Symposium Highlights

UMass Amherst faculty, students and the five-college college community participated in the following events:

• Career panel with four energy industry leaders

• Keynote welcome by Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy

• Virtual keynote speaker Secretary Kathleen A. Theoharides

• Presentation of the UMass Amherst carbon mitigation plan

• Two student poster sessions with a competition

• Student networking lunch with the career panelists

Career Panel

The morning program began with an hour-long career panel discussion and Q&A session, introduced by Erin Baker, professor of industrial engineering and faculty director of ETI, and moderated by Vivian Ogechi Nwadiaru, UMass Amherst PhD Industrial Engineering student and ELEVATE fellow. The panel included a variety of energy industry leaders including:

• Dan Berwick, Borrego Energy

• Dr. Ariel Horowitz, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

• John Larsen, Rhodium Group

• Roger Kranenburg, Eversource

Following the panel discussion, UMass Amherst ELEVATE program fellows enjoyed a networking lunch with the panelists. 

Poster Sessions

In the afternoon, more than 70 students from the five-college community presented their projects during poster sessions, related to the topics of energy transition, environmental justice, and sustainability. Poster projects included, for example, “Residential Demand Response: The Future of New England’s Energy Policy”, “Grid Stability and Resilience”, “Solar for All: Achieving Justice Through State Policies”, “Analysis of Low-Induction Rotors for Increased Power Production” and “Mooring Lines Fatigue in Shallow Water for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines”. There was also a poster competition judged by designated faculty members, who awarded 1st Place Student Poster to Doron Rose M.S. ME ‘22 and 1st Place Audience Choice to Julia Fox, M.P.P.

“The career panel offered a lot of big perspectives on the whole energy transition,” said Doron Rose, M.S. Mechanical Engineering ‘22 student, Wind Energy Fellow and ELEVATE fellow. “It was great to see people very engaged with the student posters,” said Rose. 

Christian Hernández-Negrón, Wind Energy Fellow, ELEVATE Affiliate and PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research said, “We lined up a fantastic panel session where we nourished ourselves with valuable information and realized the importance of communication between academia and industry to rapidly bring science and technology to address the present and national climate challenges in the US and the globe. I am thrilled to be part of the data scientists and scholars working hard and strategically for a better and cleaner future.”