From serving as a project engineer at Tesla's Gigafactory to addressing forestry and land management issues in Vientiane, Laos, the following year will challenge these seniors to exciting new roles in the fields of energy and sustainability.
Matthew Sherman, McC '17
Matthew Sherman is graduating with dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing and Design Engineering (MaDE) from Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
What are your plans after graduation?
I will be a Project Engineer for Material Flow at Tesla's Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada. I will be implementing production systems in new portions of the factory to facilitate large-scale battery production for Tesla's upcoming Model 3. Most of the role will involve coordinating with suppliers and various manufacturing teams to make sure that the material flow systems are implemented correctly and as quickly as possible.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in energy and/or sustainability?
I have always loved the idea of continuous improvement with product sustainability and the move away from fossil fuels. Tesla's mission is to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy," and I think moving the auto industry away from traditional energy sources is incredibly important in the fight against climate change. I chose Tesla because of my love for transportation and the company's fast-paced drive towards making real changes in the notoriously sluggish automotive industry.
What experience(s) at Northwestern prepared you for your next role?
I've had a lot of experience managing projects at Northwestern, both in classes and extracurricular activities. Majoring in both Mechanical Engineering and MaDE led to my appreciation of products that are designed with the environment in mind, and working on teams within those programs improved my ability to manage several aspects of a project at once. I also served as Project Manager for SmartTree within Engineers for a Sustainable World, where we successfully designed and coordinated the construction of a solar-powered charging station on Northwestern's campus, which gave me a lot of experience with the process of encouraging sustainable energy use.
Kara Rodby, McC '17
Kara Rodby is graduating with a degree in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
What are your plans after graduation?
I will be attending MIT in the fall to pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering. There, I will be doing research on clean energy, hopefully at the nexus of technology/applications and research. One group I am particularly interested in is working to develop better flow batteries. Batteries are the only barrier to the explosion of renewable energy, as currently there is no large-scale solution for storing this intermittently produced energy. I hope to help bring these solutions to market where they can start to change the world.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in energy and/or sustainability?
As an environmental engineering major, sustainability is everything to me. It's another way of saying you're going to do something most efficiently (and who wouldn't agree with that?). Climate change is the issue of our time, and I believe will always be an issue that needs to be closely managed. I've always felt compelled to address the problem, and I hope to do my part to make the world better for generations to come.
What experience(s) at Northwestern prepared you for your next role?
I have done research for the past two years in Professor Gaillard's lab in the Civil & Environmental Engineering department looking at microbial uptake of mercury. I never thought I would be interested in research, as I am more keen on real-world applications, but I learned to appreciate the importance of research of facilitating those real-world applications. This research is what allowed me to ever even consider a PhD.
Bradford Kim, WCAS '17
Bradford Kim is graduating with dual degrees in Math and Economics from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
What are your plans after graduation?
I'm working as an analyst for GE Energy Financial Services. I'll be helping them make investments in power plants and infrastructure projects.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in energy and/or sustainability?
How we generate our electricity will be an incredibly important question in the years to come. After interning at EFS Energy last summer I was thrilled to be working in such an important industry at a critical stage of its development, so I signed on full-time.
What experience(s) at Northwestern prepared you for your next role?
Being an economics major and having a formal understanding of basic business and market related topics proved to be very useful during my internship when I was building models for the various financial instruments that power plants use to secure funding. Also, this year I took Econ 370: Economics of Energy and Econ 371: Environmental Economics for a more focused look on the industry I'll be working in next year.
Christina Cilento, SESP '17
Christina Cilento is graduating with a degree in Education and Social Policy from the School of Education and Social Policy.
What are your plans after graduation?
I'm traveling to Vientiane, Laos, through a fellowship called the Luce Scholars Program. There, I'll be studying Lao culture and language and working for an organization called Village Focus International on forestry and land management issues. I'll be in Vientiane until August 2018.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in energy and/or sustainability?
Sustainability and energy are top global concerns. They connect so many pressing issues relevant across all societies: race, labor, economic inequality, development, human rights, etc. To be working at the intersection of those issues and looking at them with a sustainability-minded perspective really excites me, and I see the pursuit of sustainable development as key to solving some of the world's most concerning and persistent inequities and challenges, and to be working on these issues with a sustainability-minded perspective really excites me.
What experience(s) at Northwestern prepared you for your next role?
My professors and advisors really supported me in crafting an academic program that suited my interests in sustainability and policy. They've encouraged me to apply for global opportunities, like the fellowship I'm doing next year, which have led me to where I'm headed after graduation and pushed me to think beyond the American context.
Tuofei Chen, McC '17
Tuofei Chen is graduating with a dual BS/MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
What are your plans after graduation?
I will be moving on to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering. My research will focus on power system optimization and renewable energy integration.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in energy and/or sustainability?
Our country's renewable energy portfolio is growing and renewable energy integration will only become more important and we deal with the effects of climate change and the depletion of fossil fuels.
What experience(s) at Northwestern prepared you for your next role?
I discovered my interest in the field while working on Northwestern's Solar Car Team to develop and race an entirely solar-powered car and while applying my engineering background to projects with social impact through Engineers for a Sustainable World.
