March 18, 2021
11:00 am-1:00 pm ET
Register.
As MIT prepares to issue a new Plan for Action on Climate Change later this spring, it is important that we assess both progress to date and areas where new and more ambitious action is necessary. To that end, the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) is working with a variety of units throughout the Institute to solicit ideas for how MIT can enhance its actions to address climate change.
Engaging with entities outside of MIT–governments, companies, other universities, and NGOs–has been central to our strategy for making progress on climate. This is the first of two webinars that VPR will be co-hosting for members of our community to learn about and offer their thoughts on the benefits and challenges of working in collaboration with other organizations.
On March 18, MIT Energy Initiative Director Robert C. Armstrong will host a forum in which MIT researchers, former students, and representatives from some of the organizations currently collaborating with MIT will describe their experiences of working together to advance low-carbon energy research.
Agenda
11:00 am Introductory remarks
- Robert C. Armstrong, Director, MIT Energy Initiative; Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering
11:05 am Working together to achieve net-zero emissions
Renewable energy: Machine learning for predicting the longevity of offshore wind turbines
Speakers include:
- Beatriz Crisóstomo, Head of Global Innovation, Iberdrola
- Kalyan Veeramachaneni, Principal Research Scientist, MIT Laboratory for Information & Decision Systems
Energy systems: SESAME – Holistic modeling of pathways to net-zero carbon systems
Speakers include:
- Dan Cherney, Section Head of Emerging Energy Sciences, ExxonMobil
- Emre Gençer, Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative
- Jennifer Morris, Research Scientist, MIT Energy Initiative and MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
Nuclear power: Solving operational & maintenance problems for 21st century light water reactors
Speakers include:
- Jake Jurewicz, Manager of Corporate Strategy, Exelon
- Michael Short, Associate Professor, MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering
Audience Q&A
11:55 am Cooperating on research for next-generation technologies
Solar energy research
Speakers include:
- Miles Barr, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ubiquitous Energy
- Vladimir Bulović, Fariborz Maseeh Chair in Emerging Technology; Professor, MIT Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Joel Jean, Co-Founder, Swift Solar
- Massimiliano Pieri, Clean Tech Director, Eni Next
- Timothy M. Swager, John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, MIT
- Anne White, Professor and Head, MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering
Fusion energy collaborations
Speakers include:
- Bob Mumgaard, CEO, Commonwealth Fusion Systems
- Massimiliano Pieri, Clean Tech Director, Eni Next
- Libby Wayman, Investor, Breakthrough Energy Ventures
- Anne White, Professor and Head, MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Dennis G. Whyte, Hitachi America Professor of Engineering; Director, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Audience Q&A
12:55 pm Closing thoughts
- Maria T. Zuber, Vice President for Research and E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, MIT
