2021 Projects

	Shreya Agarwal ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Angeliki Diane Rigos, Executive Director, Tata Center for Technology and Design Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Developing change agents/leaders for a low-carbon energy future
	Franck N. Belemkoabga ’24 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Advisor: Olivier L. De Weck, Apollo Program Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics Direct Supervisor: Maha Haji, Visiting Assistant Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics Sponsor: ExxonMobil Platform for expanding AUV exploRation to Longer ranges (PEARL) upgrade
	Robert W. Brashear ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Leon Glicksman, Professor of Building Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Architecture Direct Supervisor: Johnathan Kongoletos, Graduate Student, Building Technology Sponsor: Shell International Computational simulation of Covid-19 aerosol dispersion in rooms
	Max J. Burns ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Eric Anton Verploegen, Research Engineer; Lecturer, D-Lab Sponsor: ExxonMobil Designing evaporative cooling systems for food storage in developing nations
	Patricia Chan ’22 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Daniel Sweeney, Research Scientist; Lecturer, D-Lab Direct Supervisor: Lisa Tang, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Home energy efficiency improvements in the Himalayan region
	Luke Chapman ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Daniel Sweeney, Research Scientist; Lecturer, D-Lab Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Home energy efficiency improvements in the Himalayan region
	Anushree Chaudhuri ’24 Urban Studies and Planning Advisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Jungwoo Chun, Graduate Student, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Sources of opposition to renewable energy projects in the United States
	Vivian Cheng ’23 Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisor: Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Guannan He, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Energy Initiative Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Scalable low-carbon energy system optimization
	Jessica Cohen ’22 Physics Advisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Jungwoo Chun, Graduate Student, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP (IAP) and Shell International (summer) Renewable energy siting conflicts and renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS) database
	Nora G. Donnelly ’24 Management Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Jaquelyn Ryan Pless, Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship; Assistant Professor, Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management, Sloan School of Management Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP The economics of energy innovation
	Grace Endy ’25 Chemical Engineering Advisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Jungwoo Chun, Graduate Student, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Sources of opposition to renewable energy projects in the United States
	Jason A. Garcia ’24 Chemical Engineering Advisor: John H. Lienhard, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Zi Hao Foo, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering; Danyal Rehman, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Shell International Selective recovery of resource from high salinity brines: Lienhard research group
	Stacy Godfreey-Igwe ’22 Mechanical Engineering and African and African Diaspora Studies Advisor: Desirée Plata, Gilbert W. Winslow (1937) Career Development Professor in Civil Engineering; Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Direct Supervisor: Nina Jankovic, Visiting PhD Student, Plata Laboratory Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Fundamental chemistry of graphene CVD growth: Material design at atomic resolution
	Alexander Greer ’24 Computer Science and Engineering Advisor: Christoph Reinhart, Director, Building Technology Program; Professor, Architecture Direct Supervisor: Yu Qian Ang, Graduate Student, Architecture Sponsor: Shell International Urban building energy modeling (ubem.io)
	Johaun J. Hatchett ’21 Physics Advisor: Jacopo Buongiorno, Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Science and Engineering Direct Supervisor: Ruaridh Macdonald, Postdoctoral Associate, Nuclear Science and Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Nuclear batteries: A new form of clean and resilient energy system for urban environments
	Alisa Hathaway ’22 Computation and Cognition Advisor: Tomas Palacios, Director, 6-A MEng Thesis Program; Professor, Electrical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Qingyun Xie, Graduate Student, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Nadim Chowdhury, PhD Candidate, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Design and simulation of optically controlled transistors for data centers and grid-level power electronics
	Alexis Huynh ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Josephine Carstensen, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Sponsor: Shell International Generative design UROP
	Nader Jemel ’23 Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Sergey Paltsev, Senior Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative; Deputy Director, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Sponsor: Shell International Technoeconomic analysis of options for decarbonizing freight transportation
	Zoe Kuhlken ’24 Mathematics with Computer Science Advisor: Amy Glasmeier, Professor of Economic Geography and Regional Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Darien Williams, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Shell International CRISP
	Heidi Li ’22 Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Ernest J. Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems Emeritus, Physics Direct Supervisor: Elizabeth Thom, Science Writer, Materials Research Laboratory (IAP and spring); Mike Kearney, Executive Director, MIT Roosevelt Project (summer and fall) Sponsor: MIT Office of Experiencial Learning (IAP), Friends of MITEI UROP (spring and fall), and ExxonMobil (summer) The Roosevelt Project: Energy transition in Appalachian Pennsylvania
	Min Liew ’22 Chemical Engineering Advisor: Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Dharik Mallapragada, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Systematic assessment of the role for geological H2 storage in a future low-carbon U.S. energy system
	Sarah Lohmar ’22 Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science Advisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Jungwoo Chun, Graduate Student, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Renewable energy siting conflicts and renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS) database
	Sean Mann ’23 Computer Science and Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Giuseppe Romano, Research Scientist, Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology Sponsor: MIT Office of Experiential Learning Photovoltaic cell optimization via machine learning with a GPU-accelerated differentiable simulator
	Obinna Modilim ’24 Physics Advisor: Jacopo Buongiorno, Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Science and Engineering Direct Supervisor: John E. Parsons, Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management; Deputy Director for Research, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Nuclear batteries: A new form of clean and resilient energy system for urban environments
	Sebastian Monsalvo ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: John H. Lienhard, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Zi Hao Foo, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Shell International Lithium and water harvesting from brines: Lienhard Research Group
	Ahmad Negm ’22 Electrical Science and Engineering Advisor: James L. Kirtley, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Direct Supervisor: William Lynch, Research Specialist, Research Laboratory of Electronics Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP PCB design for capacitive-based cell voltage balancer
	Alec Ngyuen ’22 Chemical Engineering Advisor: Fikile R. Brushett, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Alexander Quinn, Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering Sponsor: MIT Office of Experiencial Learning (IAP) and Friends of MITEI UROP (spring) Life-cycle emissions analysis of current and future hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (IAP) An economic and energetic analysis of liquid organic hydrogen carrier transport (spring)
	Katherine Pelton ’22 Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Christoph Reinhart, Director, Building Technology Program; Professor, Architecture Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Urban building energy modeling (UBEM) results dashboard
	Katia Pendowski ’24 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Maria Yang, Associate Dean of Engineering; Gail E. Kendall Professor, MIT D-Lab; Faculty Academic Director, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Jana Saadi, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Shell International User-centered design of high performance household energy products in low- and middle-income countries
	Adam Potter ’22 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Anuradha Annaswamy, Senior Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Rabab Haider, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Price structures for unbalanced power grids (spring) Reactive power markets for the future grid (fall)
	Karyn N. Real ’23 Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science Advisor: Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Karen Tapia-Ahumada, Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Economic signals to incentivize residential battery storage systems
	Dechen T. Rota ’23 Chemical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Julia Ortony, Samuel A. Goldblith Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Gold nanoparticle functionalized molecular self-assembly nanoribbons
	Emma K. Rutherford ’23 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Leon Glicksman, Professor of Building Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Architecture Direct Supervisor: John Kongoletos, Graduate Student, Building Technology Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Using computational fluid dynamics to investigate the effects of HVAC ventilation on the spread of Covid-19
	Jonathan Sandlin ’22 Chemical-Biological Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Jean-Francois Hamel, Lecturer, Chemical Engineering Sponsor: ExxonMobil Process intensification and continuous extraction of biofuel
	Abigail K. Scott ’22 Chemistry Advisor: Catherine Drennan, Professor, Biology and Chemistry Direct Supervisor: Sheena Vasquez, PhD Candidate, Structural Biology Sponsor: ExxonMobil Determining the structure of the Cia1-Cia2-Nar1 complex
	Rebecca Sholler ’22 Mechanical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Leon Glicksman, Professor of Building Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Architecture Sponsor: MIT Office of Experiential Learning Computational simulation of COVID-19 aerosol dispersion in rooms
	Henry F. Sobieszczyk ’23 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Emre Gençer, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Sydney Johnson, Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering Sponsor: ExxonMobil Investigating decarbonization in the Indian aluminum industry
	Johan J. Soto ’23 Nuclear Science and Engineering Advisor: Olivier L. De Weck, Apollo Program Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics Direct Supervisor: Afreen Siddiqi, Research Scientist, Aeronautics and Astronautics Sponsor: Shell International Systems analytics for small farms waste resource recovery
	Brendt D. Stephens ’22 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: John H. Lienhard, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Andrew Bouma, Research Specialist, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Modeling fouling in OARO systems
	Kiera Tai ’22 Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Jeffrey Grossman, Morton and Claire Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems; Department Head, Materials Science and Engineering Direct Supervisor: Nicola Ferralis, Research Scientist, Materials Science and Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Applying solid-state geothermal cooling in residential and commercial buildings
	Muhammed Sulema S. Thaniana ’23 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Advisor: Tonio Buonassisi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Aleks Siemenn, Graduate student researcher, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: ExxonMobil Hardware design of a high-throughput semiconductor printer
	Kanokwan Tungkitkancharoen ’25 Mechanical Engineering and Political Science Advisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Direct Supervisor: Jungwoo Chun, Graduate Student, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Sources of opposition to renewable energy projects in the United States
	Logan Vawter ’22 Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Asegun Henry, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Michael Bichnevicius, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: Chevron Dynamics of bubble columns: Application to the carbon-free production of H2 using CH4 pyrolysis
	Kiara Wahnschafft ’21 Mechanical Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Christopher Knittel, George P. Shultz Professor of Energy Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management; Deputy Director for Policy, MIT Energy Initiative Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP National grid: The impact of extreme weather on grid performance
	Chiharu Watanabe ’21 Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: John A. Ochsendorf, Class of 1942 Professor; Professor of Architecture; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; MacVicar Faculty Fellow Sponsor: MIT Office of Experiential Learning Evaluating solar school initiative for project solar schools: developing financial models and installation designs for renewables in the education landscape
	Jasmine Wu ’23 Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science Advisor: Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative Direct Supervisor: Dharik Mallapragada, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP System impacts of decarbonization pathways for space heating in cold climates
	Kelly S. Wu ’22 Chemical Engineering Advisor: Karthish Manthiram, Visiting Professor, Chemical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Nikifar Lazouski, Graduate Student, Chemical Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP A network analysis of the chemical industry
	David T. Xiong ’23 Nuclear Science and Engineering Advisor: Dennis Whyte, Director, Plasma Science and Fusion Center; Hitachi America Professor of Engineering Direct Supervisor: Jeffrey P. Friedberg, Professor Emeritus, Nuclear Science and Engineering Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP MHD model of “liquid sandwich” vacuum vessel
	Lucy Young ’24 Mechanical Engineering and Computing Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Sergey Paltsev, Senior Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative; Deputy Director, Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP (IAP) Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the deployment of electric vehicles Advisor: Asegun Henry, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Direct Supervisor: Colin Kelsall, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering Sponsor: ExxonMobil (summer) and Friends of MITEI UROP (fall) Flow modeling and design for sweeping noble gas curtain
	Alice M. Zehner ’25 Materials Science and Engineering Advisor and Direct Supervisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, Urban Studies and Planning Sponsor: Friends of MITEI UROP Compiling case studies of disrupted large-scale renewable energy projects

2021 Projects

Shreya Agarwal ’24

Franck N. Belemkoabga ’24

Robert W. Brashear ’24

Max J. Burns ’24

Patricia Chan ’22

Luke Chapman ’24

Anushree Chaudhuri ’24

Vivian Cheng ’23

Jessica Cohen ’22

Nora G. Donnelly ’24

Grace Endy ’25

Jason A. Garcia ’24

Stacy Godfreey-Igwe ’22

Alexander Greer ’24

Johaun J. Hatchett ’21

Alisa Hathaway ’22

Alexis Huynh ’24

Nader Jemel ’23

Zoe Kuhlken ’24

Heidi Li ’22

Min Liew ’22

Sarah Lohmar ’22

Sean Mann ’23

Obinna Modilim ’24

Sebastian Monsalvo ’24

Ahmad Negm ’22

Alec Ngyuen ’22

Katherine Pelton ’22

Katia Pendowski ’24

Adam Potter ’22

Karyn N. Real ’23

Dechen T. Rota ’23

Emma K. Rutherford ’23

Jonathan Sandlin ’22

Abigail K. Scott ’22

Rebecca Sholler ’22

Henry F. Sobieszczyk ’23

Johan J. Soto ’23

Brendt D. Stephens ’22

Kiera Tai ’22

Muhammed Sulema S. Thaniana ’23

Kanokwan Tungkitkancharoen ’25

Logan Vawter ’22

Kiara Wahnschafft ’21

Chiharu Watanabe ’21

Jasmine Wu ’23

Kelly S. Wu ’22

David T. Xiong ’23

Lucy Young ’24

Alice M. Zehner ’25