Energy, Learning, and Optimization
As the clapping faded, Viktor’s voice rang out over the audience. “…As you navigate the traps and landmines ahead I want you to remember one thing: hustle beats smarts, when the smarts don’t hustle.”
Congratulations. You are now I-Corps alumni. » Read More
Interviewing 100 stakeholders in 5 weeks has reshaped how I think of cleantech innovation- and research. Our eCalCharge startup was initially founded to commercialize the research of my labmate Caroline LeFloch on load shaping and frequency regulation using electric vehicles. » Read More
Last week I attended the American Controls Conference, an academic conference focused on classical controls and optimization. While this was the first time I had attended, this is one of biggest conferences for the eCAL lab’s research, » Read More
After finishing my qualifying exams, I had just a few days at home before leaving for the East Coast to take part in the Coalition for National Science Funding’s Exhibition Day on Capitol Hill. Part of a contingent with representation from 5 of the University of California campuses, » Read More
Every PhD student dreads Qualifying Exams, the big checkpoint en route to the dissertation. In Berkeley’s college of engineering, they have particular weight: as there isn’t a thesis defense, the 3-hour oral Qualifying Exams is the one big check on your research progress. » Read More
I just got back from 3 hurried days in San Diego for the kickoff of the Innovation Corps training, an entrepreneurship bootcamp for university researchers funded by the National Science Foundation with the goal of improving the commercialization of NSF-funded research. » Read More
Every year I look forwards to the Suncode hackathon, organized by the Powerhouse solar incubator in Oakland, CA. Participating in the 2015 Suncode hackathon gave me the courage to help organize the Cleanweb Berkeley hackathon, and taught me an immense amount about the solar industry. » Read More
Solar panels, electric vehicles, smart appliances, and storage systems are rewriting the electricity production landscape. When used intelligently, these Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) can reduce cost, improve reliability, and help fight global warming by integrating more renewable energy into the electricity grid. » Read More
Blockchains are often described as “trustless”: this doesn’t mean that they can’t be trusted- but instead that the users don’t have to trust each other. In many applications, this is what sets them apart from conventional technologies- the lack of a centralized figure like a bank, » Read More
Blockchains are fascinating- a platform for robust, immutable, and trustless data storage and computation. But they’re also cumbersome- slow, inefficient, and expensive. So when are blockchains the right solution for a problem? Blockchains are not a magical new type of computing. » Read More