Accelerating the Transition to a Sustainable Future
To benefit from this discounted rate, guests are encouraged to make their reservations using the provided reservation link by no later than September 26, 2024.
The transition to a sustainable future is driving a fundamental change in the global economy, challenging existing structures while accelerating innovation and forging new markets. To meet this generational challenge, stakeholders across industry, government, and academia are committing to ambitious net-zero goals while seeking to drive growth.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth has called climate change the “greatest scientific and societal challenge of this or any age.” To address this challenge, MIT has developed a plan to “do bigger things faster.” The 2024 MIT Sustainability Conference will highlight leading MIT faculty, researchers, and MIT-connected startups aligned with this mission. Experts will share advancements related to energy generation and storage, carbon capture, and the decarbonization of industry. The impact of AI will be explored, in terms of both its unprecedented energy demands and its potential as a tool in climate mitigation.
Participants are invited to take advantage of collaboration opportunities across MIT’s innovation ecosystem to amplify their impact.
Dr. Srinivasan is a distinguished scientist who received her PhD in Microbiology from The Ohio State University in 2004, where she contributed to the discovery of the 22nd amino acid, Pyrrolysine (2002). She first came to MIT as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof. Tom Rajbhandary’s lab, where her research focused on understanding protein synthesis mechanisms in Archaea.
Dr. Srinivasan subsequently moved into the business development and technology licensing space, serving in MIT’s Technology Licensing Office, where she helped commercialize technologies in medical devices and alternative energies. She then moved to UMass Medical School’s Office of Technology Management in 2009 and to Emory University in Atlanta in 2014 as the Director of Public and Private Partnerships for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. In 2019, Dr. Srinivasan joined Emory’s Office of Corporate Relations as Executive Director, and in 2021, she led the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.
Rebekah Miller joined the Office of Corporate Relations team as a Program Director in March 2022. Rebekah brings to the OCR expertise in the life sciences and chemical industries as well as in applications including sensors, consumer electronics, semiconductors and renewable energy.
Prior to joining the OCR, Rebekah worked for over a decade at Merck KGaA, most recently as a Global Key Account Manager in the Semiconductor division. Rebekah also served as Head of Business and Technology Development for the Semiconductor Specialty Accounts, during which time she led strategic planning and technology roadmapping.
While at Merck KGaA, Miller established a strong track record in industry-university partnerships, corporate entrepreneurship, and innovation management, with experience in roles spanning Technology Scouting, Alliance Management, and New Business Development. Early in her career, she led early phase R&D projects as a member of the Boston Concept Lab, which focused on technology transfer from academia.
Miller earned her B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. in Chemistry, with a Designated Emphasis in Nanoscale Science and Engineering, from the University of California, Berkeley. She first joined MIT as a postdoctoral associate in the Bioengineering and Material Science Departments.
Program Director, MIT Industrial Liaison Program
Yuri Ramos brings 20 years of international experience, having worked with Information Technology for multinational companies in his native Brazil, throughout South America and in the United States. Before MIT, Yuri was with Santander Bank N.A., where he first worked as a Sr. Manager for online and mobile initiatives, and then as Chief of Staff for the CIO of Digital Channels.
Prior to Santander, Yuri was the co-founder and CEO of 2 startups in the EdTech space. In both endeavors he was responsible for strategy, business development and operations. Before this entrepreneurial period, Yuri held positions at Universo Online – Brazil’s largest Internet portal - as Director of Operations and Senior Manager; at ACISION as Engineering Manager (Latin America Operations) and Senior Project Manager; and at Nortel Networks as Project Manager.
Yuri earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Brasilia, and his MBA at MIT where he was a Sloan Fellow.
Institute Innovation Fellow, MIT Former Director of the White House National Economic Council
Brian Deese is the current Institute Innovation Fellow at MIT and the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, where he is focused on researching and developing strategies to address climate change and promote sustainable economic growth.
As the former Director of the White House National Economic Council, Deese advised President Biden on domestic and international economic policy and coordinated the economic agenda of the Biden‐Harris Administration. A former senior advisor to President Obama, Deese was instrumental in engineering the rescue of the U.S. auto industry and negotiating the landmark Paris Climate Agreement. Deese is a crisis‐tested advisor with broad experience in accelerating economic prosperity, empowering working Americans, and harnessing the economic opportunities that come from building a clean energy economy and combating the climate crisis.
Previously, Deese also served as the global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, where he worked to drive greater focus on climate and sustainability risk in investment portfolios and create investment strategies to help accelerate the low‐carbon transition. During the Obama‐Biden Administration, Deese served as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget and deputy director of the National Economic Council.
Deese received his B.A. from Middlebury College and his JD from Yale Law School.
Interim Vice President for Climate, MIT Japan Steel Industry Professor, and Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE)
Richard Lester is vice president for climate pro tem, Japan Steel Industry Professor, and professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From 2015 through August 2024 Lester served as MIT’s inaugural vice provost (formerly associate provost) for international activities, responsible for providing intellectual leadership, guidance, and oversight of the Institute’s international policies and engagements. In that role, he led the development of the Institute’s first global strategy; championed new MIT research and educational activities, especially in Africa and Asia; worked to enhance the international educational experiences available to MIT students; and served as President of MIT International.
Lester also served as the architect of MIT’s global geopolitical risk management processes and chaired the Institute’s Senior Risk Group, helping to introduce critical assessments and guidance for faculty, research staff, and administrators to identify and manage risk and ensure successful collaborations with international parties.
As convenor and co-chair of the MIT China Strategy Group, Richard crafted an influential 2022 report to develop principles and recommendations for how MIT should approach its academic interactions and collaborations with China. The report outlines approaches that uphold MIT’s core values and advance knowledge for the benefit of the nation and the world, without endangering human rights or damaging US interests in security or the economy.
Lester has also been active in advancing MIT’s efforts on climate research and innovation. Most recently, he served as the architect of the Climate Project at MIT and he previously spearheaded MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges.
From 2009 to 2015, Lester headed MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, leading the department successfully through a period of rapid rebuilding and strategic renewal. He is also the founder and faculty chair of the MIT Industrial Performance Center.
Lester’s research focuses on innovation, productivity, and industrial strategy, and under his leadership the MIT Industrial Performance Center conducted multiple major studies of local, regional and national innovation and industry performance.
Lester is also well known for his teaching and research on energy and climate policy and nuclear technology innovation, management, and control. He has been a longtime advocate of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel cycle technologies to improve the safety and economic performance of nuclear power, and his studies in the field of nuclear waste management helped provide the foundation for new institutional and technological strategies to deal with this long-standing problem.
Lester’s most recent book, Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System, written with David Hart, outlined a strategy for mobilizing America’s innovation resources in support of a decades-long transition to an affordable and reliable low-carbon global energy system. Lester is also the author or co-author of seven other books, including The Productive Edge: A New Strategy for Economic Growth; Innovation —The Missing Dimension (with Michael Piore); Making Technology Work: Applications in Energy and the Environment (with John Deutch); Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge (with Michael Dertouzos and Robert Solow), and Radioactive Waste: Management and Regulation (with Mason Willrich).
Lester obtained his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College and earned his PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. He has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1979. He served as chair of the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, and more recently served as founding chair of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Global Nuclear Forum. He has been an advisor to governments, corporations, foundations, and nonprofit groups.
The Climate Project at MIT is a major new effort to change the trajectory of global climate outcomes for the better over the next decade. It will focus MIT’s strengths on six broad climate-related areas where progress is urgently needed. The mission directors in these fields, representing diverse areas of expertise, will collaborate with faculty and researchers across MIT and each other to accelerate solutions that address climate change.
This session will feature MIT Climate Mission Directors sharing their perspectives and near-term plans for impact.
Executive Editor, MIT Technology Review
Amy Nordrum is an executive editor at MIT Technology Review. She joined the staff as a commissioning editor in July 2020. Amy previously worked as a news manager for
IEEE Spectrum. For six years, she was a regular contributor to the popular radio show Science Friday. Amy has a master’s degree in Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting from New York University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Her career mission is to build sustainable newsrooms that empower journalists to do their best work.
George P. Shultz Professor of Applied Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management Associate Dean for Climate and Sustainability, MIT Sloan School of Management MIT Climate Project Mission Director for “Inventing New Policy Approaches”
Christopher Knittel is the Associate Dean for Climate and Sustainability, the George P. Shultz Professor, and a Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to MIT Sloan, Knittel taught at the University of California, Davis, and Boston University. His research focuses on industrial organization, environmental economics, and applied econometrics.
Knittel is an associate editor of The American Economic Journal— Economic Policy, The Journal of Industrial Economics, and the Journal of Energy Markets. His research has appeared in The American Economic Review, The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Industrial Economics, The Energy Journal, and other academic journals. He also is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in the Productivity, Industrial Organization, and Energy and Environmental Economics groups.
Knittel holds a BA in economics and political science from California State University, Stanislaus; an MA in economics from the University of California, Davis; and a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Alan and Terri Spoon Professor of Architecture and Climate, MIT Department of Architecture Director, Building Technology Program MIT Climate Project Mission Director for “Building and Adapting Healthy, Resilient Cities”
Christoph Reinhart is a building scientist and architectural educator working in the field of sustainable building design and environmental modeling. At MIT he is leading the Sustainable Design Lab (SDL), an inter-disciplinary group with a grounding in architecture that develops design workflows, planning tools, and metrics to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings and neighborhoods. He is also a managing member of Solemma, a technology company, and Harvard University spinoff and served as strategic development advisor and cofounder for MIT spinoff mapdwell until it joined Palmetto Clean Technology in 2021. Products originating from SDL and Solemma are used in practice and education in over 90 countries.
Before joining MIT in 2012, Christoph led the sustainable design concentration area at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design where the student forum voted him the 2009 Teacher of the Year for the Department of Architecture. From 1997 to 2008 Christoph worked as a staff scientist at the National Research Council of Canada and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany. He has authored over 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles including two textbooks on daylighting and seven book chapters. His work has been supported by a variety of organizations from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the Governments of Canada, Germany, Kuwait, and Portugal to Autodesk, Exelon, Kalwall, Philips, Saint Gobain, Shell, and United Technology Corporation.
Christoph’s work has been recognized with various awards among them a Fraunhofer Bessel Prize by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2018), the IBPSA-USA Distinguished Achievement Award (2016), a Star of Building in Science award by Buildings4Change magazine (2013) and seven best paper awards. Mapdwell has been recognized with FastCompany’s Design by Innovation 2015 award for Data Visualization as well as a Sustainia 100 award. Christoph is a physicist by training and holds a doctorate in architecture from the Technical University of Karlsruhe.
Associate Professor, MIT Department of Architecture Associate Head for Strategy and Equity, MIT Department of Architecture Director, Urban Risk Lab MIT Climate Project Mission Director for “Empowering Frontline Communities”
Architect and Landscape architect Miho Mazereeuw is an associate professor of architecture and urbanism at MIT and is the director of the Urban Risk Lab. Working on a large, territorial scale with an interest in public spaces and the urban experience, Mazereeuw is known for her work in disaster resilience.
In the Urban Risk Lab, multi-disciplinary groups of researchers work to innovate on technologies, materials, processes, and systems to reduce risk. Operating on several scales, the Lab develops methods to embed risk reduction and preparedness into the design of the regions, cities, and urban spaces to increase the resilience of local communities.
Miho Mazereeuw taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and the University of Toronto prior to joining the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an Arthur W. Wheelwright Fellow, she is completing her forthcoming book entitled Preemptive Design: Disaster and Urban Development along the Pacific Ring of Fire featuring case studies on infrastructure design, multifunctional public space, and innovative planning strategies in earthquake-prone regions. Her design work on disaster prevention has been exhibited globally. As the director of the Urban Risk Lab at MIT, Mazereeuw is collaborating on a number of projects with institutions and organizations in the field of disaster reconstruction/prevention and is currently working in Haiti, India, Japan, and Chile.
Mazereeuw was formerly an Associate at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and has also worked in the offices of Shigeru Ban and Dan Kiley. Mazereeuw completed a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Sculpture and Environmental Science at Wesleyan University and her Master in Architecture and Landscape Architecture with Distinction at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was awarded the Janet Darling Webel Prize and the Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship.
Associate Professor, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering MIT Climate Project Mission Director for “Wild Cards”
Benedetto Marelli is an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research group focuses on structural biopolymers, nanomanufacturing, and self-assembly. By using biofabrication strategies, his group designs bio-inspired materials that work at the biotic-abiotic interface to mitigate and prevent environmental impact with applications in precision agriculture, food safety, and food security. His interests include materials-based solutions to reduce food waste, mitigate environmental stress, and enable the delivery of bioactive cargo molecules in plants.
Marelli’s honors include an NSF Career Award, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Marelli earned a BE and an MS in biomedical engineering from Polytechnic University of Milan, and a PhD in materials science and engineering from McGill University.
Director, MIT Office of Sustainability
Julie Newman, Ph.D. joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 as the founding Director of Sustainability for the institute, where she was charged with launching the Office of Sustainability and is a lecturer with the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. In 2004, Julie founded the Office of Sustainability at Yale University where she held a lecturer appointment with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to that she assisted with the launch of the University of New Hampshire Sustainability Institute in 1997. Dr. Newman participates as an editor for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, lectures and consults for universities both nationally and internationally, and participate on a variety of boards and advisory committees.
Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator, Supercomputing Center at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Dr. Vijay Gadepally is a Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory and a Visiting Scientist with MIT Connection Science. At Lincoln Laboratory, Vijay leads the research efforts of the Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center. Vijay’s research interests include high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, high-performance databases, and environmentally-friendly computing. Vijay is also the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Radium Cloud – a company focused on providing high-performance cloud computing for AI workloads – and advises multiple early-stage venture-backed startups. Vijay holds a M.Sc. and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The Ohio State University and a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Vijay’s research in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and environmentally-friendly computing has been featured in numerous articles in the popular press and has received numerous scholarly awards at various conferences. In 2017, Vijay was named to AFCEA’s inaugural 40 under 40 list and was awarded MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Early Career Technical Achievement Award. In 2011, Vijay received an Outstanding Graduate Student Award at The Ohio State University.
The energy requirements of data centers in the United States is on the order of millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually, and the demand is forecasted to increase significantly over the coming years. In this presentation, Dr. Vijay Gadepally of MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory will share strategies for reducing energy use of high-performance computing applications, improving energy transparency, and incentivizing data center users to reduce their carbon footprint.
Assistant Professor, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Assistant Professor, MIT Laboratory for Information & Decision Systems Co-founder and Chair, Climate Change AI
Dr. Priya Donti is an Assistant Professor and the Silverman (1968) Family Career Development Professor at MIT EECS and LIDS. She is also a co-founder and Chair of Climate Change AI, a global nonprofit initiative to catalyze impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning.
Prof. Donti’s research focuses on machine learning for forecasting, optimization, and control in high-renewables power grids. Methodologically, this entails exploring ways to incorporate relevant physics, hard constraints, and decision-making procedures into deep learning workflows.
She was a recipient of the MIT Technology Review’s 2021 “35 Innovators Under 35” award and the 2022 ACM SIGEnergy Doctoral Dissertation Award.
Prior to joining MIT, she was a Runway Startup Postdoc at Cornell Tech and the Jacobs Institute. She received her Ph.D. from the Computer Science Department and the Department of Engineering & Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), co-advised by Zico Kolter and Inês Azevedo.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges that society faces today, requiring rapid action from across society. In this talk, I will describe how machine learning can be a potentially powerful tool for addressing climate change when applied in coordination with policy, engineering, and other areas of action. From energy to agriculture to disaster response, I will describe high-impact problems where machine learning can help through avenues such as distilling decision-relevant information, optimizing complex systems, and accelerating scientific experimentation. I will also describe key considerations for the responsible development and deployment of such work. While this talk will primarily discuss opportunities for machine learning to help address climate change, it is worth noting that machine learning is a general-purpose technology that can be used for applications that both help and hinder climate action. In addition, machine learning has its own computational and hardware footprint. I will therefore briefly present a framework for understanding and contextualizing machine learning’s overall climate impacts, and describe associated considerations for machine learning research and practice as a whole.
Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.
Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.
Co-Founder & CEO, Electrified Thermal Solutions, Inc.
Daniel Stack is the Co-founder and CEO of Electrified Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ETS), a new technology startup that is decarbonizing industry with electrified heat. He earned his PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a specialization in energy conversion and thermal energy storage. His doctoral inventions form the foundation of ETS and its flagship product, the Joule Hive™ thermal battery. Daniel is an Activate fellow of the 2021 Boston cohort, an awardee of ARPA-E SEED, and a representative on the Long Duration Energy Storage Council. He has authored and co-authored a variety of papers on electrified thermal energy storage in academic and industry journals, and has spoken at various energy conferences, workshops, and panels on repowering industrial processes and power plants with electrified thermal energy storage.
Co-Founder & CEO, 3D Architech
Kai Narita is an innovator and engineer leading the 3D printing technology development. He has a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and received his master’s in Engineering and bachelor’s degree from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Co-Founder & CEO, Helix Carbon
Evan Haas is CEO & Co-Founder of Helix Carbon, an industrial decarbonization company that turns CO2 into carbon-negative industrial chemicals. Prior to Helix, he was the Senior Fellow at E14 Fund, the MIT-affiliated venture fund that invests in deep technology startups, and a consultant at BCG where he focused on military aerospace and climate technology commercialization & policy with Breakthrough Energy and the Biden Administration. Evan holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Yale University an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from MIT.
Chief Technology Officer, Allonnia
Dr. Kent Sorenson is a globally recognized expert with over 25 years of experience in innovative remediation technologies for water, soil, and sediments across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has pioneered advancements in bioremediation, chemical oxidation, chemical reduction, thermal remediation, monitored natural attenuation, and more, and was honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers with the 2020 Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research. He holds six U.S. patents related to in situ bioremediation and technologies to install solid-phase amendments in the subsurface to treat low permeability sites and is currently focusing on the development of technologies for the treatment of PFAS-contaminated water.
Kent has worked at nearly 200 sites worldwide and has coauthored over 40 scientific publications and over 180 presentations at various national and international conferences and symposia.
Founder and CEO, Noya
Josh Santos is co-founder and CEO of Noya, an Oakland-based startup that is reversing climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Josh holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT and has experience building B2B products and services from scratch, scaling technology as a Project Manager on the Tesla Model 3 program, and leading R&D teams as the first ever Program Manager for Harley Davidson’s electric vehicle division. In his free time, Josh enjoys reading and sailing in the San Francisco Bay.
Co-Founder & CEO, Sesame Sustainability
Emre Gençer is a principal research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and Co-Founder and CEO of Sesame Sustainability.
Gencer is the lead developer and chief architect of a novel software platform called Sustainable Energy Systems Analysis Modeling Environment (SESAME), which provides comprehensive cost and sustainability assessment for the converging electric power, transportation, and industrial sectors to decision makers and technology analysts with high technological, temporal, and geospatial resolution. He was the lead on the chemical storage chapter of The Future of Energy Storage report and co-lead on the thermal storage chapter.
Gencer holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. He received both a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Co-Founder, Femto Energy TEPCO Professor, MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Jacopo Buongiorno is the TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, where he teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in thermo-fluids engineering and nuclear reactor engineering. Jacopo has published over 70 journal articles in the areas of reactor safety and design, two-phase flow and heat transfer, and nanofluid technology. For his research work and his teaching at MIT, he won several awards, including, recently, the Ruth and Joel Spira Award (MIT, 2015), and the Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award (American Nuclear Society, 2011). He is the Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Systems (CANES), which is one of eight Low-Carbon-Energy Centers (LCEC) of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), as well as the Director of the MIT study on the Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World. Jacopo is a consultant for the nuclear industry in the area of reactor thermal-hydraulics and a member of the Accrediting Board of the National Academy of Nuclear Training. He is also a member of the Naval Studies Board (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), the American Nuclear Society (including service on its Special Committee on Fukushima in 2011-2012), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a participant in the Defense Science Study Group (2014-2015).
Emmanuel Kasseris is the co-founder and CEO of Emvolon, an MIT spin-off, that converts greenhouse gas emissions into carbon-negative fuels and chemicals like green methanol and green ammonia. Emmanuel has over twenty years of experience in managing advanced technology projects and raising capital in the energy industry. He has led multiple new energy technologies from concept to full-scale pilot implementation while at Chevron and ConocoPhillips. Emmanuel holds a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.
Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management, Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management
Donald R. Lessard is the Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management and Professor of Systems Engineering, Emeritus, at MIT. He advises companies, governments, and universities and continues his research on global strategic management and large-scale (infrastructure and energy) project management.
Lessard joined the MIT faculty in 1973 after three years at Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School. At MIT, he has taught international financial management and global strategy and has led numerous academic and executive programs. He served as Deputy Dean of the Sloan School with responsibilities for research, international programs, and executive education. He was co-chair of the MIT Energy Education Task Force that launched the Institute-wide undergraduate energy minor, for which he was recognized as a Class of 1960 Professor. He also was the founding faculty director of the MIT Executive MBA, and pioneered its signature GO-Lab.
A leader in international management education, Lessard has served as President of the Academy of International Business and Dean of the Fellows of the Academy. In 2014 he received the Pathfinder Award from the Engineering Projects Organization Society for his lifetime contributions to the field.
Lessard has led major consulting assignments with firms, banks, and government agencies throughout the world. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of 4DPath,
Lessard earned his BA in Latin American studies and his MBA and PhD in business administration from Stanford University.
This session will explore the critical need for innovation across various sectors to enhance sustainability in industrial processes. Participants will examine the interplay between advanced technologies, progressive public policies, and innovative business models that can drive significant improvements in environmental performance. Through case studies and expert insights, attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of how integrating these elements can lead to transformative changes, ultimately fostering a more sustainable future for industries worldwide. Join us to uncover practical strategies and collaborative approaches that can facilitate this essential transition.
Professor of the Practice, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning Former Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and IPC Former Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Economic Development
Elisabeth B. Reynolds, Ph.D., is Professor of the Practice at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. She was Special Assistant to President Biden for Manufacturing and Economic Development at the National Economic Council (NEC, 2021-2022) where she helped lead the Administration’s work on national manufacturing strategy, supply chain resilience, and industrial strategy. Before working at the NEC, Reynolds was a Principal Research Scientist and executive director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center (2010-2021), an interdisciplinary research center focused on systems of innovation and industrial transformation. She also co-led the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future (2018-2021) which examined the relationship between emerging technologies and work. Reynolds’ work and research focus on systems of innovation and manufacturing including growing innovative firms to scale and digital technology adoption.
Reynolds has worked on rebuilding manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. in a number of capacities including advising three Massachusetts governors. She is on the board of the non-profits, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) and the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) as well as an advisor to the Special Competitive Studies Project, a Washington think tank focused on national security and critical technologies.
Professor, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Professor Chiang earned a BS in materials science and engineering from MIT in 1980 and a doctorate in ceramics from MIT in 1985. Today, his laboratory’s work ranges from basic research to process and prototype development. He has brought several laboratory discoveries to commercialization, including high-power lithium iron phosphate batteries, more efficient lithium-ion battery manufacturing processes, batteries for long-duration grid storage, and electrochemical cement production. He co-directs a flagship project under MIT Climate Grand Challenges on the decarbonization of industrial materials production.
VP of Policy and Business Development, Sublime Systems
Joe Hicken is Vice President of Business Development and Policy at Sublime Systems, a company on a mission to have a swift and massive impact on global CO2 emissions with a breakthrough process that can manufacture cement without fossil fuels or limestone. At Sublime, Joe leads the company’s efforts to engage with national leaders dramatically reducing their greenhouse gas emissions profile with low-embodied carbon construction materials. Prior to his work in climate technology for the last 6 years, Joe spent a decade in Washington DC, as an Obama Administration political appointee at the GSA and the Pentagon, and as a staff member in the US House of Representatives.
Executive Director, MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium
Dr. Jeremy Gregory is Executive Director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC). He has extensive experience in working with industry partners and diverse stakeholders across MIT. Through his research, Dr. Gregory studies the economic and environmental implications of engineering and system design decisions, particularly in the area of materials production and recovery systems. His research topics include product and firm environmental footprinting, manufacturing and life-cycle cost analysis, and characterization of sustainable material systems. He has applied these methods, often with industry partners, to a range of different products and industries including pavements, buildings, automobiles, electronics, consumer goods, and waste treatment and recovery.
In addition, Dr. Gregory has served as a Faculty Fellow within MIT’s Office of Sustainability since 2018. In this role, he has collaborated with administration, faculty, staff, and students across campus to conduct analyses related to strategies for lowering MIT’s environmental footprint, with a focus on scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
Prior to joining the MCSC, Dr. Gregory served as Executive Director of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, where he worked directly with industry leaders; drew links between academia, industry, and government; helped define strategy; and coordinated research activities with external collaborators.
Previously, Dr. Gregory was the Education Coordinator for the MIT Portugal Program’s Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing Focus Area, where he built education and research activities between MIT, three Portuguese universities, and numerous Portuguese companies.
He holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Montana State University-Bozeman, and a master of science and PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT.
Computing & Climate Impact Fellow, MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium
Noman Bashir is the Computing & Climate Impact Fellow at MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) and an affiliate with MIT CSAIL. Before joining MIT, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at UMass Amherst. He also earned his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from UMass Amherst in 2022.
Noman's research focuses on decarbonizing societal infrastructure, including large-scale data centers, distributed edge computing systems, and cyber-physical energy systems. His work has made impactful contributions towards enhancing the efficiency and performance of energy systems, developing equitable approaches to decarbonize various societal sectors, reducing the cost of cloud computing for end-users, and enhancing the sustainability of computing.
The rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) neglects consideration of negative effects alongside expected benefits. This incomplete cost calculation promotes unchecked growth and a risk of unjustified techno-optimism with potential environmental consequences, including expanding demand for computing power, larger carbon footprints, and an accelerated depletion of natural resources. The current siloed focus on efficiency improvements results instead in increased adoption without fundamentally considering the vast sustainability implications of Gen-AI.
In this talk, I will propose that responsible development of Gen-AI requires a focus on sustainability beyond only efficiency improvements and necessitates benefit-cost evaluation frameworks that encourage (or require) Gen-AI to develop in ways that support social and environmental sustainability goals alongside economic opportunity. However, a comprehensive value consideration is complex and requires detailed analysis, coordination, innovation, and adoption across diverse stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders, including technical and sociotechnical experts, corporate entities, policymakers, and civil society, in a benefit-cost analysis would foster development in the most urgent and impactful directions while reducing unsustainable practices. More details are in our white paper, which is accessible at MIT Gen-AI Sustainability White Paper.
Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Dr. Björn Lütjens is a postdoctoral associate in the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, where he develops advanced machine learning approaches to tackle climate change, together with Prof. Raffaele Ferrari and Prof. Noelle Selin. To overcome the computational complexity of climate models, his focus is on reshaping machine learning models into fast copies, or 'surrogates', of climate models, without sacrificing the physical consistency of these surrogates. His research is part of the MIT Climate Grand Challenge BC3. Dr. Lütjens’ research has won grants from NSF, Climatechange.ai, ESA, Portugal Space, NASA, IBM, Microsoft, NVIDIA, MIT Pkg, and MIT Legatum. He has earned a Ph.D. from MIT with Prof. Dava Newman in machine learning and earth system modeling, an M.Sc. from MIT with Prof. Jon How in safe and robust deep reinforcement learning, and a B.Sc. from Technical University of Munich in Engineering Science.
Climate models are computationally very expensive for exploring the impacts of climate policies. For example, simulating the impacts of a single policy emission scenario can take multiple weeks and cost hundreds of thousands of USD in computing. Compellingly, deep learning models can now forecast the weather in seconds rather than hours in comparison to conventional weather models and are being proposed to achieve similar reductions by approximating climate models. Climate approximations or emulators, however, have already been developed since the 1990s and I will present how we implemented a linear regression-based emulator that outperforms a novel 100M-parameter transformer-based deep learning emulator on the most common climate emulation benchmark. I will use our results to discuss more nuanced insights highlighting how chaotic dynamics influence emulator performance and use cases where deep-learning emulators can improve existing linear emulators.
Impact Fellow, MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium
Dr. Danika MacDonell is an MCSC Impact Fellow. She holds a PhD in Experimental High-Energy Physics from the University of Victoria, where she co-led a novel search for dark matter using data from the international ATLAS experiment located at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and worked to advance computationally reproducible research at the LHC.
Drawing on a robust background in computational analysis, Dr. MacDonell’s major focus as an Impact Fellow is to apply system-level analysis to inform the development of decarbonization pathways in the areas of heavy-duty trucking, shipping and aviation. These tough-to-decarbonize transportation modes are critical drivers of the global economy, but actionable solutions are urgently needed to prevent them from dominating global greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.
This presentation shares the journey of creating an interactive geospatial decision support tool in close collaboration with industry and academic partners of the MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium. The tool leverages comprehensive public data on freight flows, costs, emissions, infrastructure, and regulatory incentives. Integrating key insights and methodologies from our partners, it aims to assist trucking industry stakeholders in identifying and assessing strategies to transition fleets to low-carbon energy carriers.
Donner Professor of Science, MIT Department of Chemistry
Dr. Yogesh (Yogi) Surendranath is the Paul M. Cook Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research group aims to store renewable electricity in energy-dense chemical bonds by controlling interfacial reactivity at the molecular level. Professor Surendranath has authored over 50 publications and is the recipient of numerous awards including an NSF CAREER award, a DOE Young Investigator Award, an Air Force Young Investigator Award, a Toyota Young Investigator Award from The Electrochemical Society, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, and the Cottrell Scholar Award.
He holds dual bachelor's degrees in chemistry and physics from the University of Virginia and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from MIT, obtained under the direction of Professor Daniel Nocera. As part of his graduate work, he uncovered key mechanisms by which solar energy can be converted into chemical fuels. After receiving his PhD, Professor Surendranath undertook postdoctoral studies as a Miller Research Fellow at UC Berkeley, under the direction of Professor Paul Alivisatos.
The chemical industry is the major source of carbon emissions, requiring new technologies for disruptive decarbonization. The direct and selectivity electrochemical synthesis of commodity chemicals from CO2 could play a key role in decarbonizing chemical manufacturing. However, many key chemicals are accessible over a narrow range in electrochemical potential, requiring general design principles for controlling kinetic branching in these reactions. We have uncovered the central role of the reaction environment in facilitating selective CO2 reduction at electrode surfaces and have employed electrolyte design to alter the mechanistic profile of chemical synthesis. Our latest findings in this area will be discussed.
Battelle Energy Alliance Professor, MIT Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering Professor, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Ju Li is the Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering and a Professor at the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Prof. Li’s group investigates the mechanical, electrochemical, and transport behaviors of materials, as well as novel means of energy storage and conversion. His research has led to advances in materials with applications in nuclear energy, batteries, and electrolyzers—and near- and long-term implications for decarbonizing the planet. His group also works on various aspects of computing, from the development of the first universal neural network interatomic potential to energy-efficient neuromorphic computing hardware.
Li is a recipient of the 2005 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the 2006 Materials Research Society Outstanding Young Investigator Award, and the TR35 award from Technological Review. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2014 and a Fellow of the Materials Research Society in 2017. Li is the chief organizer of the yearly MIT A+B Applied Energy Symposia that aims to develop practical solutions to global climate change with “A-Action before 2040” and “B-Beyond 2040” technologies.
Carbon efficiency is one of the most pressing problems of carbon dioxide electroreduction today. While there have been studies on anion exchange membrane electrolyzers with carbon dioxide (gas) and bipolar membrane electrolyzers with bicarbonate (aqueous) feedstocks, both suffer from low carbon efficiency. In anion exchange membrane electrolyzers, this is due to carbonate anion crossover, whereas in bipolar membrane electrolyzers, the exsolution of carbon dioxide (gas) from the bicarbonate solution is the culprit. Here, we first elucidate the root cause of the low carbon efficiency of liquid bicarbonate electrolyzers with thermodynamic calculations and then achieve carbon-efficient carbon dioxide electro- reduction by adopting a near-neutral-pH cation exchange membrane, a glass fiber intermediate layer, and carbon dioxide (gas) partial pressure management. We convert highly concentrated bicarbonate solution to solid formate fuel with a yield (carbon efficiency) of greater than 96%. A device test is demonstrated at 100 mA cmÀ2 with a full-cell voltage of 3.1 V for over 200 h. ["A carbon-efficient bicarbonate electrolyzer," Cell Reports Physical Science 4 (2023) 101662]
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management Director, Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan
Jason Jay is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative. He teaches executive and masters-level courses on strategy, innovation, and leadership for sustainable business. He has helped secure MIT Sloan's position as a leader in the field of sustainability through teaching, research, and industry engagement. Dr. Jay’s publications have appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Greenbiz, and World Economic Forum. With Gabriel Grant, he is the author of the international bestseller Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World. Dr. Jay also works as a facilitator for companies, organizations, and business families, supporting high quality conversation and shared commitment to ambitious sustainability goals. His clients have included EFG Asset Management, Novartis, Bose, Environmental Defense Fund, BP and the World Bank.
Research Analyst, ESG, MFS Investment Management
Mahesh Jayakumar, CFA, FRM, is a Fixed Income research analyst focusing on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues at MFS Investment Management® (MFS®). In this role, he is responsible for identifying the most attractive investment opportunities in his assigned universe and works closely with portfolio managers to ensure ideas are properly positioned within portfolios. At MFS, he is also a member of the Sustainability Working Group, which is responsible for guiding the firm-wide ESG investment strategy and assessing global collaborative initiatives and partnerships.
Mahesh joined MFS in early 2019 following his tenure as a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Beta Solutions business at OppenheimerFunds. He was previously with State Street Bank for a decade culminating in his role as a Senior ESG Investment Strategist at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA). Other positons there included; Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager in the Global Fixed Income, Cash and Currency team, where he managed portfolios in sectors such as Global Sovereigns and Agencies, US Investment Grade Credit, and Green Bonds.
Mahesh holds an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University and a B.S. in Information Systems from Purdue University. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM®) designations, and is a member of the CFA Institute, CFA Society of Boston, Fixed Income Analysts Society and Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
Chief Information And Innovation Officer (CIIO), Ferrovial
Dimitris Bountolos is the Chief Information and Innovation Officer at Ferrovial, a prominent global infrastructure group. With an extensive background spanning over 20 years, he is an expert in leading comprehensive change management and transformation programs across various industries. As an innovative entrepreneur, Dimitris has founded and partnered in several start-ups in the cutting-edge technology sectors, including ventures in space tourism, satellite micro-launchers, augmented reality, and drones.
In the airline industry, his leadership roles have included Vice President of Customer Experience and Madrid Airport Director at Iberia Airlines, and Chief Digital Officer at Latam Airlines. Dimitris is widely recognized for his contributions to innovation, digital transformation, and sustainability within organizations. He has served as an advisor to NASA's Chief Innovation Officer for several years and as a Global Advisor to the strategic consultancy firm McKinsey, specializing in travel, transport, and logistics.
Dimitris earned his master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Granada and has graduated from elite senior management programs at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, IESE, and ESADE. He is a member of several advisory boards, bringing a broad, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral perspective to his work, including the Bankinter Foundation, EIT Digital, and as President of the Advisory Board of CIONET, and a member of the CIO Council of the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Dimitris has a proven track record in developing and implementing high-impact projects, capturing new business opportunities, and introducing new business models across many sectors.
Executive Director, MIT Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment Senior Strategic Advisor, MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Dr. Allroggen is the Executive Director of MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment and of MIT’s Zero Impact Aviation Alliance.
His research brings together Transport Economics, Environmental Economics, and related research questions in Energy Economics. In his recent work, he focuses on understanding the transition of transportation towards sustainable solutions. He develops and applies methods for techno-economic and lifecycle assessments, policy analyses, cost-benefit analysis, and market response modeling. Recent areas of focus include assessments of alternative energy carriers for aviation and observation-based measures for mitigating contrails.
Dr. Allroggen is a nominated expert to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, particularly the Fuels Task Group and the Long-Term Aspirational Goal Task Group.
Originally from Germany, he received a B.S. and doctorate in (Transport) Economics (PhD equiv.) from Münster University.
To meet ambitious environmental goals while continuing to connect the world, the air transportation sector needs to increase the level of ambition in mitigating its environmental impacts. In this talk, Dr. Allroggen outlines what an air transportation system with near-zero impact on global warming and air pollution could look like. For this purpose, he first provides a strategic perspective on the key impacts which need to be mitigated to meet near-zero goals. He then connects such mitigation measures to new technologies and operational measures which will target the most significant impacts. The analysis concludes by providing insights into the technical feasibility and economic viability of the resulting air transportation system which can achieve near-zero environmental impacts.
POSCO Professor of Metallurgy, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Cem Tasan is the POSCO Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where his research explores the boundaries of physical metallurgy, solid mechanics, and in situ microscopy to design new alloys with exceptional damage resistance. A major focus is developing new in situ characterization tools and methods; improving the physical understanding of transformation, deformation, and damage of micro-mechanisms in metallic materials; and designing damage-resistant microstructures and alloys. Prof. Tasan was a 2023 Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) Solutions Grant winner for his project titled 'Solid-state scrap processing: a pathway to reduce water consumption in steelmaking drastically.
Solid state consolidation has tremendous potential for steel making from steel scrap, without remelting. In this talk, the scientific fundamentals and engineering solutions associated with a particular process invented at MIT will be introduced, focusing on the successful examples of several different ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.
Associate Professor, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor, MIT Architecture
Caitlin Mueller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Building Technology Program, where she leads the Digital Structures research group and co-directs the Structural Design Lab.
She is a researcher, designer, and educator working at the interface of architecture and structural engineering. Mueller’s research focuses on developing new computational methods and tools for synthesizing architectural and structural intentions in early-stage design. She also works in the field of digital fabrication, with a focus on linking high structural performance with new methods of architectural making. In addition to her digital work, she conducts research on the nature of collaboration between architects and engineers from a historical perspective.
New computational design and digital fabrication methods for innovative, high-performance buildings and structures will enable a more sustainable and equitable future. By focusing on the creative interface of architecture, structural engineering, and computation, Prof. Mueller’s research group has developed strategies for unconventional material use in building structures.
This presentation will focus on algorithmic design approaches, such as those incorporating underutilized wood sources and reassembleable concrete parts. The PixelFrame system, for example, targets circularity strategies for reducing the material footprint of concrete. Connections are dry-jointed, avoiding the use of grout or mortar. The conventionally fused assembly of steel and concrete is separated, allowing each material to respond independently to tensile and compressive forces without impeding the longevity or function of the other. Through structural element reuse, PixelFrame can achieve more than 50% embodied carbon savings up-front.
PhD Graduate Student, MIT
Sayandeep received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 2023, and a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2020. He is currently a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. William H. Green and is focused on developing hydrogen carriers and researching their utilization to drive decarbonization efforts in the energy and transportation sectors. His work spans the development of experimental powertrain designs, simulation of energy systems, and techno-economic assessment of novel low-carbon processes.
Hydrogen is a promising fuel to drive the decarbonization of long-haul trucking. However, the high cost of distribution as a compressed gas or cryogenic liquid has stunted its wide-scale adoption. Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs) can be a cost-competitive option but have inefficiencies from endothermic dehydrogenation and compression needs. We are building a novel powertrain system to mitigate these drawbacks and establish LOHC as a cost-competitive diesel alternative.