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MITEI awards research and education travel grants to 19 MIT graduate students

MITEI

This year, the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) ventured into new territory by providing research and education travel grants to 19 graduate students from across the Institute. The short-term pilot program was created and implemented by the Energy Education Task Force to support graduate students performing field studies or presenting their research results at conferences around the world. The grants allowed students to carry out vital research for theses, to build new scholarly and professional networks, and to bring new insights on global energy challenges and opportunities back to MIT. Given the success of the pilot program, MITEI has established Energy Education Without Borders, an ongoing program to support student travel for energy research and education.

Student research and education travel grants, 2011–2012

Name Destination Event/purpose Title or area of research/interest
Anna Agarwal
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Perth, Australia International Association of Energy Economics Conference Commercial policy and risk management in large energy projects
Elena Alschuler
Urban Studies and Planning
San Francisco, California Field research Evaluation of Duke Energy’s smart metering pilot program, providing real-time energy information for office buildings in Charlotte, North Carolina
D. Kwabena Bediako
Chemistry
Lucca, Italy Gordon Research Conference on Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels Electrocatalytic water splitting for solar energy storage
J. Cressica Brazier
Urban Studies and Planning
Shenzhen and Jinan, China Field research Energy and urban form, urban design policy, participatory technology, and real estate development and urbanization in China
David Cohen-Tanugi
Materials Science and Engineering
Barcelona, Spain Conference on Desalination for the Environment, Water, and Energy Designing novel nanomaterials for highly energy-efficient water purification
Florence Guiraud
Architecture
New Orleans, Louisiana Field research Energy flows: Empowering New Orleans—developing alternative energy-harvesting systems
Samantha Gunter
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Washington, DC 2012 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference Charging stations in microgrids
Jason Jackson
Urban Studies and Planning
New Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, India Field research Data gathering for analysis of the political economy of foreign direct investment in India
Jouya Jadidian
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
San Diego, California 2012 IEEE International Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference Positive and negative streamer initiation and propagation in dielectric liquids
Rhonda Jordan
Engineering Systems Division
Nairobi, Kenya International Conference on Power Systems Operation Incorporating electricity demand dynamics into capacity expansion and electrification planning models in developing countries: the case of Tanzania
Alex Kalmikov
Mechanical Engineering
Seattle, Washington American Wind Energy Association Wind Resource and Project Energy Assessment Workshop Project analysis for the MIT Wind Energy student team and the MIT Bates Wind Energy Assessment Project
Nancy Kim
Architecture
Blue Fields, Nicaragua Field research and presentations Construction and implementation of a biodigestor
Bin Lu
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Bruges, Belgium IEEE International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs High-performance GaN-based power transistor
Matthew Orosz
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nottingham, United Kingdom SCORE International Conference Comparative analysis of traditional and solar thermal technologies for heating/cooling/powering rural health facilities in Africa
Canay Ozden
Science, Technology, and Society
San Francisco, California Field research A social study of electricity markets in the United States
Alan Ransil
Materials Science and Engineering
Jeju, South Korea International Meeting on Lithium-Ion Batteries Novel electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries
Lennon Rogers
Mechanical Engineering
Los Angeles, California Electric Vehicle Symposium Electric vehicle parameter identification
Nathaniel Deshmukh Towery
Science, Technology, and Society
Texas, Ohio, North Carolina Field research Citizen interpretations of and responses to climate change
Patricio Zambrano-Barragán
Urban Studies and Planning
Ecuador, Peru, Chile Field research Data gathering for large-scale hydroelectric dam development in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile

This article appears in the issue of Energy Futures.

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