About the MIT Energy Initiative

Robert Armstrong directs the MIT Energy Initiative, an Institute-wide initiative at MIT linking science, technology, and policy to transform the world’s energy systems. A member of the MIT faculty since 1973, Armstrong served as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1996 to 2007. His research interests include polymer fluid mechanics, rheology of complex materials, and energy.

In 2008, Armstrong was elected into the National Academy of Engineering for conducting outstanding research on non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, co-authoring landmark textbooks, and providing leadership in chemical engineering education. Armstrong received the Warren K. Lewis Award and the Professional Progress Award in 1992, both from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the 2006 Bingham Medal from the Society of Rheology, which is devoted to the study of the science of deformation and flow of matter. Armstrong was a member of MIT’s Future of Solar Energy study group and co-edited Game Changers: Energy on the Move with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

Martha Broad, MITEI’s executive director, oversees MITEI’s finance, operations, communications and events teams that support MITEI’s research, education and outreach activities. In addition, as a member of MITEI’s leadership team, she plays a key role in managing the ongoing development of MITEI’s Low-Carbon Energy Centers. She has been an invited speaker at Chatham House’s Energy Transitions Conference, ARPA-E’s Energy Innovation Summit, the MIT Energy Conference, and other events. She serves on MIT’s Climate Action Advisory Committee for implanting the Institute’s Plan for Action on Climate Change. She also served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Decarbonizing Energy.

In addition, she spearheads MITEI’s collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy to design, manage, and host the annual Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Women in Clean Energy Symposium and serves as a C3E Ambassador.
 
Previously, as part of the senior management team of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Broad led programs and studies that focused on the commercialization of clean energy technologies. By collaborating with universities and public and private partners, she helped facilitate the state’s successful installation of hundreds of megawatts of wind and solar systems.

Louis Carranza was previously vice president for strategic development at IHS, where he worked for 17 years. There, he served as executive director and co-chair of CERAWeek – one of the top five corporate leader conferences in the world – and conceived and implemented the CERAWeek partnership program. He was also co-director of the IHS scenario planning initiative. Earlier at CERA, Carranza was responsible for managing the firm’s global power practice.

Emily Dahl has worked at the intersection of energy, sustainability, and policy communications for more than 10 years. At MIT Energy Initiative, she leads the communications team, which is responsible for public and media relations, digital media, publications, articles, and other content related to MITEI’s research, education, and outreach efforts. Emily’s background includes lead communications and digital media roles with Massachusetts quasi-public agencies, regional and national clean energy organizations, and political campaigns.

Antje Danielson joined MITEI after eight years at Tufts University, where she directed the Tufts Institute of the Environment and was an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health. Her areas of interest are energy education and carbon capture and storage. She is also interested in research on conditions that underpin interdisciplinary research and collaborations.

Her previous roles include deputy director for sustainability at the Centre for Research into Earth Energy Systems at Durham University in the UK, where she initiated a carbon capture and storage working group. Danielson is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment and has also served as President of the Council for Environmental Deans and Directors. She received teaching awards from Harvard University and an Exceptional Contribution Award from Durham University. In 1999/2000 she co-founded the car-sharing company Zipcar.

Antje holds a PhD in geochemistry from the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Francis O’Sullivan is Director of Research for the MIT Energy Initiative, and a Senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He works on topics related to energy technologies, policy and economics. His current research is focused on unconventional oil and gas resources, particularly the productivity and economics of North America’s shale resources. He also studies global gas market dynamics, and how power systems are evolving to accommodate large-scale generation from renewable resources, particular solar power.

He has written and spoken widely on these topics, and has made presentations to the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the EIA, the EPA, 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 a range of other academic, policy and industry forums. He is a lead author of both the 2011 MIT Future of Natural Gas study, and the 2015 MIT Future of Solar Energy study.

Dr. O’Sullivan is a member of the U.S. National Academies’ Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, and is a Senior Associate with the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has also served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s working group on methane emissions and as a member of the scientific advisory board for the Environmental Defense Fund’s methane emissions campaign.

Prior to joining MIT, Dr. O’Sullivan was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he worked on engagements that included investment analysis and risk management, strategic planning, and operations in the private equity, oil and gas, electric utility, and renewable energy sectors.

Robert Stoner, MITEI’s deputy director for Science and Technology, also directs the Tata Center for Technology and Design — an MIT graduate program that trains future engineering and business leaders to invent technologies that address unmet needs and challenges in India and elsewhere in the developing world. Stoner also served as a study group member of Future of Solar Energy study.

He is the inventor of numerous optical and electronic devices and has an extensive international business background, having held senior positions at Intel and Zygo Corporations and founded technology companies in the United States and Europe. He was also an adjunct professor of Engineering at Brown University from 1995 through 2002. Immediately prior to joining MIT, he served in senior roles at the Clinton Foundation in Africa and India.

Robert Tolu has worked for 17 years in finance and previously sponsored award administration for Harvard University and Education Development Center. At MITEI, he serves as senior fiscal officer and is responsible for overseeing all financial matters, pre- and post-award, to ensure smooth operations and minimal surprises. Robert’s extensive experience includes work with the federal government, industry, and foundation funders.