Exploring the World’s Energy Problems

Energy experts from across North America in a variety of fields will con­vene at North­eastern on Friday for a con­fer­ence to explore some of the most pressing energy prob­lems facing the world today.

The second annual North­eastern Energy Con­fer­ence will be held in the Curry Stu­dent Center Ball­room and hosted by the Col­lege of Engineering.

“The goal is to look at the bigger per­spec­tive of things by inte­grating the pil­lars of tech­nology, busi­ness, envi­ron­ment, and policy-​​making,” explained Rishabh Sar­dana, E’17, pres­i­dent of the North­eastern Energy Sys­tems Society, which orga­nized the con­fer­ence. NU-​​ESS is a grad­uate aca­d­emic stu­dent group asso­ci­ated with the Master of Sci­ence in Energy Sys­tems program.

The goal for the inter­dis­ci­pli­nary con­fer­ence, Sar­dana said, is not only for experts to share their knowl­edge with each other, but also to foster thought-​​provoking, dynamic dis­cus­sions on energy prob­lems and how to solve them.

“Rather than asking ques­tions like, ‘What is this tech­nology?’ We’re asking ques­tions like, ‘How and when can this tech­nology be imple­mented?’” Sar­dana said.

The con­fer­ence will also fea­ture a free expo from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first level of the Curry Stu­dent Center for stu­dents to net­work with energy com­pa­nies and explore employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, including co-​​ops. Reg­is­tra­tion for the rest of the con­fer­ence is required to attend the panel dis­cus­sions and work­shops; the reg­is­tra­tion cost is $35, though stu­dents can reg­ister for $20.

North­eastern fac­ulty across dis­ci­plines will be joined by a variety of rep­re­sen­ta­tives from industry and gov­ern­ment for panel dis­cus­sions on topics such as next-​​generation utility mar­kets, entre­pre­neur­ship in the energy sector, inte­grating renew­able energy into the grid, and energy effi­ciency in trans­porta­tion. National Grid Pres­i­dent Marcy L. Reed will also deliver a keynote address.

“Having all the stake­holders of a problem on the same stage gives an open per­spec­tive to a topic,” Sar­dana said. “This will lead to con­struc­tive discussions—and you never know, we may end up designing solu­tions to the biggest prob­lems by the end of the day.”

The inau­gural con­fer­ence last year drew roughly 250 stu­dents and industry pro­fes­sionals, Sar­dana said. This year, orga­nizers have shifted to focus more on energy problem-​​solving.

“Elec­tricity or energy pro­fes­sionals con­sti­tute less than 1 per­cent of the world’s pop­u­la­tion and they alone can’t save the envi­ron­ment,” he said. “Our job is to engage the remaining 99 per­cent of the pop­u­la­tion in sus­tain­ability dis­cus­sions and make them more aware because in the end, we all breathe the same air and will be equally affected by issues like cli­mate change, pol­lu­tion, trans­porta­tion, and drought.”