EEM Master’s graduate Mansi Talwar was appointed as the Executive Director for Utilities, Engineering and Energy at GW on May 17, 2021, so we’ll seeing her around campus again soon after we get past the COVID restrictions. Mansi previously worked for the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) organization where she Managed the engineering team that included several other EEM grads and worked on implementation of several energy efficiency programs in the District. Mansi recently welcomed her baby boy who was born last October, you can see both enjoying their respective beverages in the picture.
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| Michael Sullivan |
EEM grad Michael Sullivan, who works at Berkshire Hathaway Energy as Director of Government Relations, recently spearheaded an effort to donate used wind turbine blades to a recycling startup in Tennessee. As a result of his efforts, 15 tons of material were diverted from a landfill and will be used to test new methods recovering fiberglass from wind blades. Mike also serves as an advisory board member for the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition, which advocates for policies that help those struggling to pay for their energy needs and is an industry leader educating stakeholders on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
In April 2021, Professors Ekundayo Shittu and Rene van Dorp received a $120,000 Department of Energy research grant for their project “Improving the Generation of Synthetic Time Histories for Electricity Demand, Prices and Variable Renewable Electricity Production.” This is the third consecutive year that Idaho National Labs is supporting their project, aimed at improving the generation of time histories for wind energy demand. In the new phase of the project, emphasis will be placed on enhancement of low probability sampling for risk-averse optimization in DOE’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation Program.
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| Audrey Suarez |
2013 EEM grad Audrey Suarez has moved her career in an international development direction, working directly in environment and sustainability. Specifically, she’s working in climate justice activism with the Power Shift Networkorganization, a non-profit that focuses on supporting youth activists and organizers around the United States. Audrey gave a wonderful presentation about the Power Shift Network at an EEMI meeting in the Spring 2021 semester.
Indrajeet Viswanathan (Jeet), a 2013 EEM Master of Science grad, moved from Alexandria to New York City where he currently is working with the Columbia University Irving Medical Center as the Director of Energy Management and Sustainability. Jeet writes that he is “extremely happy in this current role and am grateful for our EEM program that prepared me for it.”
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| Professor John Helveston |
Professor John Paul Helveston had a commentary piece published in the Winter 2021 issue of the journal Issues in Science and Technology. Prof. Helveston’s paper, which is entitled “Why the US Trails the World in Electric Vehicles,” can be seen on the Issues in Science and Technology website.
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| Ed Yealdhall |
Ed Yealdhall, a 2016 EMSE grad and present Doctor of Engineering student, began work in February 2021 with the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction organization at the Department of Homeland Security, which is contracted through the Logistics Management Institute. In his new job, Ed supports the DHS Operations Support Directorate and manages DHS requirements for new and existing radiological / nuclear detection acquisition programs, collaborating with other DHS components and various stakeholders to develop a full suite of systems engineering documentation that ensures that the right capabilities are delivered to the operational end users.
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| Abdul Moiz Sohall |
Abdul Moiz Sohail, a 2017 EEM Master of Science grad and Fulbright Scholar, currently is working in Lahore, Pakistan with the Provincial Government of Punjab as a Senior Research Analyst – Environment, also is pursuing his PhD degree online with the University of Houston. Moiz reports that his life has been extremely busy with the full time job and the PhD courses but is still managing to enjoy life.
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| Professor Ekundayo Shittu |
In January 2021, Prof. Ekundayo Shittu presented a talk entitled “Examining Black Diaspora Participation in Engineering Using Narrative Inquiry” at ASEE’s Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity conference. Prof. Shittu’s research, funded by the National Science Foundation, employed a narrative inquiry process to explore the intersectionality of meta-cognition, academic self-efficacy, scholarly reasoning, and identity. Motivated by how the existing literature focuses on social support models with a limited examination of meta-cognition, Prof. Shittu’s research highlights the influence of other social stratifiers on how Black Diaspora graduate students process engineering models.
Norvic Chicchon Ugarte, a 2006 EEM grad, is working at the Project Director of Hydrogen and Merox Units at GRUPO COBRA. His present location is at the Talara Refinery in Peru, a $5Bn mega-project owned by Petroperu. Previously, Norvic served as Director of General Hydrocarbons at the Peruvian Ministry of Energy.