At MITEI’s Fall Colloquium, General Motors’ battery development expert Kurt Kelty (right) emphasized how affordability, accessibility, and commercialization can position the United States as a leader in battery technology.
MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition speaker series
This speaker series connects the MIT community with energy experts and leaders. Five speakers were hosted by MITEI in FY26, including Kurt Kelty, the vice president of battery, propulsion, & sustainability at General Motors; Emily Reichert, the CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center; Nicholas Burns, the former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China and now the Goodman Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; Georgina Campbell Flatter, the CEO of Greentown Labs; and Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency.
Podcast: What if it works?
In November 2025, we concluded the first season of our podcast series, What if it works? The podcast had more than 1,600 subscribers with 20 published episodes by the end of FY26. Every two weeks, MITEI hosts Rob Stoner and Kara Miller spoke with energy experts about the science, technologies, and policies that can transform energy systems and provide a more sustainable future. In each episode, listeners heard from MIT faculty testing new ideas and working on breakthroughs in MIT labs and at startups, industry, and government. Guests hosted in FY26 included Jessika Trancik (IDSS) and Asegun Henry (Mechanical Engineering).
The Energy of the Future
In FY26, MITEI continued an outreach campaign showcasing the work of our energy students and their efforts to advance the energy transition and expand energy access. This effort supports MITEI’s priority of engaging more broadly with campus and growing our social media audiences. In FY26, we published eight short videos featuring Energy UROP participants and Energy Studies Minors on Instagram and LinkedIn. We promoted the videos across campus with both print and digital advertisements and a special display in the Infinite Corridor. We also expanded the reach of our videos by repurposing them as 3-Question-style articles.
Energizing@MIT: Annual Research Conference
Energy researchers, policy makers, and industry members came together this year to explore the theme “tackling emerging energy challenges” at MITEI’s Annual Research Conference, which was renamed Energizing@MIT: MITEI’s Annual Research Conference. The conference included panels on sustainable fuels for hard-to-electrify sectors of transportation, carbon capture in power generation, vehicle electrification, and MITEI Seed Innovation Fund projects. Speakers included Alvin Shaffer, head of partnerships for Equinor; China expert Kelly Sims Gallagher, the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University; Giacomo Silvestri, the chairman of Eniverse Ventures, and Annalisa Muccioli, head of research and technological innovation, at Eni; and Jennifer Pearce, the vice president of Avangrid.
Spring Symposium
In March 2026, MITEI’s Spring Symposium brought together researchers, industry leaders, and academic experts to explore next-generation geothermal energy for firm power. Speakers included senior leaders from companies leading the siting and development of enhanced and superdeep geothermal systems, innovating to manage the harsh conditions at higher temperatures and greater depths, and devising approaches to making geothermal energy a sustainable source of clean baseload power. Organized by Carolyn Ruppel, MITEI’s deputy director, with collaboration from MIT Proto Ventures geothermal channel lead, Andrew Inglis, the symposium also featured MIT faculty discussing inventions to advance next-generation geothermal. The day after our symposium, MITEI co-hosted the GeoTech Summit with the Clean Air Task Force to discuss encouraging new investments in the next-generation geothermal space.
Earth Day Colloquium
As part of MIT’s celebration of Earth Week, MITEI hosted Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, who discussed the impact of the war in the Middle East on global energy systems now and for years to come.
Congressional Staff Seminar
MITEI, the MIT Climate Project, the MIT Washington Office, and the Climate Policy Center jointly hosted a bipartisan group of 30 U.S. House, Senate, and Congressional committee staffers for three days of panels, tours, and presentations about energy and climate research from faculty, research scientists, and students. Topics included resilient data centers; fusion; small modular reactors; advanced geothermal technology; powering long-distance transportation; and the innovation pipeline. The seminar was held in April 2026.