Panel/Discussion | In-Person

Alumni Panel - Recent Graduates Making a Difference

Tuesday
October 15, 2024
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Huntsman Hall 345 3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Ben Franklin on the bench
Recent Penn graduates have gone on to interesting and impactful jobs in the climate space.
 
Four alumni panelists will discuss their journey from Penn to making a difference.
 
Shrayas Jatkar, Senior Advisor for Good Jobs & Workforce @ U.S. Dept. of Energy will join the panel to discuss DOE's Clean Energy Innovater Fellowship Program.

Speakers

Angela Yang

Clean Energy Innovation Fellow, Mass. Dept. of Public Utilities U.S. Department of Energy

Yang (Engineering ‘21) is a U.S. DOE Clean Energy Innovation Fellow at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities focusing on grid modernization, environmental justice populations, and electric sector modernization plans for the state’s electric distribution companies. She has extensive experience in implementing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) given her previous position as a senior technology consultant within Ernst & Young’s Energy Optimization & Digital Grid practice. Angela’s interest in clean energy solutions and system optimization began as a systems engineering student in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Penn where she explored a myriad of energy related opportunities including conducting global climate model research, generating a predictive modeling assessment of emissions against clean energy goals, and coding an autonomous asset management system for transformers.

Graham Barrett

Clean Energy Innovation Fellow, NJ Board of Public Utilities U.S. Department of Energy

Barrett (Master’s of Environmental Studies ’23) is a Department of Energy Clean Energy Innovation Fellow working at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on clean energy projects ranging from aggregating small distributed energy resources enabling them to participate in wholesale energy markets to the state’s strategic plan for offshore wind. Prior to working for the NJ BPU, Graham worked for the Business Network for Offshore Wind which connected American manufacturers with OSW developers. Prior to attending Penn, Graham was a middle school environmental science teacher where he developed a curriculum to teach students about offshore wind and career paths in the industry.

Avni Limdi

Catona Climate

Limdi (Engineering '21) joined Boston Consulting Group after graduating with a degree in Systems Engineering from the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Penn. At BCG Avni focused on climate action and growth strategy projects for clients in the Energy, Consumer, and Healthcare sectors. She also worked on BCG’s internal company-wide plan to get to net-zero. Recently, Avni joined the strategy team at Catona Climate, a climate start-up focused on financing nature-based carbon removal methods.

Aria Kovalovich

Senior Investigator Senate Committee on the Budget

Kovalovich (College '18) is a Senior Investigator for the Senate Committee on the Budget, where she leads three investigations of the U.S. oil and gas industry for deceptive advertising regarding its role in the energy transition, suspected collusion with OPEC, and other issues. In this role, and in her prior role as a Professional Staff Member on the House Oversight Committee, she spearheaded three reports, the release of tens of thousands of pages of executives' internal emails and documents, and five Congressional hearings on the industry's climate denial, disinformation, and doublespeak. Upon graduating from Penn, she worked as a Research Assistant for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where she prepared fifteen Congressional hearings to advance policies to improve climate science and weather research and forecasting. She worked successfully to pass two bills into law, one updating a national precipitation database, and another creating an artificial intelligence hub within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  At Penn, she double-majored in Cognitive Neuroscience and Sustainability & Environmental Management.

Moderator

Andy Huemmler

Andrew Huemmler

Senior Lecturer School of Engineering and Applied Science

Dr. Huemmler worked for Exelon and its predecessor, PECO Energy, for 20 years. He started his career at PECO as an energy conservation analyst and finished at Exelon's Power Team as a senior power transactor buying and selling electricity in wholesale power markets. He was a member of the New England Power Pool's Transmission Operations Committee and participated in the rulemaking process which created electricity markets in the northeast U.S. Prior to joining PECO Energy, Andy worked in the City of Philadelphia's Energy Office during Mayor William J. Green III’s administration. He authored an Energy Emergency Operations Plan for the City of Philadelphia and implemented the City's first neighborhood-based energy education program. Early in his career, Andy worked for a small hydropower developer and the Philadelphia Water Department, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Queen Village Neighbors Association for eight years and served as a Democratic committeeman in Philadelphia’s 2nd Ward. Currently he is on the Board of Directors of the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia having served as Board President from 2014-2017. ECA provides community-based energy efficiency services and assistance to low-income families in Philadelphia, the poorest of America’s ten largest cities.