Erik Verlage knows firsthand the difficulties of living in a rural, undeveloped area. During his childhood on his family farm in Tamaulipas, Mexico, the property lacked phone and electric lines, so they used radios for communication and dirty diesel generators for power. Verlage worked the fields, and commuted an hour each way to school. Although he has traveled a great distance since that time, Verlage’s childhood experiences remain with him, influencing his academic pursuits and professional ambitions.
The first physics major to graduate with a minor in Energy Studies, Verlage arrived at MIT after a math-oriented secondary education at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara. (On a high school trip, he had visited Boston-area universities, and says, “From then on, it was all about MIT.”) This gold medalist in Mexico’s programming Olympiad grew nervous as his first semester approached. “I was extremely worried I might not succeed when I realized the quality of students at MIT.” Verlage overcame his initial jitters and aced his first two semesters. He became increasingly engaged in academics and really hit his stride, he says, after taking classes like 8.21, “The Physics of Energy,” and 2.627, “Fundamentals of Photovoltaics.” He realized that energy studies offered an ideal way to combine his scientific and personal interests.
Verlage recalls a histogram frequently featured in classes that made a powerful impression: It showed the total energy consumed annually by humans, dwarfed by the total energy striking the earth from the sun. “I thought, oh my goodness, there is so much untapped potential solar energy we could use.” He began immersing himself in all aspects of solar-based energy, from manufacturing, production and marketing of photovoltaics and solar panels, to the social and economic implications of introducing these technologies in different regions. He also found a mentor in mechanical engineering Professor Tonio Buonassisi, with whom he is currently researching ways to reduce the cost of solar cells by replacing silver components with nickel.
Verlage’s studies have crystallized into a mission: “I want to bring solar energy into the picture in Mexico and Latin America,” he says, making it cost effective and competitive with fossil fuel-based options there. So Verlage is headed for graduate school “to become an expert on materials that involve energy, and to bring about a technological revolution in photovoltaics.”