Precourt Institute for Energy
Showing 1-100 of 143 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 -
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
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioJack Baker's research focuses on the use of probabilistic and statistical tools for modeling of extreme loads on structures. He has investigated probabilistic modeling of seismic hazards, improved characterization of earthquake ground motions, dynamic analysis of structures, prediction of the spatial extent of soil failures from earthquakes, and tools for modeling loads on spatially distributed infrastructure systems. Dr. Baker joined Stanford from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), where he was a visiting researcher in the Department of Structural Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Stanford University, where he also earned M.S. degrees in Statistics and Structural Engineering. He has industry experience in seismic hazard assessment, ground motion selection, construction management, and modeling of catastrophe losses for insurance companies.
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Zhenan Bao
K. K. Lee Professor 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 215.
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 is one of the Founders and currently sits on the Board of Directors of C3 Nano Co. and PyrAmes, both are silicon valley venture funded companies.
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. -
Brian Bartholomeusz
Executive Director of Innovation Transfer, TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy Operations
Current Role at StanfordBrian is the TomKat Center’s executive director of innovation transfer. In this position, he helps assist in the commercialization of energy related technology inventions and innovations resulting from research at Stanford.
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Sven Beiker
Lecturer
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAutonomous, connected, electric, and shared mobility in terms of product roadmaps, market sizing, and corporate strategy. The primary questions describing my work are:
- When will autonomous vehicles come to the market?
- Is there a viable business model for connected vehicles?
- Is there an inflection point for electric vehicles?
- Will consumers only use shared mobility and not own anymore?
As impossible as it is to answer those questions, as possible it becomes in a specific context... -
Sally Benson
Precourt Family Professor, Professor of Energy Science Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
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
Vice Provost, Graduate Education & Postdoc Affairs, Jagdeep & Roshni Singh Professor in the School of Engineering, Professor of Energy Science and Engineering and, 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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Naomi Boness
Managing Director Natural Gas Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordManaging Director, The Stanford Natural Gas Initiative
Co-Managing Director, The Stanford Hydrogen Initiative -
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." -
Adam Brandt
Professor of Energy Science Engineering
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
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsApplied ethics, responsible innovation, and global entrepreneurship education (see http://peak.stanford.edu).
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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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Jimmy Chen
Managing Director StorageX Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJim Chen leads a number of energy programs at Stanford Energy,
including Stanford’s new Hydrogen Initiative; Stanford’s energy storage initiative,
StorageX; and Stanford’s integrated energy program, Stanford Energy Corporate
Affiliates (SECA). Dr. Chen was also the founding Managing Director of Bits & Watts,
Stanford’s initiative focusing on the grid of the 21st century, launched in 2016.
Dr. Chen is enthusiastic about the global energy transformation and building a more
sustainable society through innovation. At Stanford, Dr. Chen creates and expands
impactful global communities of practice that enable industrial-academic-government
collaboration in energy research and scale-up. Dr. Chen is also a leader in Stanford
Energy’s global events including its regional roundtables and Global Energy
Forum. Finally, Dr. Chen is deeply involved in Stanford’s innovation ecosystem,
advising student groups, start-up companies, and accelerators. Dr. Chen’s research
interests include hydrogen, energy storage, the circular economy, decarbonizing
transportation, and integrated energy systems. Dr. Chen’s teaching roles include
lecturing for Stanford’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and for
Stanford Energy’s Hydrogen Economy Seminar.
Dr. Chen is passionate about global energy entrepreneurship and innovation. He works
with energy agencies around the world promoting global collaboration, accelerating
innovation, and sparking entrepreneurship. He also serves on a number of advisory
councils, including on EPRI and GTI’s Low Carbon Research Initiative’s (LCRI)
technical advisory board.
Dr. Chen came to Stanford University after 25 years in industry, bringing a broad
background in energy and technology, with a specialization in technology and product
development. He has held technical positions at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, GTE Labs,
IBM, and AT&T Bell Labs, as well as technology executive positions at both starts-ups
and Fortune 500 companies, including FormFactor and Eaton.
Dr. Chen received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MS from
the University of California, Berkeley — both in materials science and engineering —
and holds a BS from the University of California, Berkeley in electrical engineering. -
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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William Chueh
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, of Photon Science, 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 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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Justine Dachille
Understand Energy Program Manager, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordUnderstand Energy, Program Manager
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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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Jeffrey Decker
Program Director, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJeff Decker is managing director of the Technology Transition for Defense Program and co-instructor of Hacking for Defense course at Stanford University. Hacking for Defense uses the Lean Startup technique to tackle complex problems critical to the government around national security, energy networks, cyber security, and AI, and develop new technologies with teams of engineers, scientists, MBA’s and policy experts. With the program, Jeff has taught more than 300 students, faculty, and government personnel user-centered design from over 2 dozen colleges and universities, helping them solve more than 75 unique national security challenges for the Defense Department and related industries. Several student teams have gone on to form companies winning Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, gaining venture capital funding, and one team even became a program of record. Jeff’s work and research focuses generally on defense innovation and dual-use technologies, with a focus on developing go-to-defense market strategies for technology startups and fostering defense-industry partnerships. With his Lean Startup experience and expertise with Hacking for Defense, plus his military service, Jeff is a sought-after expert when it comes to national security and solving Defense Department challenges.
Jeff served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Ranger Battalion light infantry squad leader in Iraq and Afghanistan. Following his service, he earned a MS in International Relations (Laws), and a doctorate in International Relations before conducting national security and international affairs research at the RAND Corporation. -
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
BioJennifer Dionne is the Senior Associate Vice Provost of Research Platforms/Shared Facilities and an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and of Radiology (by courtesy) at Stanford. Jen received her Ph.D. in Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology, advised by Harry Atwater, and B.S. degrees in Physics and Systems & Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to joining Stanford, she served as a postdoctoral researcher in Chemistry at Berkeley, advised by Paul Alivisatos. Jen's research develops nanophotonic 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 work has been recognized with the Alan T. Waterman Award (2019), an NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2019), a Moore Inventor Fellowship (2017), the Materials Research Society Young Investigator Award (2017), Adolph Lomb Medal (2016), Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2015), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2014), and was featured on Oprah’s list of “50 Things that will make you say ‘Wow!'"
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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
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 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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Rwaida Gharib
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2023
Other Tech - Graduate, Precourt Institute for EnergyBioRwaida “Rudy” Gharib is pursuing her PhD in environment and resources (E-IPER) at the Stanford School of Sustainability. Her research focuses on environmental justice and the policy changes/financing needed to support the climate adaptation and resilience of vulnerable populations—specifically, those living in rural poverty, women and girls, and im/migrants/refugees.
Rwaida has worked in humanitarian aid and international development for more than 15 years, acting as an advisor to the World Bank Group’s climate finance programming, supporting the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) biodiversity platforms, and serving as a presidential appointee for the Obama Administration in various capacities. Rwaida was one of the original architects of the White House Power Africa Initiative, a public-private partnership designed to increase access to renewable energy for Sub-Saharan Africa and accelerate the just transition for the continent.
She is an EDGE scholar and a Dalai Lama Fellow. -
Mark Golden
Director of Communications, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioWorking with the Precourt Institute's small communications team, my principal responsibility is to inform the public about energy research and education at Stanford through articles, press releases, social media, Stanford Energy newsletter, printed materials and presentations. I also aid reporters writing about energy. I began work at Stanford in 2011, when I joined the Precourt Institute's communications team as a writer.
Before coming to Stanford, I taught in the San Francisco public schools for several years. Previously, I was a reporter for Dow Jones & Co. for 10 years, primarily covering the U.S. natural gas and power industries. I also worked in Kiev, Ukraine in 1996-97, editing a weekly news magazine on that country's economic and political development. I also worked for Columbia University, writing on public health research. -
Kenneth Goodson
Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty 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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Diana Gragg
Managing Director Explore Energy, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordManaging Director, Explore Energy, Precourt Institute for Energy
Core Lecturer, Civil and Environmental Engineering -
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
BioHarris utilizes molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of III-V compound semiconductor materials to investigate new materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices. He utilizes heterojunctions, superlattices, quantum wells, and three-dimensional self-assembled quantum dots to create metastable engineered materials with novel or improved properties for electronic and optoelectronic devices. His early work in the 1970's demonstrating a practical heterojunction bipolar transistor led to their application in every mobile phone today and record setting solar cell efficiency. He has recently focused on three areas: 1) integration of photonic devices and micro optics for creation of new minimally invasive bio and medical systems for micro-array and neural imaging and 2) application of nanostructures semiconductors for the acceleration of electrons using light, a dielectric Laser Accelerator (DLA), and 3) novel materials and nano structuring for high efficiency solar cells and photo electrochemical water splitting for the generation of hydrogen.
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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), Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and, 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. -
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. -
Holmes Hummel, PhD
Managing Director Energy Equity & Just Transitions, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordEnergy Equity & Just Transitions, Managing Director
Precourt Institute for Energy
Resident Fellow, Explore Energy House
Coordinating Council Member, Environmental Justice Working Group
Advisory Member, Partnership in Climate Justice in the Bay
Collaborator in Collaborative Learning about Equity and Rapid Decarbonization (CLEAR Decarbonization), one of the first projects selected for an award from the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator -
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 seek basic scientific knowledge and use it to help shape policies and reduce the environmental footprint of global warming, energy extraction, and other 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 at 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) publishes July 30th, 2024. 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 current Djerassi artist in residence and a recent 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. -
Thomas Jaramillo
Professor of Chemical Engineering, of Energy Science Engineering, and of Photon Science
On Leave from 10/01/2024 To 06/30/2025BioRecent years have seen unprecedented motivation for the emergence of new energy technologies. Global dependence on fossil fuels, however, will persist until alternate technologies can compete economically. We must develop means to produce energy (or energy carriers) from renewable sources and then convert them to work as efficiently and cleanly as possible. Catalysis is energy conversion, and the Jaramillo laboratory focuses on fundamental catalytic processes occurring on solid-state surfaces in both the production and consumption of energy. Chemical-to-electrical and electrical-to-chemical energy conversion are at the core of the research. Nanoparticles, metals, alloys, sulfides, nitrides, carbides, phosphides, oxides, and biomimetic organo-metallic complexes comprise the toolkit of materials that can help change the energy landscape. Tailoring catalyst surfaces to fit the chemistry is our primary challenge.
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Ramesh Johari
Professor of Management Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
BioJohari is broadly interested in the design, economic analysis, and operation of online platforms, as well as statistical and machine learning techniques used by these platforms (such as search, recommendation, matching, and pricing algorithms).
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Leigh Johnson
Academic Research & Program Officer, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioLeigh works closely with the faculty co-directors and staff to implement the institute’s vision and strategic direction. She manages a team who supports the energy research, education and outreach mission of the institute and Stanford broadly. The institute serves as the hub for over 200 faculty across the university who conduct energy research, students from Stanford’s seven schools, and staff from energy programs and centers across Stanford. Outreach activities engage stakeholders from industry, government and non-governmental organizations, academia and the Stanford alumni community in an energy ecosystem. Activities that serve this broad constituency include several annual conferences, topical workshops, student programs and the weekly Stanford Energy Seminar. The team covers energy news and information across the university through articles in Stanford Report, the institute's website, the monthly Stanford Energy News and social media.
Leigh started at Stanford in 2003 as project development director for the Provost Committee for the Environment, and as the first employee she served as associate director of programs at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment where she worked for seven years on a wide-range of entrepreneurial and programmatic activities. Prior to joining Stanford, Leigh worked in public relations at Regis McKenna Inc. and sales at IBM. Non-profit commitments have included: president of the Las Lomitas Education Foundation, president of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus Board of Directors, and docent for Y2E2 building tours. Leigh holds an A.B. degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College. -
Arpita Kalra
Program Manager, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioArpita Kalra is a program manager at the Precourt Institute for Energy. In this role she supports the Institute's outreach efforts and manages current and upcoming external engagement programs. Prior to Stanford, she worked in the advertising industry as a media planner and buyer where she developed and executed marketing campaigns across print, electronic and social media. Arpita holds a masters in Marketing Communications from the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) in India and a bachelors in Statistics from Delhi University.
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Omer Karaduman
Assistant Professor of Operations, Information and Technology at the Graduate School of Business and Center Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioPrior to coming to Stanford, Omer completed his Ph.D. in Economics at MIT in 2020, and got his bachelor's degree in Economics from Bilkent University in 2014.
His research focuses on the transition of the energy sector towards a decarbonized and sustainable future. In his research, he utilizes large datasets by using game-theoretical modeling to have practical policy suggestions. -
Leonid Kazovsky
Professor (Research) of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Kazovsky and his research group are investigating green energy-efficient networks. The focus of their research is on access and in-building networks and on hybrid optical / wireless networks. Prof. Kazovsky's research group is also conducting research on next-generation Internet architectures and novel zero-energy photonic components.
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Karalee Elizabeth Kokeny
Financial Analyst, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordFinancial Analyst, Precourt Institute for Energy
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Jeffrey R. Koseff
Director, Sustainability Science and Practice, William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Professor in the School of Engineering, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioJeff Koseff, founding co-director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, is an expert in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics. His research falls in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics and focuses on the interaction between physical and biological systems in natural aquatic environments. Current research activities are in the general area of environmental fluid mechanics and focus on: turbulence and internal wave dynamics in stratified flows, coral reef and sea-grass hydrodynamics, the role of natural systems in coastal protection, and flow through terrestrial and marine canopies. Most recently he has begun to focus on the interaction between gravity currents and breaking internal waves in the near-coastal environment, and the transport of marine microplastics. Koseff was formerly the Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Senior Associate Dean of Engineering at Stanford, and has served on the Board of Governors of The Israel Institute of Technology, and has been a member of the Visiting Committees of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Carnegie-Mellon University, The Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, and Cornell University. He has also been a member of review committees for the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan, The WHOI-MIT Joint Program, and the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. He is a former member of the Independent Science Board of the Bay/Delta Authority. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015, and received the Richard Lyman Award from Stanford University in the same year. In 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. Koseff also served as the Faculty Athletics Representative to the Pac-12 and NCAA for Stanford until July 2024.
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Anthony Kovscek
Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
Together with my research group, I develop and apply advanced imaging techniques, experimentation, and models to understand complex multiphase flows of gas, water, and organic phases in natural and manufactured porous media with applications in carbon storage, increased utilization of carbon dioxide for subsurface applications, hydrogen storage, and water reuse. In all of our work, physical observations, obtained mainly from laboratory and field measurements, are interwoven with theory.
Teaching
My teaching interests center broadly around education of students to meet the energy challenges that we will face this century. I teach undergraduate courses that examine the interplay of energy use and environmental issues including renewable energy resources and sustainability. At the graduate level, I offer classes on renewable energy processes based on heat and the thermodynamics of hydrocarbon mixtures.
Professional Activities
Member, American Geophysical Union, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the American Chemical Society. -
Sanjay Lall
Professor of Electrical Engineering
BioSanjay Lall is Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Information Systems Laboratory and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University. He received a B.A. degree in Mathematics with first-class honors in 1990 and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering in 1995, both from the University of Cambridge, England. His research group focuses on algorithms for control, optimization, and machine learning. Before joining Stanford he was a Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology in the Department of Control and Dynamical Systems, and prior to that he was a NATO Research Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. He was also a visiting scholar at Lund Institute of Technology in the Department of Automatic Control. He has significant industrial experience applying advanced algorithms to problems including satellite systems, advanced audio systems, Formula 1 racing, the America's cup, cloud services monitoring, and integrated circuit diagnostic systems, in addition to several startup companies. Professor Lall has served as Associate Editor for the journal Automatica, on the steering and program committees of several international conferences, and as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, DARPA, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He is the author of over 130 peer-refereed publications.
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Joyce Lee
Explore Energy Program Manager, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJoyce Lee is a program manager for the Explore Energy program at the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University. In this role, she supports the Energy@Stanford & SLAC conference, the Stanford Energy Student Lectures, and works closely with the Explore Energy peer advisors to serve as a resource for students interested in and passionate about all things related to energy across the campus. Prior to joining Precourt, Lee was a research project manager at Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, where her research focused on policy analysis and development in Northeast Asia--especially regarding the two Koreas. Prior to Stanford, Lee held research and administration positions at the Asia Foundation's Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, the United States Congress, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, and the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign. Lee graduated from the University of Washington with a double bachelors degree in political science and psychology and received a master's degree in public policy from Cornell University.
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Philip Levis
Professor of Computer Science and of Electrical Engineering
BioProfessor Levis' research focuses on the design and implementation of efficient software systems for embedded wireless sensor networks; embedded network sensor architecture and design; systems programming and software engineering.
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Raymond Levitt
Kumagai Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Levitt founded and directs Stanford’s Global Projects Center (GPC), which conducts research, education and outreach to enhance financing, governance and sustainability of global building and infrastructure projects. Dr. Levitt's research focuses on developing enhanced governance of infrastructure projects procured via Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) delivery, and alternative project delivery approaches for complex buildings like full-service hospitals or data centers.
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Aaron Lindenberg
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and of Photon Science
BioLindenberg's research is focused on visualizing the ultrafast dynamics and atomic-scale structure of materials on femtosecond and picosecond time-scales. X-ray and electron scattering and spectroscopic techniques are combined with ultrafast optical techniques to provide a new way of taking snapshots of materials in motion. Current research is focused on the dynamics of phase transitions, ultrafast properties of nanoscale materials, and charge transport, with a focus on materials for information storage technologies, energy-related materials, and nanoscale optoelectronic devices.
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David Lobell
Benjamin M. Page Professor, William Wrigley Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWe study the interactions between food production, food security, and the environment using a range of modern tools.
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Amory B Lovins
Adjunct Lecturer, Atmosphere and Energy
BioPhysicist Amory Lovins (1947– ) is Cofounder (1982) and Chairman Emeritus, and was Chief Scientist (2007–19), of RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute, www.rmi.org), where he continues to collaborate. He has designed many superefficient buildings, vehicles, and industrial plants, and synthesized an "integrative design" method and practice that can make the energy efficiency resource severalfold larger, yet cheaper, often with increasing returns. Since 1973 he has advised major firms and governments in >70 countries on advanced energy efficiency and strategy, linked with renewables, grid integration, resources, environment, security, development, and economy. He is a Visiting Scholar of the Precourt Institute for Energy and has worked in ~20 disciplines.
Lovins has received the Blue Planet, Volvo, Zayed, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships, 12 honorary doctorates, the Heinz, Lindbergh, Right Livelihood, National Design, and World Technology Awards, many other energy and environment recognitions, and Germany’s highest civilian honor (the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit). A Harvard and Oxford dropout, former Oxford don, honorary US architect, Swedish engineering academician, and 2011–18 member of the US National Petroleum Council, he has taught at ten universities—most recently the US Naval Postgraduate School and Stanford (spring 2007 MAP/Ming Visiting Professor, half-time 2020–24 Adjunct Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, then Lecturer)—teaching only subjects he hasn’t formally studied, so as to cultivate beginner’s mind. In 2009, Time named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people; Foreign Policy, one of the 100 top global thinkers; and Stanford's Scopus analysis, in the top 2% of world scientists.. His most recent books, mostly coauthored, include Natural Capitalism (1999), Small Is Profitable (2002), Winning the Oil Endgame (2004), The Essential Amory Lovins (2011), Reinventing Fire (2011), and a volume of aviation essays (2022–24, aspenflyright.org). His avocations include fine-art landscape photography (the profession of his wife Judy Hill Lovins, www.judyhill.com), music, writing, orangutans, great-ape language, linguistics, and Taoist thought.
COURSES: Lovins and Dr. Joel Swisher PE, as CEE Adjunct Professors, cotaught in 2024 iterations 11–12 of their flagship course applying whole-system thinking and integrative design for radical energy efficiency and profitable climate solutions: CEE 107R, CEE 207R. They will next offer it in Winter and Spring Quarters 2025.
PUBLICATIONS
Lovins has authored 32 books and 900+ papers in a wide range of disciplines. His recent peer-reviewed papers include:
"How big is the energy efficiency resource?," Env. Res. Ltrs., Sep 2018, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aad965
"Recalibrating climate prospects," coauthored, Env. Res. Ltrs., Dec 2019, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab55ab
"Can a virus and viral ideas speed the world's journey beyond fossil fuels?," with K. Bond, Env. Res. Ltrs., Feb 2021, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc3f2
"Reframing automotive fuel efficiency," SAE J-STEEP, Apr 2020, https://doi.org/10.4271/13-01-01-0004
His Aug/Sep 2020 Electricity Journal interview on the future of electricity is at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2020.106827.
His 11 Nov 2020 Precourt seminar on "Integrative Design for Radical Energy Efficiency," with Dr. Holmes Hummel, is at https://energy.stanford.edu/events/special-energy-seminar-amory-lovins-holmes-hummel.
Profitably abating heavy transport and industrial heat: https://www.rmi.org/profitable-decarb/ and ($6.95 paywall) https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/decarbonizing-our-toughest-sectors-profitably/, both 2021.
“US nuclear power: status, prospects, and climate implications,” El. J., 6 May 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2022.107122. -
Rachael Madison
Program Manager, Stanford Energy Fellowships, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordProgram Manager
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Katharine (Kate) Maher
Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHydrology, reactive transport modeling and environmental geochemistry
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Dr. Arun Majumdar
Dean, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Jay Precourt Professor, Professor of Mech Eng, of Energy Sci & Eng, of Photon Science, Senior Fellow at Woods and by courtesy, of Materials Sci & Eng and Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at Hoover
BioDr. Arun Majumdar is the inaugural Dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He is the Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor at Stanford University, a faculty member of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Science and Engineering, a Senior Fellow and former Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy and Senior Fellow (courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. He is also a faculty in Department of Photon Science at SLAC.
In October 2009, Dr. Majumdar was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to become the Founding Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), where he served until June 2012 and helped ARPA-E become a model of excellence and innovation for the government with bipartisan support from Congress and other stakeholders. Between March 2011 and June 2012, he also served as the Acting Under Secretary of Energy, enabling the portfolio of Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Reliability, Office of Nuclear Energy and the Office of Fossil Energy, as well as multiple cross-cutting efforts such as Sunshot, Grid Modernization Team and others that he had initiated. Furthermore, he was a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, on a variety of matters related to management, personnel, budget, and policy. In 2010, he served on Secretary Chu's Science Team to help stop the leak of the Deep Water Horizon (BP) oil spill.
Dr. Majumdar serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board of the US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm. He led the Agency Review Team for the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Biden-Harris Presidential transition. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board of US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz, and was also a Science Envoy for the US Department of State with focus on energy and technology innovation in the Baltics and Poland. He also serves on numerous advisory boards and boards of businesses, investment groups and non-profit organizations.
After leaving Washington, DC and before joining Stanford, Dr. Majumdar was the Vice President for Energy at Google, where he assembled a team to create technologies and businesses at the intersection of data, computing and electricity grid.
Dr. Majumdar is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research in the past has involved the science and engineering of nanoscale materials and devices, especially in the areas of energy conversion, transport and storage as well as biomolecular analysis. His current research focuses on redox reactions and systems that are fundamental to a sustainable energy future, multidimensional nanoscale imaging and microscopy, and an effort to leverage modern AI techniques to develop and deliver energy and climate solutions.
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Majumdar was the Almy & Agnes Maynard Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering at University of California–Berkeley and the Associate Laboratory Director for energy and environment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He also spent the early part of his academic career at Arizona State University and University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Majumdar received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. -
Ali Mani
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
BioAli Mani is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. He is a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford in 2009. Prior to joining the faculty in 2011, he was an engineering research associate at Stanford and a senior postdoctoral associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research group builds and utilizes large-scale high-fidelity numerical simulations, as well as methods of applied mathematics, to develop quantitative understanding of transport processes that involve strong coupling with fluid flow and commonly involve turbulence or chaos. His teaching includes the undergraduate engineering math classes and graduate courses on fluid mechanics and numerical analysis.
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Gilbert Masters
Professor (Teaching) of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Emeritus
BioGILBERT M. MASTERS
MAP EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
B.S. (1961) AND M.S. (1962) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
PH.D. (1966) Electrical Engineering, STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Gil Masters has focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy systems as essential keys to slowing global warming, enhancing energy security, and improving conditions in underserved, rural communities. Although officially retired in 2002, he has continued to teach CEE 176A: Energy-Efficient Buildings, and CEE 176B: Electric Power: Renewables and Efficiency. He is the author or co-author of ten books, including Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science (3rd edition, 2008), Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems, (2nd edition, 2013), and Energy for Sustainability: Technology, Policy and Planning (2nd edition, 2018). Professor Masters has been the recipient of a number of teaching awards at Stanford, including the university's Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Tau Beta Pi teaching award from the School of Engineering. Over the years, more than 10,000 students have enrolled in his courses. He served as the School of Engineering Associate Dean for Student Affairs from 1982-1986, and he was the Interim Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1992-93. -
Pamela Matson
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute, Emerita
BioPAMELA MATSON is an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist, academic leader, and organizational strategist. She served as dean of Stanford University’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences from 2002-2017, building interdisciplinary departments and educational programs focused on resources, environment and sustainability, as well as co-leading university-wide interdisciplinary initiatives. In her current role as the Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment, she leads the graduate program on Sustainability Science and Practice. Her research addresses a range of environment and sustainability issues, including sustainability of agricultural systems, vulnerability and resilience of particular people and places to climate change, and characteristics of science that can contribute to sustainability transitions at scale.
Dr. Matson serves as chair of the board of the World Wildlife Fund-US and as a board member of the World Wildlife Fund-International and several university advisory boards. She served on the US National Academy of Science Board on Sustainable Development and co-wrote the National Research Council’s volume Our Common Journey: A transition toward sustainability (1999); she also led the NRC committee on America’s Climate Choices: Advancing the Science of Climate Change. She was the founding chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, and founding editor for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. She is a past President of the Ecological Society of America. Her recent publications (among around 200) include Seeds of Sustainability: Lessons from the Birthplace of the Green Revolution (2012) and Pursuing Sustainability (2016).
Pam is an elected member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a AAAS Fellow. She received a MacArthur Foundation Award, contributed to the award of the Nobel Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, among other awards and recognitions, and is an Einstein Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Matson holds a Bachelor of Science degree with double majors in Biology and Literature from the University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire), a Master degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Doctorate in Forest Ecology from Oregon State University, and honorary doctorates from Princeton, McGill and Arizona State Universities. She spent ten years as a research scientist with NASA-Ames Research Center before moving to a professorship at the University of California Berkeley and, in 1997, to Stanford University. -
Meagan Mauter
Associate Professor of Photon Science, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical Engineering
BioProfessor Meagan Mauter is appointed as an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and as a Center Fellow, by courtesy, in the Woods Institute for the Environment. She directs the Water and Energy Efficiency for the Environment Lab (WE3Lab) with the mission of providing sustainable water supply in a carbon-constrained world through innovation in water treatment technology, optimization of water management practices, and redesign of water policies. Ongoing research efforts include: 1) developing automated, precise, robust, intensified, modular, and electrified (A-PRIME) water desalination technologies to support a circular water economy, 2) identifying synergies and addressing barriers to coordinated operation of decarbonized water and energy systems, and 3) supporting the design and enforcement of water-energy policies.
Professor Mauter also serves as the research director for the National Alliance for Water Innovation, a $110-million DOE Energy-Water Desalination Hub addressing water security issues in the United States. The Hub targets early-stage research and development of energy-efficient and cost-competitive technologies for desalinating non-traditional source waters.
Professor Mauter holds bachelors degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering and History from Rice University, a Masters of Environmental Engineering from Rice University, and a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Yale University. Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, she served as an Energy Technology Innovation Policy Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and as an Associate Professor of Engineering & Public Policy, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. -
Nicholas Melosh
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
BioThe Melosh group explores how to apply new methods from the semiconductor and self-assembly fields to important problems in biology, materials, and energy. We think about how to rationally design engineered interfaces to enhance communication with biological cells and tissues, or to improve energy conversion and materials synthesis. In particular, we are interested in seamlessly integrating inorganic structures together with biology for improved cell transfection and therapies, and designing new materials, often using diamondoid molecules as building blocks.
My group is very interested in how to design new inorganic structures that will seamless integrate with biological systems to address problems that are not feasible by other means. This involves both fundamental work such as to deeply understand how lipid membranes interact with inorganic surfaces, electrokinetic phenomena in biologically relevant solutions, and applying this knowledge into new device designs. Examples of this include “nanostraw” drug delivery platforms for direct delivery or extraction of material through the cell wall using a biomimetic gap-junction made using nanoscale semiconductor processing techniques. We also engineer materials and structures for neural interfaces and electronics pertinent to highly parallel data acquisition and recording. For instance, we have created inorganic electrodes that mimic the hydrophobic banding of natural transmembrane proteins, allowing them to ‘fuse’ into the cell wall, providing a tight electrical junction for solid-state patch clamping. In addition to significant efforts at engineering surfaces at the molecular level, we also work on ‘bridge’ projects that span between engineering and biological/clinical needs. My long history with nano- and microfabrication techniques and their interactions with biological constructs provide the skills necessary to fabricate and analyze new bio-electronic systems.
Research Interests:
Bio-inorganic Interface
Molecular materials at interfaces
Self-Assembly and Nucleation and Growth -
Jennifer Milne
Associate Director for Advanced Research Projects, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJennifer is a scientist with more than a decade's experience in identifying research needs in energy and shaping the energy research landscape at Stanford. Jennifer leads the Advanced Research Projects at the Precourt Institute for Energy, working with the Director of Precourt and other stakeholders to foster energy research to reduce greenhouse gases and enable the energy transition. In 2023, she joined the technology team of the Sustainability Accelerator, as a key team member tasked with identifying solutions with potential for real-world impact across broad sustainability challenges.
Jennifer is a technical resource for energy related and carbon removal projects across the University and an advisor in the bioenergy area - this foundational experience she gained during her time as an energy analyst with the Global Climate and Energy Project. Here, from 2007 onwards, she learned about energy supply, conversion, and exergy destruction. She led the bioenergy area of the portfolio and contributed more broadly to the development of a fundamental energy research portfolio across all energy areas. Prior to joining Global Climate and Energy Project she was a post-doctoral scholar at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology, at Stanford University. Jennifer comes from a biochemistry and plant science background, where she contributed to the discovery of the role of polysaccharides in guard cell wall function and holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of York, U.K. and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (First Class Honors) from the University of Stirling, U.K. -
Liang Min
Managing Director Bits & Watts Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordManaging Director for the Bits and Watts Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy
Managing Director for the Net-Zero Alliance, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability -
Reginald Mitchell
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Mitchell's primary area of research is concerned with characterizing the physical and chemical processes that occur during the combustion and gasification of pulverized coal and biomass. Coals of interest range in rank from lignite to bituminous and biomass materials include yard waste, field and seed crop residues, lumber mill waste, fruit and nut crop residues, and municipal solid waste. Experimental and modeling studies are concerned with char reactivity to oxygen, carbon dioxide and steam, carbon deactivation during conversion, and char particle surface area evolution and mode of conversion during mass loss.
Mitchell’s most recent research has been focused on topics that will enable the development of coal and biomass conversion technologies that facilitate CO2 capture. Recent studies have involved characterizing coal and biomass conversion rates in supercritical water environments, acquiring the understanding needed to develop chemical looping combustion technology for applications to coals and biomass materials, and developing fuel cells that use coal or biomass as the fuel source. Studies concerned with characterizing coal/biomass blends during combustion and gasification processes are also underway.
Professor Mitchell retired from Stanford University in July 2020, after having served over 29 years as a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. -
Kaylee Ann Nguyen
Adm Svcs Admstr 1, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordProgram Manager, StorageX Initiative
Program Manager, Precourt Pioneering Projects -
Simona Onori
Associate Professor of Energy Science Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsModeling, control and optimization of dynamic systems;
Model-based control in advanced propulsion systems;
Energy management control and optimization in HEVs and PHEVs;
Energy storage systems- Li-ion and PbA batteries, Supercapacitors;
Battery aging modeling, state of health estimation and life prediction for control;
Damage degradation modeling in interconnected systems -
Colin Ophus
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Center Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioColin Ophus is an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a Center Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University. He previously worked as a Staff Scientist at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM), part of the Molecular Foundry, at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. He was awarded a US Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career award in 2018, and the Burton medal from the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) in 2018. His research focuses on experimental methods, reconstruction algorithms, and software codes for simulation, analysis, and instrument design of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning TEM (STEM).
Colin advocates for open science and his group has developed open-source scientific software including as the Prismatic STEM simulation code and py4DSTEM analysis toolkit. He has taught many workshops around the world on topics ranging from scientific visualization to large scale data analysis. He also is the founder and editor-in-chief for a new journal based on interactive science communication named Elemental Microscopy. -
Leonard Ortolano
UPS Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering in Urban and Regional Planning, Emeritus
BioOrtolano is concerned with environmental and water resources policy and planning. His research stresses environmental policy implementation in developing countries and the role of non-governmental organizations in environmental management. His recent interests center on corporate environmental management.
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Nilay Papila
Senior Program Manager, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioNilay Papila is an experienced senior program manager, currently working for the Hacking for Defense program at Stanford University. With a strong background in research management, pre- and post-award services, university-industry cooperation, technology transfer, intellectual property, and technology commercialization, Nilay brings a wealth of expertise to her role.
Prior to joining Stanford, Nilay served as the Founding Director of the Technology Transfer Office at Ozyegin University in Istanbul, where she played a pivotal role in fostering innovation and collaboration. She also held positions as the Manager of the Project Development Office at Sabanci University and Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Program Development Office at the University of Florida. Notably, she served as a national expert on the European Union 7th Framework Program (Marie Curie Actions) and as an expert/evaluator at the Technology Transfer Support Program Group at the Science and Technology Council of Turkey.
Nilay holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida, which she earned in 2001, following her completion of B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Aerospace Engineering Department of the METU in Ankara in 1994 and 1997, respectively.
Recognized for her accomplishments, Nilay is a Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellow (2000), an NCURA (National Council of Research Administration) Global Fellow at Stanford University (2018), and a certified Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) (2018). These accomplishments highlight her dedication to advancing research and innovation within academic and industry settings. -
Bianca Dilip Patel
Assistant Director, Explore Energy, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioBianca Patel is an Assistant Director at the Precourt Institute for Energy. She oversees and leads Explore Energy, an energy education program that spans Stanford’s seven schools. She also leads Explore Energy's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts and received the Doerr School's Excellence in DEI Award in 2023. Bianca comes to Precourt with a background in sustainable development: she has worked with communities across the US and globally on development programs and policies, primarily as they intersect with education, climate resilience, and equity and justice. Bianca continues to work and teach in these areas with a focus on community-led and decolonizing approaches.
Bianca received her MA in Development Practice from Emory University and BS in Public Health from The University of Texas at Austin. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Malaysia.