Below are some profiles of ESS alumni as well as those outside of the ESS program, but with interdisciplinary education in sustainability and engineering from the University of Michigan.

Aaron Batchman
Certification Engineer
Eaton Corporation
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2011

As a certification engineer, Aaron ensures stewardship of industrial electrical products by managing compliance to safety, functional, and environmental standards. Her career goal is to increase energy efficiency in industrial settings through developing and employing electrical products capable of energy management. While at the University of Michigan, her interdisciplinary master’s project was entitled “Transmission Policies for Offshore Wind in the Great Lakes.”  Aaron is passionate about community service and participates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition outreach programs for historically underrepresented groups. Prior to studying at the University of Michigan, Aaron received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Spanish at University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. She is a USGBC LEED Green Associate.

Andres Clarens
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia
PhD Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2007

Andres Clarens is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Virginia and the Director of the Virginia Environmentally Sustainable Technologies Laboratory. His research focuses of pollution prevention and green engineering with an emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing, power and transportation systems. He has more than eight years of experience applying his formal training in surface chemistry to problems in metalworking, coal-fired power production and carbon sequestration. At present he is engaged in several projects looking at carbon cycling on a variety of scales from the micrometer scale where is exploring the geophysics of deep underground storage of carbon dioxide to the kilometer scale where he is studying systems level sequestration of carbon dioxide in engineered algae facilities.  He has also served in the United States Peace Corps developing water drinking systems for rural villages on the Dominican/Haitian border.   In addition to his PhD, Andres holds a M.S.E. in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia. In his spare time, Andres enjoys running, backpacking, fly-fishing and traveling.

Robert De Kleine
Research Specialist
Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan
ESS Sustainable Design & Manufacturing, 2009

Robb works for the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan managing and contributing to research projects as well as proposal writing.   As an ESS student, Robb analyzed the life cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and consumer cost associated with central air conditioning equipment in order to determine how homeowner decisions about when to upgrade with more efficient equipment can be used to reduce these environmental and economic burdens.  This research was published in Energy Policy, a peer-review journal.  Previously, Robb worked as a manufacturing engineer and worked with troubled teens and at-risk-youth in different roles.  He holds a B.S.E. from Calvin College in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Behavioral Science from Grand Valley State University.

Jarett Diamond
Director
The Green Brewery Project
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2012

Jarett is director of the Green Brewery Project, a sustainability consulting venture that offers energy and water systems analysis to help craft breweries enhance their sustainability and their bottom line.   This organization grew out of Jarett’s SNRE master’s project which outlined improvements in the sustainability of a local brewery leading to a half million dollar investment in sustainable technology. While in the ESS program, Jarett also participated in student-led integrated assessment for campus sustainability.  He holds a B.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. Berkeley.

Justin Gillespie
Research Analyst
CNA’s Center for Naval Analyses
PhD Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, MS SNRE, 2012

Justin is interested in helping organizations take advantage of opportunities related to resource use reduction through innovation and efficiency. He has done engineering internships with several companies in the shipbuilding and chemicals/plastics industries. His PhD research employs complex networks to better understand preliminary naval ship designs in order to make more informed design decisions. Justin received a B.S.E. and M.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellow. He is a Michigan native and enjoys most any outdoor activity, including running, biking, and boating.

Alissa Kendall
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis
PhD SNRE/Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2007

Alissa Kendall is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Before joining UC Davis in 2007, she earned a multi-disciplinary Ph.D. in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Her research uses life cycle assessment, along with other industrial ecology tools, to assess the sustainability of transportation systems, energy systems and the built environment. In parallel, she also works to develop improved methods for life cycle assessment practice, focusing particularly on the treatment of long-lived systems and climate forcing emissions. In addition to her Ph.D., Alissa received an M.S. from the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and holds a B.S.E. in Environmental Engineering from Duke University.

Michael Lepech
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
PhD Civil & Environmental Engineering

As Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford, Michael’s research focuses on the integration of sustainability indicators into engineering design, ranging from materials design, structural design, system design, to operations management. Recently, he has focused on the design of sustainable high performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs) and fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs), the impacts of sustainable materials on building and infrastructure design and operation, and the development of new life cycle assessment (LCA) applications for building systems, transportation systems, water systems, consumer products. Along with this, he is studying the effects that slowly diffusing sustainable civil engineering innovations, and the social networks they diffuse through, can have on achieving long term sustainability goals. Previously, he served as a research fellow at the Center for Sustainable Systems at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. In addition to his PhD, Michael also received his MSE in Structural Engineering from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan as well as an MBA in Strategy from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Patty Liao
Senior Analyst
Black & Veatch
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2011

Patty is analyst with Black & Vetach focused on evaluating solar power plant projects and demand response programs for utilities.  While in the ESS program, Patty completed an SNRE Master’s project with three other SNRE students, in which they developed a sustainable development plan for a non-profit and local village in Madagascar.  During 2010-2011, Patty also worked on the Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment as an Renewable Energy Analyst, helping to evaluate and design the recommendations which informed the University’s sustainability goals.  Patty split her 2011 summer between two internships, as a program analyst at the US Energy Information Administration and as a consultant intern with Black & Veatch.  Patty received her B.A. from Williams College with a double major in Physics and Asian Studies.

Jason MacDonald
Senior Scientific Engineering Associate
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2011

As a scientific engineering associate in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Demand Response Research Center, Jason analyzes market and policy barriers for demand response participation in Ancillary Services markets and develops pilots demonstrating automated demand response and electric vehicles’ capability to provide these services to the electric grid.  Prior to joining ESS, Jason worked for General Motors as an application engineer for the Chevy Volt’s transmission.  Before that, he worked in photovoltaics, as a system design engineer for a PV installation company, and in R&D for a company developing solar concentrator technology.  As a part of ESS, Jason conducted research on the intersection between plug-in vehicles and the electric grid.  Jason holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Meredith Neely
Meredith Neely
Senior Staff Engineer at Geosyntec Consultants
ESS Sustainable Water Resources, 2012

Meredith is interested in using integrated water resource management strategies to close the loop around water supply, wastewater, stormwater, and natural water systems. Prior to starting her graduate studies, she worked in environmental consulting where she focused primarily on groundwater remediation. She is currently working on her master’s project as part of a multi-disciplinary team working for a social entrepreneurial company that provides drinking water to remote communities in rural India. The project team is developing creative and sustainable management strategies and opportunities for reuse of their brine wastewater stream for over 120 locations. Meredith earned her bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Michigan. She enjoys spending time outdoors whenever she has a chance, including biking, hiking, and taking long walks in the woods.

Nathan Niese

Consultant
The Boston Consulting Group
PhD Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering/MS SNRE, 2012

Nathan is interested in life cycle design within the transportation sector. Nathan was named a NDSEG Fellow in 2008 after completing his undergraduate degree in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering at UofM. His research uses decision theory to evaluate the early stage design of systems and systems-of-systems subject to physical, technological, market, and political disturbances. Nathan uses knowledge from past internships with the U.S. Navy and a forensic investigation consulting firm to better understand the design and operational challenges associated with marine vessels of various shapes and sizes. He has served in a leadership role with the non-defunct Emerging Green Builders—Detroit chapter, an arm of the USGBC dedicated to young professionals. He also remains active on campus and in the community, coaching a local girls’ soccer team, playing soccer and volleyball, and serving as Resident Scholar for a campus fraternity.

Allie Schafer
Mechanical Engineer
Novelis
Engineering Sustainable Systems, 2010

Allie is a mechanical engineer for Novellis, a major producer of aluminum can stock and industrial sheet.  During her graduate studies, she conducted research on the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle on the state of Michigan electrical grid.  She holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Central Michigan University.
.
.

Ryan Smith
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2011

Ryan Smith has worked as a project engineer for NextEnergy Center, a Detroit-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of renewable energy technology in the State of Michigan.  During his time at NextEnergy Center, Ryan managed several technology projects ranging from renewable energy electronics modules for the military to the advancement of hydrogen codes and standards, working with clients from the DOE, DoD, EPA, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).  During his time at U-M, Ryan has been involved in the campus-wide Integrated Assessment project and served as executive board member of the Student Sustainability Initiative.  Ryan also worked at the U-M Center for Sustainable Systems to conduct sustainability research.  Ryan developed his master’s project with client Swedish Biogas International, LLC, in 2010 and recruited a team of 4 motivated students to work on the project in Winter 2011.  In this project Ryan is working on a life-cycle assessment model for the creation of energy from biogas created during anaerobic digestion at wastewater treatment plants, and determining value-added applications for the solid waste that is expelled from these plants.  Ryan plans to graduate in April 2012 and then to travel to Liberia, Africa and help develop math, science, and English education for universities.  Ryan graduated in 2007 from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in alternative energy.

Ajay Varadharajan
Business Analyst/Consultant
Ford Motor Company
ESS Sustainable Energy Systems, 2011

Ajay is business analyst/consultant at Ford Motor Company.   Prior to joining ESS, Ajay has interned in GE – Energy, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and has presented a paper of LCA of biodiesel at the World Renewable Energy Congress held in Glasgow. His experience studying ESS landed him with internships at the International Council on Clean Transportation and the sustainability division at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy for the last two summers. He has also worked at CSS on analyzing the environmental impact of PHEVs in Michigan as well as the UM Campus Integrated Sustainability Assessment project. Ajay’s SNRE Master’s project was to perform an energy and water resource assessment at Mpala Research Center in Kenya and provide recommendations to develop those sustainably. He studied Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology – Trichy, India for his undergraduate studies.

Dan Wilson
Renewable Energy Consultant
Black & Veatch
ESS Energy Systems Engineering, 2010

Dan works for Black & Veatch in Southern California, advising companies that are pursuing renewable energy projects and government agencies seeking to understand sustainable energy options.  In his current position, he has studied grid interconnection options for solar PV developers, helped utilities streamline solar rebate programs for their customers, aided in developing high-level transmission expansion plans to reach renewable resources, produced detailed estimates of solar PV plant performance, and created a proprietary database of renewable energy technology cost information.  While at UM, he was part of a Master’s project group that performed the first life cycle assessment of organic milk production in the U.S., including energy use, GHG emissions, water use, solid waste and nutrient use.  He also worked on the Energy team of the campus Integrated Assessment project, analyzing the costs and benefits of a biomass combined heat and power plant for the University.  He was born and raised in Alaska, loves biking and hiking and deep-sea halibut fishing, and holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis.

Julie Zimmerman
Associate Professor
School of Engineering and Applied Science/School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
PhD SNRE/Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2003.

Julie is an Associate Professor of Green Engineering jointly appointed in the School of Engineering and Applied Science (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering) and the School of Forestry and Environment at Yale University.  Dr. Zimmerman also serves as the Acting Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale. Her research interests include green chemistry and engineering, systems dynamics modeling of natural and engineered water systems, environmentally benign design and manufacturing, the fate and impacts of anthropogenic compounds in the environment as well as appropriate water treatment technologies for the developing world. She also conducts research on corporate environmental behavior and governance interventions to enhance the integration of sustainability in industry and academia.  She previously served as an Engineer in the Office of Research and Development at the United States Environmental Protection Agency where she managed grants to academia and small businesses in the areas of pollution prevention and sustainability and launched EPA’s P3 (People, Prosperity, and the Planet) Award Program: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability.  In addition to her joint Ph.D., Julie received an M.S. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at the University of Michigan, and she holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia.