centered in three areas: the direct numerical simulation of turbulent shear flows, theoretical studies of the fine-scale structure of turbulence, and experimental measurements of turbulent structure in flames. Experimental studies include the development of particle-tracking methods for measuring velocity fields in unsteady flames and variable density jets. Research in turbulence simulation includes the development of spectral methods for simulating vortex rings, the development of topological methods for interpreting complex fields of data, and simulations of high Reynolds number compressible and incompressible wakes. Theoretical studies include predictions of the asymptotic behavior of drifting vortex pairs and vortex rings and use of group theoretical methods to study the nonlinear dynamics of turbulent fine-scale motions. Current projects include studies of fast-burning fuels for hybrid propulsion and decomposition of nitrous oxide for space propulsion.
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Christopher Chidsey
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Chidsey group research interest is to build the chemical base for molecular electronics. To accomplish this, we synthesize the molecular and nanoscopic systems, build the analytical tools and develop the theoretical understanding with which to study electron transfer between electrodes and among redox species through insulating molecular bridges
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Srabanti Chowdhury
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWide bandap materials & devices for RF, Power and energy efficient electronics
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William Chueh
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioThe availability of low-cost but intermittent renewable electricity (e.g., derived from solar and wind) underscores the grand challenge to store and dispatch energy so that it is available when and where it is needed. Redox-active materials promise the efficient transformation between electrical, chemical, and thermal energy, and are at the heart of carbon-neutral energy cycles. Understanding design rules that govern materials chemistry and architecture holds the key towards rationally optimizing technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, and novel thermodynamic cycles. Electrochemical and chemical reactions involved in these technologies span diverse length and time scales, ranging from Ångströms to meters and from picoseconds to years. As such, establishing a unified, predictive framework has been a major challenge. The central question unifying our research is: “can we understand and engineer redox reactions at the levels of electrons, ions, molecules, particles and devices using a bottom-up approach?” Our approach integrates novel synthesis, fabrication, characterization, modeling and analytics to understand molecular pathways and interfacial structure, and to bridge fundamentals to energy storage and conversion technologies by establishing new design rules.
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Bruce Clemens
Walter B. Reinhold Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus and Academic Secretary to the University
BioClemens studies growth and structure of thin film, interface and nanostructured materials for catalytic, electronic and photovoltaic applications. He and his group investigate phase transitions and kinetics in nanostructured materials, and perform nanoparticle engineering for hydrogen storage and catalysis. Recently he and his collaborators have developed nano-portals for efficient injection of hydrogen into storage media, dual-phase nanoparticles for catalysis, amorphous metal electrodes for semiconductor devices, and a lift-off process for forming free-standing, single-crystal films of compound semiconductors.
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Craig Criddle
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCriddle's interests include microbial biotechnology for the circular economy, including recovery of clean water from used water, renewable energy, valuable materials that can replace fossil-carbon derived materials. Current projects include energy-efficient anaerobic wastewater treatment technology, assessment of new treatment trains that yield high quality water; fossil carbon plastics biodegradation, and biotechnology for production of bioplastics that can replace fossil carbon plastics.
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Yi Cui
Fortinet Founders Professor, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, of Photon Science, Senior Fellow at Woods, at Precourt and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemistry
BioCui studies fundamentals and applications of nanomaterials and develops tools for their understanding. Research Interests: nanotechnology, batteries, electrocatalysis, wearables, 2D materials, environmental technology (water, air, soil), cryogenic electron microscopy.
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Reinhold Dauskardt
Ruth G. and William K. Bowes Professor in the School of Engineering
BioDauskardt and his group have worked extensively on integrating new materials into emerging technologies including thin-film structures for nanoscience and energy technologies, high-performance composite and laminates for aerospace, and on biomaterials and soft tissues in bioengineering. His group has pioneered methods for characterizing adhesion and cohesion of thin films used extensively in device technologies. His research on wound healing has concentrated on establishing a biomechanics framework to quantify the mechanical stresses and biologic responses in healing wounds and define how the mechanical environment affects scar formation. Experimental studies are complimented with a range of multiscale computational capabilities. His research includes interaction with researchers nationally and internationally in academia, industry, and clinical practice.
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Steven J. Davis
Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Energy Science and Engineering
BioSteve Davis is a highly-cited researcher and expert in earth system science, emissions and energy scenarios, climate impacts and solutions, and corporate climate strategy. He is a Professor of Earth System Science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and leads the Sustainable Solutions Lab, a research group dedicated to quantifying how different human activities are affecting climate and air quality, how those environmental changes in turn jeopardize human wellbeing, and the relative priority of solutions.
Steve was a Contributing Author of two Working Group III chapters in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), serves on the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Carbon Project, was the Lead Author of the Mitigation chapter in the U.S. Fifth National Climate Assessment, and is a member of the Technical Council of the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Prior to his science career, Steve worked as a lawyer to venture-backed companies in Silicon Valley, and holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Florida, where he double-majored in Political Science and Philosophy. -
Thomas Devereaux
Professor of Photon Science, of Materials Science and Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy main research interests lie in the areas of theoretical condensed matter physics and computational physics. My research effort focuses on using the tools of computational physics to understand quantum materials. Fortunately, we are poised in an excellent position as the speed and cost of computers have allowed us to tackle heretofore unaddressed problems involving interacting systems. The goal of my research is to understand electron dynamics via a combination of analytical theory and numerical simulations to provide insight into materials of relevance to energy science. My group carries out numerical simulations on SIMES’ high-performance supercomputer and US and Canadian computational facilities. The specific focus of my group is the development of numerical methods and theories of photon-based spectroscopies of strongly correlated materials.
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Noah Diffenbaugh
Kara J Foundation Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Noah S. Diffenbaugh is an Editor of the peer-review journal Geophysical Research Letters, and a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He is a recipient of the James R. Holton Award from the American Geophysical Union, a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, and a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University. He has also been recognized as a Kavli Fellow by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and as a Google Science Communication Fellow.
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Jennifer Dionne
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Radiology (Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford)
BioJennifer (Jen) Dionne is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Radiology at Stanford. She is also a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, deputy director of Q-NEXT (a DOE National Quantum Initiative), and co-founder of Pumpkinseed, a company developing quantum sensors to understand and optimize the immune system. From 2020-2023, Jen served as Stanford’s Inaugural Vice Provost of Shared Facilities, raising capital to modernize instrumentation, fund experiential education, foster staff development, and support new and existing users of the shared facilities. Jen received her B.S. degrees in Physics and Systems Science and Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, her Ph. D. in Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology in 2009, and her postdoctoral training in Chemistry at Berkeley. As a pioneer of nanophotonics, she is passionate about developing methods to observe and control chemical and biological processes as they unfold with nanometer scale resolution, emphasizing critical challenges in global health and sustainability. Her research has developed culture-free methods to detect pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility; amplification-free methods to detect and sequence nucleic acids and proteins; and new methods to image light-driven chemical reactions with atomic-scale resolution. Jen’s work has been featured in NPR, the Economist, Science, and Nature, and recognized with the NSF Alan T. Waterman Award, a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Moore Inventor Fellowship, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She was also featured on Oprah’s list of “50 Things that will make you say ‘Wow’!”. She also perceives outreach as a critical component of her role and frequently collaborates with visual and performing artists to convey the beauty of science to the broader public.
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Louis Durlofsky
Otto N. Miller Professor in the School of Earth Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGeneral reservoir simulation, optimization, reduced-order modeling, upscaling, flow in fractured systems, history matching, CO2 sequestration, energy systems optimization
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Abbas El Gamal
Hitachi America Professor in the School of Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioAbbas El Gamal is the Hitachi America Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He received his B.Sc. Honors degree from Cairo University in 1972, and his M.S. in Statistics and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering both from Stanford University in 1977 and 1978, respectively. From 1978 to 1980, he was an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at USC. From 2003 to 2012, he was the Director of the Information Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. From 2012 to 2017 he was Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. His research contributions have been in network information theory, FPGAs, and digital imaging devices and systems. He has authored or coauthored over 230 papers and holds 35 patents in these areas. He is coauthor of the book Network Information Theory (Cambridge Press 2011). He has received several honors and awards for his research contributions, including the 2016 Richard W. Hamming Medal, the 2012 Claude E. Shannon Award, and the 2004 INFOCOM Paper Award. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE. He has co-founded and served on the board of directors and advisory boards of several semiconductor and biotechnology startup companies.
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W Gary Ernst
The Benjamin M. Page Professor in Earth Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPetrology/geochemistry and plate tectonics of Circumpacific and Alpine mobile belts; ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in Eurasia; geology of the California Coast Ranges, the cental Klamath Mountains, and White-Inyo Range; geobotany and remote sensing of the American Southwest; mineralogy and human health.
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Shanhui Fan
Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman Professor of the School of Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
BioFan's research interests are in fundamental studies of nanophotonic structures, especially photonic crystals and meta-materials, and applications of these structures in energy and information technology applications
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Chris Field
Melvin and Joan Lane Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Director, Woods Institute for the Environment & Professor of Earth System Science, of Biology and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute and at the Precourt Institute
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
My field is climate-change science, and my research emphasizes human-ecological interactions across many disciplines. Most studies include aspects of ecology, but also aspects of law, sociology, medicine, or engineering. -
Martin Fischer
Kumagai Professor in the School of Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioProfessor Fischer's research goals are to improve the productivity of project teams involved in designing, building, and operating facilities and to enhance the sustainability of the built environment. His work develops the theoretical foundations and applications for virtual design and construction (VDC). VDC methods support the design of a facility and its delivery process and help reduce the costs and maximize the value over its lifecycle. His research has been used by many small and large industrial government organizations around the world.
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Kenneth Goodson
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, Davies Family Provostial Professor, and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProf. Goodson’s Nanoheat Lab studies heat transfer in electronic nanostructures, microfluidic heat sinks, and packaging, focussing on basic transport physics and practical impact for industry. We work closely with companies on novel cooling and packaging strategies for power devices, portables, ASICs, & data centers. At present, sponsors and collaborators include ARPA-E, the NSF POETS Center, SRC ASCENT, Google, Intel, Toyota, Ford, among others.
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Lawrence Goulder
Shuzo Nishihara Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGoulder's research examines the environmental and economic impacts of environmental policies in the U.S. and China, with a focus on policies to deal with climate change and air pollution. His current research focuses on the evaluation of proposed U.S. federal level climate change policies and China's emerging nationwide emissions trading program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
His work also explores the sustainability of natural resources and well-being in several countries.
Results from his work have been published in academic journal articles as well as in the book, Confronting the Climate Challenge: Options for US Policy, which was published by Columbia University Press in 2017.
His work often employs a general equilibrium analytical framework that integrates the economy and the environment and links the activities of government, industry, and households. The research considers both the aggregate benefits and costs of various policies as well as the distribution of policy impacts across industries, income groups, and generations. Some of his work involves collaborations with climate scientists, biologists, and engineers.
Goulder has conducted analyses for several government agencies, business groups, and environmental organizations, and has served on advisory committees to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. -
Ronald Hanson
Clarence J. and Patricia R. Woodard Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProfessor Hanson has been an international leader in the development of laser-based diagnostic methods for combustion and propulsion, and in the development of modern shock tube methods for accurate determination of chemical reaction rate parameters needed for modeling combustion and propulsion systems. He and his students have made several pioneering contributions that have impacted the pace of propulsion research and development worldwide.
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James Harris
James and Elenor Chesebrough Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch interests have been in the areas of new electronic and optoelectronic device structures created by heterojunctions, quantum wells, superlattices and nanostructured materials. Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) has been the foundation to prepare nanostructured metastable materials with atomic layer control and dimensions smaller than the wavelength of electrons. In this regime, quantum size effects can be utilized to create entirely new device structures based upon tailored transitions between quantum states and tunneling between states and structures. Past two decades focused on MBE growth of novel optoelectronic materials (GaInNAsSb) for long wavelength lasers and solar cells; quantum well structures for surface emitting lasers with power and bandwidth demands of AI now driving 10,000 element VCSEL arrays for optical interconnect; integrated nanophotonic structures for laser driven dielectric electron accelerators and free electron lasers (FEL) on a wafer for medical imagining systems; high speed optical modulators and non-linear optical effects for generation, control and application of ultra-short optical pulses; ultra-high efficiency multi-bandgap solar cells; world record solar to hydrogen conversion with water splitting; Si based photonic devices, including single photon avalanche detector (SPAD) for range finding and autonomous vehicles; implantable retina prosthesis with first human response in phase 1 human trials, 12/17.
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Jerry Harris
The Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Professor in Geophysics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBiographical Information
Jerry M. Harris is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Geophysics and Associate Dean for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. He joined Stanford in 1988 following 11 years in private industry. He served five years as Geophysics department chair, was the Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Computational Earth and Environmental Science (CEES), and co-launched Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). Graduates from Jerry's research group, the Stanford Wave Physics Lab, work in private industry, government labs, and universities.
Research
My research interests address the physics and dynamics of seismic and electromagnetic waves in complex media. My approach to these problems includes theory, numerical simulation, laboratory methods, and the analysis of field data. My group, collectively known as the Stanford Wave Physics Laboratory, specializes on high frequency borehole methods and low frequency labratory methods. We apply this research to the characterization and monitoring of petroleum and CO2 storage reservoirs.
Teaching
I teach courses on waves phenomena for borehole geophysics and tomography. I recently introduced and co-taught a new course on computational geosciences.
Professional Activities
I was the First Vice President of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in 2003-04, and have served as the Distinguished Lecturer for the SPE, SEG, and AAPG. -
Siegfried Hecker
Professor (Research) of Management Science and Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsplutonium science; nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship; cooperative threat reduction
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Sarah Heilshorn
Director, Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials (GLAM), Rickey/Nielsen Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor, by courtesy, of Bioengineering and of Chemical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProtein engineering
Tissue engineering
Regenerative medicine
Biomaterials -
Thomas Heller
Lewis Talbot and Nadine Hearn Shelton Professor of International Legal Studies, Emeritus
BioAn expert in international law and legal institutions, Thomas C. Heller has focused his research on the rule of law, international climate control, global energy use, and the interaction of government and nongovernmental organizations in establishing legal structures in the developing world. He has created innovative courses on the role of law in transitional and developing economies, as well as the comparative study of law in developed economies. He has co-directed the law school’s Rule of Law Program, as well as the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law. Professor Heller has been a visiting professor at the European University Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, and Hong Kong University, and has served as the deputy director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where he is now a senior fellow.
Professor Heller is also a senior fellow (by courtesy) at the Woods Institute for the Environment. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1979, he was a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School and an attorney-advisor to the governments of Chile and Colombia. -
Roland Horne
Thomas Davies Barrow Professor and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWell Testing, Optimisation and Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
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Mark Horowitz
Fortinet Founders Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Yahoo! Founders Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Computer Science
BioProfessor Horowitz initially focused on designing high-performance digital systems by combining work in computer-aided design tools, circuit design, and system architecture. During this time, he built a number of early RISC microprocessors, and contributed to the design of early distributed shared memory multiprocessors. In 1990, Dr. Horowitz took leave from Stanford to help start Rambus Inc., a company designing high-bandwidth memory interface technology. After returning in 1991, his research group pioneered many innovations in high-speed link design, and many of today’s high speed link designs are designed by his former students or colleagues from Rambus.
In the 2000s he started a long collaboration with Prof. Levoy on computational photography, which included work that led to the Lytro camera, whose photographs could be refocused after they were captured.. Dr. Horowitz's current research interests are quite broad and span using EE and CS analysis methods to problems in neuro and molecular biology to creating new agile design methodologies for analog and digital VLSI circuits. He remains interested in learning new things, and building interdisciplinary teams. -
Robert Huggins
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Huggins joined Stanford as Assistant Professor in 1954, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1958, and to Professor in 1962.
His research activities have included studies of imperfections in crystals, solid-state reaction kinetics, ferromagnetism, mechanical behavior of solids, crystal growth, and a wide variety of topics in physical metallurgy, ceramics, solid state chemistry and electrochemistry. Primary attention has recently been focused on the development of understanding of solid state ionic phenomena involving solid electrolytes and mixed ionic-electronic conducting materials containing atomic or ionic species such as lithium, sodium or oxygen with unusually high mobility, as well as their use in novel battery and fuel cell systems, electrochromic optical devices, sensors, and in enhanced heterogeneous catalysis. He was also involved in the development of the understanding of the key role played by the phase composition and oxygen stoichiometry in determining the properties of high temperature oxide superconductors.
Topics of particular recent interest have been related to energy conversion and storage, including hydrogen transport and hydride formation in metals, alloys and intermetallic compounds, and various aspects of materials and phenomena related to advanced lithium batteries.
He has over 400 professional publications, including three books; "Advanced Batteries", published by Springer in 2009, "Energy Storage", published by Springer in 2010, and Energy Storage, Second Edition in 2016. -
Hillard Huntington
Executive Director, Energy Modeling Forum
Researcher, Management Science and Engineering - Energy Modeling Forum
Staff, Management Science and Engineering - Energy Modeling ForumBioHuntington is Executive Director of Stanford University's Energy Modeling Forum, where he conducts studies to improve the usefulness of models for understanding energy and environmental problems. In 2005 the Forum received the prestigious Adelman-Frankel Award from the International Association for Energy Economics for its "unique and innovative contribution to the field of energy economics."
His current research interests are modeling energy security, energy price shocks, energy market impacts of environmental policies, and international natural gas and LNG markets. In 2002 he won the Best Paper Award from the Energy Journal for a paper co-authored with Professor Dermot Gately of New York University.
He is a Senior Fellow and a past-President of the United States Association for Energy Economics and a member of the National Petroleum Council. He was also Vice-President for Publications for the International Association for Energy Economics and a member of the American Statistical Association's Committee on Energy Data. Previously, he served on a joint USA-Russian National Academy of Sciences Panel on energy conservation research and development.
Huntington has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the California Energy Commission.
Prior to coming to Stanford in 1980, he held positions in the corporate and government sectors with Data Resources Inc., the U.S. Federal Energy Administration, and the Public Utilities Authority in Monrovia, Liberia (as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer). -
Gianluca Iaccarino
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsComputing and data for energy, health and engineering
Challenges in energy sciences, green technology, transportation, and in general, engineering design and prototyping are routinely tackled using numerical simulations and physical testing. Computations barely feasible two decades ago on the largest available supercomputers, have now become routine using turnkey commercial software running on a laptop. Demands on the analysis of new engineering systems are becoming more complex and multidisciplinary in nature, but exascale-ready computers are on the horizon. What will be the next frontier? Can we channel this enormous power into an increased ability to simulate and, ultimately, to predict, design and control? In my opinion two roadblocks loom ahead: the development of credible models for increasingly complex multi-disciplinary engineering applications and the design of algorithms and computational strategies to cope with real-world uncertainty.
My research objective is to pursue concerted innovations in physical modeling, numerical analysis, data fusion, probabilistic methods, optimization and scientific computing to fundamentally change our present approach to engineering simulations relevant to broad areas of fluid mechanics, transport phenomena and energy systems. The key realization is that computational engineering has largely ignored natural variability, lack of knowledge and randomness, targeting an idealized deterministic world. Embracing stochastic scientific computing and data/algorithms fusion will enable us to minimize the impact of uncertainties by designing control and optimization strategies that are robust and adaptive. This goal can only be accomplished by developing innovative computational algorithms and new, physics-based models that explicitly represent the effect of limited knowledge on the quantity of interest.
Multidisciplinary Teaching
I consider the classical boundaries between disciplines outdated and counterproductive in seeking innovative solutions to real-world problems. The design of wind turbines, biomedical devices, jet engines, electronic units, and almost every other engineering system requires the analysis of their flow, thermal, and structural characteristics to ensure optimal performance and safety. The continuing growth of computer power and the emergence of general-purpose engineering software has fostered the use of computational analysis as a complement to experimental testing in multiphysics settings. Virtual prototyping is a staple of modern engineering practice! I have designed a new undergraduate course as an introduction to Computational Engineering, covering theory and practice across multidisciplanary applications. The emphasis is on geometry modeling, mesh generation, solution strategy and post-processing for diverse applications. Using classical flow/thermal/structural problems, the course develops the essential concepts of Verification and Validation for engineering simulations, providing the basis for assessing the accuracy of the results. -
Rob Jackson
Michelle and Kevin Douglas Provostial Professor and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioRob Jackson and his lab examine the many ways people affect the Earth. They produce basic scientific knowledge and use it to help shape policies and reduce the environmental footprint of global warming, energy extraction, and other environmental issues. They're currently examining the effects of climate change and drought on old-growth forests. They are also working to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Global Carbon Project (globalcarbonproject.org), which Jackson chairs. Examples of new research Rob leads include establishing a global network of methane tower measurements across the Amazon and more than 100 sites worldwide and measuring and reducing methane emissions and air pollution from oil and gas wells, city streets, and homes and buildings.
Rob's new book on climate solutions, Into the Clear Blue Sky (Scribner and Penguin Random House), was named a "Top Science Book of 2024" by The Times. As an author and photographer, Rob has published a previous trade book about the environment (The Earth Remains Forever, University of Texas Press), two books of children’s poems, Animal Mischief and Weekend Mischief (Highlights Magazine and Boyds Mills Press), and recent or forthcoming poems in the journals Southwest Review, Cortland Review, Cold Mountain Review, Atlanta Review, LitHub, and more. His photographs have appeared in many media outlets, including the NY Times, Washington Post, USA Today, US News and World Report, Science, Nature, and National Geographic News.
Rob is a recent Djerassi artist in residence, Guggenheim Fellow, and sabbatical visitor in the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, and Ecological Society of America. He received a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering from the National Science Foundation, awarded at the White House. -
Mark Z. Jacobson
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioMark Z. Jacobson’s career has focused on better understanding air pollution and global warming problems and developing large-scale clean, renewable energy solutions to them. Toward that end, he has developed and applied three-dimensional atmosphere-biosphere-ocean computer models and solvers to simulate air pollution, weather, climate, and renewable energy. He has also developed roadmaps to transition states and countries to 100% clean, renewable energy for all purposes and computer models to examine grid stability in the presence of high penetrations of renewable energy.
