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Andres Alvarez
Analyst, CEO Office — AVANGRID
Andres Alvarez is currently an Analyst at Avangrid where he is responsible for sustainability and innovation reports, industry and regulatory analysis to support the company’s CEO office. At Avangrid, he has led strategic research that supports senior management decision making; investigating topics related to electric vehicles, energy storage, renewables, retail electricity markets, and wholesale electricity markets. In July 2019, Andres will be joining the Avangrid Renewables Market Fundamentals team where he will be supporting renewable energy development through powerflow analysis, market simulation, locational marginal price (LMP) analysis, and renewable integration studies. Prior to joining Avangrid, Andres worked as a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative and Argonne National Laboratory, focusing primarily on quantifying uncertainty in fluid simulations for nuclear systems. He received his Bachelors of Science in Nuclear Science and Engineering and an Energy Studies Minor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017.
Elizabeth Cleveland
Director of Strategic Initiatives — Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
As the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Elizabeth Cleveland oversees the daily functions of MassCEC's communications and operations team, reporting of MassCEC's impact through metrics, the annual clean energy industry report, and strategic partnership opportunities. Additionally, Elizabeth has extensive experience designing and implementing solar programs for the state of Massachusetts, having designed and implemented the state's multi-million dollar Commonwealth Solar II rebate program and the nationally recognized Solarize Mass Program. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science from Connecticut College and Master of Business Administration from Boston University. How is your job relevant to the energy transition? - I have spent a large part of my career working in the public sector to help grow the clean energy industry in Massachusetts. I have done this through the creation of technology incentive programs to spur adoption and create clean energy jobs. In addition, I have engaged with a variety of stakeholders over the years around topics including overcoming barriers to education and implementation on the community level, working with the private sector to further support the industry, and ensuring increased training and safety of technology implementation. Please tell us not only what you do now, but also your career trajectory and how it got you where you are now. - In my current role, I work to help relay the impact of MassCEC's efforts and the clean energy transformation that is taking place. My career path has been a result of being passionate about clean energy and being willing to learn. When interesting opportunities presented themselves, I would strongly consider them even if I was unsure of where they led. Many professional roles provide tremendously valuable skills that can be replicated and drawn upon later down the road. I have learned that one of the single most important factors in a job for me personally, is being able to see a tangible impact from my work. That has helped to motivate me and guide me into roles that feel the most meaningful.
Kathryn Elmes
Investment Associate – Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
I am an Investment Associate at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where I invest in and manage a portfolio of enterprise and consumer-facing companies in the clean energy industry. I enjoy being an active, hands-on investor, working alongside and supporting management teams as needed. In this capacity, I serve as a board member, observer, or advisor for several early-stage cleantech companies. I have worked to support clean technology startups since 2014 and actively contribute to Boston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am a member of the MIT Enterprise Forum Cleantech Committee and serve as a reviewer or mentor for programs including NSF, MassChallenge, MIT delta v, Cleantech Open, and MassVentures. Relevance to energy transition: I invest only in clean energy startups. "Clean energy" for me/MassCEC can include next generation renewables, efficient mobility, grid resilience, sustainable buildings, industrial efficiency, and water-energy nexus. I focus on B2B companies with innovative hard tech (hardware or software), and those with new business models, that can help accelerate the adoption and diffusion of clean energy. Career trajectory: It’s been an unexpected road; I never thought I would wind up in venture capital. I first thought I wanted to be an impact practitioner (BA in peace and conflict studies and geography, MSc in International Development: Environment and Development). Then I thought I wanted to be an academic (PhD and MA in geography), taught for a few years, but decided I wanted my work to be more applied, and pivoted my research to focus on clean energy, which I have always cared deeply about. Through this work I researched innovation resources like incubators and accelerators, and got hooked on the entrepreneurial atmosphere. I left academia to grow and run the Worcester Cleantech Incubator (WCTI) and then became the Director of Cleantech Open Northeast, a global accelerator for early-stage clean technology startup companies. While in that role I was told that I would be great at VC – a profession that requires critical thought, analysis, and the soft skills associated with consulting and networking. I saw an open role at MassCEC and the rest is history.
Julie Ferland
General Manager — Shell TechWorks
Shell is highly engaged and committed to delivering more and cleaner energy to the world, a commitment that we get the opportunity to work on every day at Shell TechWorks. I feel privileged to lead a team that makes a real impact in the energy industry. I am fortunate to have had seemingly very diverse positions come my way throughout my career that have shaped not just my resume, but also my way of thinking and ambition to do more. I did not expect to become a Navy Diver or to work in the energy industry, but decided to take a chance on interesting opportunities when they emerged. Although some moves have seemed illogical, they have each provided tremendous challenge and learning which got me to where I am now.
Assistant Secretary — Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Kate Fichter is the Assistant Secretary for Policy Coordination at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, where she has served in various capacities since 2004. Kate is a graduate of the University of Chicago and MIT, and has professional expertise in transportation planning and policy. Prior to her current role, Kate served as the Project Manager for the extension of the MBTA Green Line to Somerville and Medford and the expansion of Boston South Station. She has also worked for the US Department of Transportation, and for the Massachusetts Legislature, where she worked on transportation-related issues. Kate is now responsible for overseeing multiple policy initiatives at MassDOT, including de-carbonization and other issues at the intersection of the transportation and climate arenas.
CEO — Powerhouse Dynamics
My current company is helping reduce energy usage by organizations historically under-served when it comes to energy efficiency - portfolios of small commercial facilities. Energy savings are typically in the 10-20% range, with payback in as little as 1 year. My previous company provided smart grid applications for utilities and helped those utilities help their residential and small commercial customers become more energy efficient. I started my career right out of MIT in transportation and then transitioned - not so far - to energy, where I have spent the past 30 years.
VP of Research and Development — Tessolar
Katy leads research and development at Tessolar, keeping the company on the leading edge of product innovation and product integrity. Katy designs and directs experimental programs for the evaluation of PV racking technologies with a focus on significantly decreasing cost and PV module installation time while meeting or exceeding industry standards for strength, durability and reliability. Prior to her innovation work at Tessolar, Katy was a PhD candidate and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she worked on various earth-abundant replacement materials for thin film solar cells. While an undergraduate, Katy proved the concept of dislocation density reduction by high temperature annealing in multicrystalline silicon wafers. She began her experience in the solar industry as an intern at crystalline silicon ribbon innovator Evergreen Solar. Katy’s 11 years of experience in and enthusiasm for the PV industry was established at MIT where she participated in the Energy Club and earned a BSc. and Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering.
Senior Scientist — Stockholm Environment Institute
Dr. Heaps is the designer of LEAP, the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System, a scenario-based modelling system for integrated energy planning, air quality and climate change mitigation assessment. LEAP has thousands of users in over 190 countries worldwide including government agencies, national laboratories, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations. He is also the founder and manager of an online initiative designed to foster a community among developing country energy analysts working on energy for sustainable development, which currently has over 40,000 members worldwide. LEAP has been used by more than 40 countries as their main framework for planning their commitments to the UNFCCC’s climate process, and it’s also used by the State of MA as its main analytical tool for planning how to achieve MA’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Dr. Heaps studied energy engineering in the UK before doing a Ph.D. in environmental technology at Imperial College in London. He has been with SEI throughout his career since 1990, starting as a researcher and including stints as the founding director of SEI’s US research center hosted by Tufts University. Dr. Heaps has worked in more than fifty countries around the world. He has consulted widely with numerous national and international agencies including US-EPA, US-AID, US-DOE, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNIDO, UNDP, and the World Bank. In 2015, Dr. Heaps was the first recipient of the LEDS-Global Partnership Award for “Leading LEDS Design”.
Senior Energy Analyst — Union of Concerned Scientists
Julie McNamara is a senior energy analyst with the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In her role, she analyzes state, regional, and national policies relating to clean energy development and deployment. Her research includes electricity system resilience, state and federal power sector transition policies, and the implications of variations in carbon pricing policy design. Previously, she worked to develop proactive and adaptive risk management frameworks at MIT’s Program on Emerging Technologies, and served as an environmental scientist supporting federal and state agencies at ERG, an environmental and public policy consulting firm. Ms. McNamara holds an M.S. in technology and policy from MIT, and a B.A. in biology and political economy from Williams College. Energy transition: As an analyst within a science-based advocacy group, my work centers on informing the policies that shape the energy transition at hand. This includes conducting technical analyses to understand the implications of various policy choices, as well as communicating those findings in ways that are actionable to decision-makers and the broader public alike. Career trajectory: I have long had an interest in policy and economics alongside science and analysis, but opportunities to concurrently undertake both can be rare. In doing technical work for federal agencies, I learned enormous amounts about how to conduct such analyses, but did not have the ability to shape the questions being asked. Following graduate school, where I studied the intersection of science, technology, and policy, I joined the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has afforded me the chance to conduct technical work in service of shaping and informing broader policy goals.
Director, Clean Heating & Cooling — Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
I'm working to solve one big issue: that 30% of Massachusetts’ emissions come from heating. My job is to figure out how to reduce heating emissions to a tiny fraction of that. In practice, I have to come up with a plan, convince people to invest state money in it, and then deliver the plan. And then I need to keep key decision-makers engaged in the plan for long enough to make it work. I’ve made what at the time seemed like drastic changes in career path. The first of these was when I left college after 2 years and became a carpenter. The second of these was when I left carpentry after two years and went back to school. I ultimately attended four colleges before getting my undergraduate degree at UMass Amherst at 25. By that time, though, I was intensely interested in medical applications of engineering and started doing a Ph.D. in biomechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins. After a couple years of that, though, I realized academic research wasn’t the right fit for me. This coincided with a growing obsession with climate change and energy. I made a third hard decision and abandoned the pathway I chose in order to pursue something I felt enormously driven by. I took a job with a European energy consultancy (now DNV GL) which exposed me to a wide array of energy topics, which was enormously enriching. It ultimately led me to establish a wind energy practice at this consultancy. I transitioned these skills to helping develop clean energy industries and projects at the state’s clean energy development agency. I’ve been working for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for nine years, and it has been an incredible experience and privilege to be part of making the Commonwealth a leader in clean energy. In my current role as Director of Clean Heating & Cooling at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, I championed and gained buy-in for approximately $65 million of programs to support the development of industries that have the potential to reduce our heating emissions by an order of magnitude. These programs contributed to developing a clean heating industry, seeded programs in other states, and supported the transition of 20,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses to clean heating systems.
Co-Founder and COO — Solstice
Sandhya is Co-founder and COO of Solstice, an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to expanding access to clean energy to all Americans through community solar. Community solar enables residents to support local clean energy at no upfront cost and save money on their electric bill every year. Solstice enrolls households and community organizations in shared solar farms, creates financing innovations that expand access to underserved Americans (the EnergyScore), and provides frictionless subscriber management software for community solar projects. Prior to joining Solstice, Sandhya worked at Barclays’ investment banking division in New York and London, advising and executing public equity transactions for Technology, Media and Telecom companies. She was also deeply involved in Barclays’ philanthropy work with Endeavor, Women’s World Banking, and Barclays’ Social Innovation Fund. Sandhya holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she received the Sustainability Certificate.
Head of Engineering – Ørsted
Paul serves as Ørsted's US Head of Engineering. In addition, Paul serves as a Deputy EPC Director for Ørsted's utility-scale offshore wind project in the US northeast. Prior to joining Ørsted, Paul served as Deepwater Wind's Vice President of Operations & Engineering. At Deepwater, Paul was deeply involved in the development, construction and operations of the Block Island Wind Farm - the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.. Prior to joining Deepwater Wind, Paul served as a director of strategic planning for a mayoral initiative in New York City government. Paul earned graduate degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and the Technology and Policy program from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Senior Vice President, Strategy — Lincoln Clean Energy
Dr. Francis O’Sullivan is Senior Vice President, Strategy at Lincoln Clean Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orsted. In this role Frank is responsible for long-term market analysis and modelling to support Orstead’s onshore investment program in wind, solar and storage globally. Prior to joining Orsted, Frank was Director of Research and Analysis for the MIT Energy Initiative, and a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was Co-Director of the MIT Electric Power System Center. Dr. O’Sullivan’s academic, public and private sector work has focused energy markets analysis and design, with a particular focus on the economic and technical issues associated with large-scale integration of intermittent renewables in marginal cost-based electricity markets. Dr. O’Sullivan has written and spoken widely on these topics, and has made presentations to the U.S. President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the EIA, the EPA, the IEA, the Brookings Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the National Governors’ Association, the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners, at CERAWeek, the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union and to numerous other academic, policy and industry forums. He was a lead author of the 2011 MIT Future of Natural Gas study, the 2015 MIT Future of Solar Energy study, and is a member of the upcoming MIT Future of Storage study working group. Dr. O’Sullivan is a member of the U.S. National Academies’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, he is a Senior Associate with the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he is a Distinguished Associate with the Energy Futures Initiative. He has also served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s working group on methane emissions, and as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy for the 2016 Quadrennial Energy Review. Prior to Orsted and MIT, Dr. O’Sullivan was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company. Frank received his Ph.D., E.E., and S.M. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his B.E. degree from the National University of Ireland, all in electrical engineering.
Rachel Pachter
VP Permitting Affairs — Vineyard Wind
Rachel Pachter is Vineyard Wind’s Vice President of Permitting Affairs. Rachel has more than 15 years of experience in offshore wind development, specifically in permitting and regulatory compliance, environmental and site investigation, federal, state, and local regulations, stakeholder outreach, and public relations. Rachel led and finalized the permitting for the first and only fully permitted offshore wind farm in federal waters of the United States. Rachel has a degree in Geology from the University of Alaska and works from Vineyard Wind’s New Bedford office.
Michael Pantelogianis
Co-Head, Power & Infrastructure Finance, North America – Investec
Prior to joining Investec, Michael was a Managing Director and senior member at WestLB Securities Inc.’s Global Power group for 11 years where, amongst other things, he spearheaded WestLB’s foray into renewable energy in North America. Michael was also a member of JPMorgan’s (legacy Chase Securities Inc.) Global Project Finance and Advisory group from 1998 to 2001 where he worked on many notable large utility divestitures on both the M&A side and the financing side of such assets. Michael started his banking career in 2004 at Sumitomo Trust & Banking’s Project Finance group. Michael has a MBA in Financial Management from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University and a BS in Applied Economics from Hofstra University.
Matt Perkins
Chief Marketing Officer — 7AC Technologies
- Current role: Product, Marketing, and Sales for 7AC's technology
- Education: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Bachelors, Materials Science & Engineering
- Current Position: Chief Marketing Officer
- Lives: Cambridge, MA
- Other Stuff: Competitive runner & skier, professional tenor, volunteers taking at-risk youth camping and staffing a suicide hotline
- Prior Roles:
- Chief Digital Officer – GE Power Conversion
- Established global software P&L; first $5M in orders; industrial optimization software for metals and solar sectors
- Director – GE Ventures
- New Energy Platform Launched as Current Powered by GE Product Growth Leader – GE China Inverter sales, marketing (pricing, channel)
- Based at factory in Shanghai, 60 global sales reps; serving O&G, solar, metals & mining Solar Sales Manager, GE Power $50M revenue in 100% new products
- Chief Digital Officer – GE Power Conversion
Rob Pratt
Chairman — GreenerU, Inc.
Rob Pratt is the Chairman and President of the International Institute for Energy Conservation. He has been a national and international leader in clean energy for more than 40 years, as a for-profit and non-profit entrepreneur, a clean energy funder, and a governmental leader. He has founded or co-founded three companies and three non-profit organizations, including:
- GreenerU, Inc., one of the largest energy and sustainability services companies working with colleges and universities in New England;
- Energia Global International (EGI, now Enel Latin America), a company that became one of the leading renewable energy companies in Central America, with high head hydroelectric and wind projects, and power and distribution assets, in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and eventually Chile;
- International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), a non-profit organization that has worked on energy efficiency policy and implementation in more than 50 countries; and
- Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC), the largest regional association helping clean energy companies succeed while advocating for progressive energy policy and innovation.
Beginning his career on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant focusing on energy, and then becoming the Executive Director of the New England Congressional Caucus, composed of the region’s 25 Members of the House of Representatives, Rob was drawn to energy as one of the key issues of our time. He worked with NE Members of Congress in passing progressive energy legislation, but he also wanted to make things happen in a more direct way. He became a special assistant to Thermo Electron (now Thermo Fisher Scientific) CEO George Hatsopoulos (an MIT grad and senior lecturer emeritus), a leader in industrial energy conservation. Building on the lessons he learned from Dr. Hatsopoulos, Rob started the first of his three companies, PRAXIS, Inc, followed by Energia Global and GreenerU. He raised more than $65 million in equity and $250 million in financing in growing and financing his companies and clean energy projects in Latin America and the US.
After Energia Global was acquired by Enel, the Italian electricity company in a $100 million cash transaction, Rob became a funder as Director of the $250 million Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, a fund which promoted the development of renewable energy projects as well as clean energy economic development in Massachusetts. He then became the Senior Vice President of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, where he led foundation initiatives focused on energy efficiency policy and financing innovations.
Rob has chaired or served as an officer on the boards of many for-profit or non-profit organizations, such as the American Council for Renewable Energy, the Alliance to Save Energy, and the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas, among others. He received an MPA degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA degree from Wesleyan University.
Managing Partner — Silverpeak Renewables Investment Partners LP
Santosh Raikar is the Managing Partner of Silverpeak Renewables Investment Partners, responsible for building out the firm’s renewable energy sector platform. He has more than 18 years of experience in energy and infrastructure finance, including renewable energy, oil & gas, power, and midstream infrastructure assets. Prior to joining Silverpeak, Santosh was a Managing Director in the renewable energy investments group at State Street where he was responsible for leading a team in originating, structuring and executing tax equity investments in the renewable energy sector within the U.S. He previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers in Principal Investment areas. Santosh holds a Master of Science in Technology and Policy Program from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mumbai. He also teaches a full-semester graduate level course titled “Renewable Energy Investments” at Carroll School of Management (Boston College). How is your job relevant to the energy transition? For the past 12 years I have been exclusively working in the renewable energy sector. Over these years, I have invested more than $2 bn across more than 30 renewable energy projects. I am passionate about renewable energy for a better future and contributing directly by making capital available for bigger and better things. Please tell us not only what you do now, but also your career trajectory and how it got you where you are now. I got into investment banking by accident and MIT played the critical role for the transition. During my graduate program, I served as a research assistant at Energy Laboratory and my project was sponsored by Goldman Sachs, which really opened the wonderful world of finance for me. After initial exciting eight years, I ran into a series of stumbling blocks -three of my employers went bankrupt and two of them spectacularly! - Lehman, Uni-Solar, and Solyndra. However, the experience taught me a lot of things and I have emerged more energetic and successful than what I strove for.
Noah Shaw
General Counsel — NYSERDA
As General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Noah manages all aspects of legal analysis and counsel to NYSERDA leadership and the Governor’s staff concerning the Authority’s initiatives and related clean energy issues and legislation. Among other matters, Noah has been deeply engaged in the design and implementation of the state’s Clean Energy Standard, the State's offshore wind energy policies and programs, involvement with the United State Climate Alliance, co-chaired by New York State, Governor Cuomo’s clean energy legislative agenda, and many other of the State’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs and policies. Prior to joining NYSERDA in 2014, Noah was Senior Advisor to the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy, where his portfolio included a wide range of issues regarding, among other matters, the Loan Programs Office, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Nuclear Energy and matters concerning congressional affairs. Before working at the Department of Energy, Noah was an attorney in the Boston office of the law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris Glovsky & Popeo.
Sarah Simon
Founding Partner — Apple Creek Associates
Throughout her more than 40 years in consulting, government and industry, Ms. Simon’s work has focused on reducing environmental impacts and emissions, resulting in cleaner energy and more efficient processes. As Environmental Compliance Manager at Ameresco, a leading renewable energy and energy efficiency company, Ms. Simon managed compliance programs and carbon reporting for 20 bio-methane electric facilities around the US with annual revenues of over $50m. Before the advent of affordable wind and PV systems, when she was Deputy Director at the Division of Air Quality at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, she managed 40 monitoring, data, and air quality modeling staff. She represented the Department on commissions studying Radon Risk and Indoor Air Quality and served on the team that streamlined the permitting process and received an Innovation in Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government. In her 10 years at the U.S. EPA Region 1 office, she participated on the national Acid Rain Program Implementation team that was awarded the Bronze Medal for public service. In addition, Ms. Simon led the Environmental Technical Group of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers and was President of the Boston section of the Society of Women Engineers and the Association of MIT Alumnae.
Kathleen Theoharides
Undersecretary of Climate Change — Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Katie Theoharides, Undersecretary of Climate Change, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs – Katie works across state government and with Massachusetts cities and towns to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, with a major focus on mainstreaming climate change into the daily work of state and local government. In this capacity Katie leads the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program, as well as implementation of the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, and the Global Warming Solutions Act. Previously, Katie worked as a environmental and climate change policy consultant, and served as the executive director of the Hilltown Land Trust in Ashfield, Massachusetts. She also spent several years with Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, DC where she focused on federal, state and local climate change policy. Katie holds a B.A. in ecology from Dartmouth College and a M.S. in environmental biology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Mitch Tyson
Chair — Tyson Associates
I've had energy related positions in public policy, industry, investing, the non-profit sector, and academia. I am a graduate of MIT with a SB in Physics, an SM in Nuclear Engineering, and SM in Political Science and concentrated my studies on energy technology and policy. I have been a US Senate legislative assistant for energy policy, product manager for semiconductor equipment, CEO for a semiconductor automation company, and CEO of a venture back industrial energy efficiency start-up. Currently I serve as a board member of several tech and clean energy companies, I am an angel partner in the Clean Energy Venture Group and Venture Partner in the Clean Energy Fund, I mentor start-ups in a variety of clean energy accelerators. I am chair of the Northeast Clean Energy Council (trade association), board member of Greentown Labs (clean energy incubator), board member of Acadia Center (clean energy policy think tank). I also teach the course in Corporate Sustainability at the International Business School at Brandeis University and lecture on entrepreneurship. I've had the opportunity to look at and contribute to developing solutions to the energy challenge from many organizational perspectives and ma glad to share what i have learned.
Akashar Wunnava
Senior Associate / Second-Year Student — McKinsey & Co. / Harvard Business School
Akshar is a second-year student in the MBA Class of 2019 at Harvard Business School. Prior to HBS, he worked at McKinsey & Co., focused on the energy utilities, renewables, and chemicals sectors. He spent several months in Ethiopia working on their electrification strategy and utility operations. Prior to McKinsey, Akshar worked on two start-ups, BioBatts and PedalPower, which both aimed to provide electricity in off-grid villages in north India. Akshar holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering and Bachelors in Chemical Engineering and Economics from MIT. He also has minors in Energy Studies and Public Policy, and led the MIT Energy Club, Sloan Business Club, and DEAL FPOP during his time at the Institvte.
Ming Zhong
Architectural Designer — Payette Associates Inc.
As a designer working in the building design field, I am familiar with the energy code and standards for green buildings. I also have experience in designing energy responsive buildings by using advanced scripting software that could help designers optimizing the energy performance and saving the client money. I am working towards my licensure now and will become an official architect once get my architectural license.
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