On June 12, 2022, Morten Svendstorp joined the EEMI as a Visiting Scholar. Morten currently is a strategic advisor to the Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities and previously was a senior advisor on climate, energy and the environment at the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 2015-17. Prior to that he was a political advisor to the Danish Social Democratic Party in the Danish Parliament from 2010-2015.
Doctoral student Olawale Ogunrinde (Wale) graduated with his Ph.D. degree in May 2022 and joined the Renewable Energy Group as a Senior Analyst in the Business Development Unit.
In March 2022, EEMI Co-Director Joe Cascio presented a plenary lecture at The Eisenhower School's Environment and Climate Industry Study of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C. The program director, Greg Foster, wrote after the event “Sincere thanks for your characteristically superb presentation and fielding of questions this morning. As always, you were terrific and obviously had the students in the palm of your hand. I’m indebted to you for once again elevating the sights and broadening the perspectives of our students.”
Eliese Ottinger, an EMSE Junior majoring in Systems Engineering, presented her research exploring whether people drive electric vehicles differently than gasoline vehicles. The goal of her research was to determine whether electric vehicle technology is prepared to support the market for people who drive cars. Eliese studied odometer data from used car listings and found that people tend to drive electric vehicles less than gasoline vehicles. An article on the EAS R&D Showcase that described Eliese’s research project can be seen at https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/student-research-shines-seas-rd-showcase.
EEMI Visiting Scholar Ambassador Andras Simonyi was discussed by Stephen Colbert and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the May 19, 2022, Colbert Late Show. Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Simonyi sometimes play together in Simonyi band “Coalition of the Willing.” View the clip from the show here.
EEM Master’s graduate Stephanie Gonzalez was awarded the Sustainable Development Track Best Paper award by the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers for her paper “How Systemic Thinking Can be Applied to Building Energy Efficiency” at the 2022 IISE annual conference.
On May 13, 2022, EEM doctoral student Dr. Seth Barna graduated with his Ph.D. degree. Seth’s dissertation topic was “ Toward the Development of a Solar Prosumer Culture: Testing the Effectiveness of Simulation Models.” A paper describing the results of Seth’s research can be found here.
On March 2, 2022, EEMI Director of Professional Education Dr. Ed Saltzberg and EEMI Visiting Scholar Ambassador András Simonyi hosted European Commission Director-General for Health and Food Security Sandra Gallina in a webinar focused on the current major humanitarian crisis involving millions of displaced Ukrainians coming to EU countries. Ms. Gallina addressed the issue of how the European Commission is responding to that challenge.
Ambassador Andras Simonyi, Dr. Ed Saltzberg
EEM Master’s graduate Zgjim Brina recently began a new full-time job as a Hardware Project Manager at the U.S.-based communications/collaborations company Solaborate, located in Prishtina, the capital of Zgjim home country of Kosovo.
Active EEMI researcher Assistant Professor Payman Dehghanian of the ECE Department received the 2022 OVPR Early Career Researcher Award. This award is presented annually to one GW faculty member who has received their terminal degree in the past 10 years and is "recognized as a most promising up-and-coming researcher, whose trajectory has shown remarkable early success with more to come." In May 2022, it was announced that Payman also was selected as one of the top 10 finalists among the approximately 200 applications for this year’s Moore Inventor Fellows.
EMSE Assistant Professor John Paul Helveston had an op-ed published in The Hill newspaper on May 5, 2022. In his article, Prof. Helveston explained why the U.S. should not continue Trump-era tariffs on Chinese solar panels, but instead should be partnering with Chinese firms to obtain low-cost technologies and components to increase domestic deployment of renewables as fast as possible, thereby helping the U.S. to decarbonize. Prof. Helveston’s article can be seen at https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3473602-tariffs-wont-build-a-robust-us-solar-industry/. Prof. Helveston also conducted a lengthy interview on the Chinese television station CGTN America. His interview, which was broadcast in May 2022, can be seen at (https://www.cgtnnow.com/videos/full-frame-going-green. Prof. Helveston’s interview starts at about the 30:45 mark.
On June 10, 2022, EEMI Visiting Scholars Ambassador András Simonyi and Morten Svendstorp published an article in the Atlantic Council entitled “How Nordic wind and wealth can wean Europe off Putin’s gas.” The article can be seen at https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/energysource/how-nordic-wind-and-wealth-can-wean-europe-off-putins-gas/.
In March 2022, EEM graduate Corry Westbrook published her first book, a fictional novel entitled “The Shooting.” Corry graduated from GW in 1998. She has utilized her degree throughout her career, working for the Environmental Protection Agency and several conservation organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, Oceana, World Wildlife Fund and currently the Endangered Species Coalition. Corry loves weaving real world topics and crises into suspenseful sci-fi and fantasy. More about Corry and her work can be seen at www.ckwestbrook.com.