What (Energy Issue) Is Keeping You Up at Night?
The Institute for Energy Solutions hosted our inaugural energy symposium on May 20-21, 2025 at the University of Michigan, themed “What (Energy Issue) Is Keeping You Up at Night?” Join us to discuss pressing issues surrounding the electricity grid, cybersecurity, data centers, environmental justice, and more with energy experts from U-M and around the US.
The Symposium hosted students, faculty, and staff from across the University and provided them for networking opportunities from external collaborators in industry, government, nonprofits, and academia.
Speakers & Panelists | Schedule | Student Programming | Logistics
Symposium Schedule
Day 1:
| 8:30 – 9:00 AM | Welcome Remarks – Chrysler 220 Johanna Mathieu, Director, U-M Institute for Energy Solutions & Brad Orr, Associate VP for Natural Sciences and Engineering, U-M Office of the Vice President for Research |
| 9:00 – 9:45 AM | Plenary Speech – Chrysler 220 Katherine Peretick, Michigan Public Service Commissioner |
| 9:45 – 10:15 AM | Coffee Break – EECS Atrium |
| 10:15 – 11:45 AM | Concurrent Panel Sessions – EECS 1311 and EECS 1303 “When cyber attacks meet critical infrastructure: Privacy and resilience” Vlad Dvorkin, Junho Hong, Anna Scaglione, Manimaran Govindarasu (EECS 1311) “Identifying marine energy pathways to research convergence and business profitability” Lei Zuo, Michaela Zint, Jing Sun, Balky Nair, Lea-Der Chen (EECS 1303) |
| 11:45 – 1:00 PM | Lunch – EECS Atrium & Grove |
| 1:00 – 1:30 PM | Energy Leadership Talk – Chrysler 220 Dean Karen Thole, U-M College of Engineering |
| 1:45 – 3:15 PM | Concurrent Panel Sessions – EECS 1311 and EECS 1303 “Keeping the lights on” Rabab Haider, Ruiwei Jiang, Line Roald, Javad Mohammadi (EECS 1311) “Harnessing the power of nature to enable and expand biofuels and other products” Nina Lin, Andre Boehman, Bradley Biggs, Joshua Yuan, Taek Soon Lee (EECS 1303) |
| 3:15 – 3:20 PM | Coffee Break – EECS Atrium |
| 3:20 – 4:50 PM | Concurrent Panel Sessions – EECS 1311 and EECS 1303 “Navigating energy law and policy in 2025 and beyond” Alexandra Klass, Nina Mendelson, Lincoln Davies, Alison Gocke (EECS 1311) “Thought-traffic about the future of nuclear power” Brendan Kochunas, Stephen Raiman, Katy Huff, Thomas Folk (EECS 1303) |
| 4:50 – 5:00 PM | Transit to Ford Library for Hors d’Oeuvres Hour Attendees are welcome to walk or take an Electric Blue Bus to the Ford Library. If you are interested in taking a Blue Bus, please meet in the EECCS Atrium by 4:55pm. |
| 5:00 – 6:00 PM | Poster Session & Hors d’Oeuvres Hour – Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library |
Day 2:
| 8:00 – 8:30 AM | Event Opening & Breakfast – EECS Atrium |
| 8:30 – 8:45 AM | Day 2 Welcome Remarks and Student Poster Award Announcements – EECS Atrium Johanna Mathieu, Director, U-M Institute for Energy Solutions |
| 8:45 – 10:15 AM | Concurrent Panel Sessions – EECS 1311 and EECS 1303 “How deploying energy infrastructure hinges on local acceptance” Michael Craig, Sarah Mills, Sita Syal, Alex Breckel, Doug Bessette (EECS 1311) “Safety for lithium-ion battery energy storage systems” Jason Siegel, Ziyou Song, Ron Butler, Richard Stocker, Christopher Chadwell (EECS 1303) |
| 10:15- 10:30 AM | Coffee Break – EECS Atrium |
| 10:30 – 12:00 PM | Concurrent Panel Sessions – EECS 1311 and EECS 1303 “Advancing community-university partnerships and research for just and equitable decarbonization” Sita Syal, Tony Reames, Ali Andrews, Julie Roth (EECS 1311) “AI’s Energy Demands: A crisis or a catalyst for innovation?” Mosharaf Chowdhury, Raed Al Kontar, Prashant Shenoy, Ian Schneider (EECS 1303) |
| 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch Break – Pierpont Commons East Room (Faculty, Research Staff, and Panelists); EECS Atrium (Students & External Attendees) |
| 1:15 – 3:00 PM | Concurrent Faculty & Panelist Breakout Sessions* – Pierpont Commons East Room |
| 3:00 – 3:15 PM | Coffee Break – Pierpont Commons East Room |
| 3:15 – 5:00 PM | Concurrent Faculty & Panelist Breakout Sessions* – Pierpont Commons East Room |
*UM Faculty, UM Research Staff, and all Panelists are invited and encouraged to attend the Day 2 Breakout Sessions.
Speakers & Panelists
IES is excited to welcome energy experts from around the U.S. to speak about the most pressing energy issues they are encountering!
External Speakers & Panelists
Ali Andrews
Co-Founder & CEO,
Shake Energy Collaborative
Doug Bessette
Associate Professor
Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
Alex Breckel
Senior Director of Programs, Clean Tomorrow
Ronald Butler
Founder, CEO Energy Safety Storage Products International (ESSPI)
Christopher Chadwell
Director & GM, Automotive & Industrial Batteries, North America Advanced Battery Lab
Lea-Der Chen
Associate Dean for Research, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Lincoln Davies
Professor, College of Law, University of Utah
Thomas Folk
Experiment Design Engineer, National Reactor Innovation Center
Alison Gocke
Associate Professor of Law
Director, Program in Law, Communities and the Environment (PLACE)
Katy Huff
Blue Waters Associate Professor and Director, Advanced Reactor Fuel Cycles Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Manimaran Govindarasu
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, Murray J. and Ruth M. Harpole Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
Javad Mohammadi
Assistant Professor, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Balky Nair
President, Oscilla Power
Katherine Peretick
Michigan Public Service Commissioner
Line Roald
Associate Professor, Grainger Institute Fellow, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Julie Roth
Energy Manager, Office of Sustainability and Innovations, City of Ann Arbor
Anna Scaglione
Stephen M. Ross/Related Companies Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University
Ian Schneider
Senior Data Scientist, Google
Prashant Shenoy
Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean, College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts
Taek Soon Lee
Biochemist Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory
Richard Stocker
Principal engineer: Battery testing, HORIBA
Joshua Yuan
CURB Director,
Lopata Professor & Chair, Department of Energy, Environmental, & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
Internal Speakers & Panelists
Raed Al Kontar
Associate Professor, Industrial & Operations Engineering
Bradley Biggs
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
Andre Boehman
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Vennema Professor of Engineering
Director, W.E. Lay Automotive Laboratory
Mosharaf Chowdhury
Associate Professor, EECS – Computer Science and Engineering,
Michael Craig
Assistant Professor in Energy Systems, School for Environment and Sustainability & Industrial & Operations Engineering (IOE), College of Engineering
Vlad Dvorkin
Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Rabab Haider
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Alexandra B. Klass
James G. Degnan Professor of Law
Co-director, Environmental and Energy Law Program
Brendan Kochunas
Assistant Professor, Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences
Ruiwei Jiang
Associate Professor, Industrial and Operations Engineering
Xiaoxia (Nina) Lin
Professor, Associate Chair for Research, Chemical Engineering
Nina Mendelson
Joseph L. Sax Collegiate Professor of Law
Co-director, Environmental and Energy Law Program
Sarah Mills
Director, Center for EmPowering Communities, Clinical Associate Professor of Practice of Urban Planning, A Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Adjunct Lecturer in Environment and Sustainability, School for Environment and Sustainability
Tony Reames
Associate Professor; Tishman Professor of Environmental Justice, School for Environment and Sustainability; Director SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic
Jason Siegel
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Ziyou Song
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michaela Zint
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School for Environment and Sustainability
Lei Zuo
Herbert C. Sadler Professor of Engineering
Student Programming – Poster Competition
Apart from attending conference events, students were also provided the opportunity to submit a poster for our conference Poster Session. We received 16 excellent poster submissions and were excited to announce Miki Tsuchiya as our Poster Competition Winner for her poster, “Slow steaming for trucks: Automation changes the trade-off between productivity and environmental performance of trucks.”
Logistics
Parking: Paid visitor parking is available to all Symposium Attendees. We have provided a map of visitor parking lots (marked with a “P”) with convenient access to Symposium events (marked with a star) below. Please make sure to check the schedule to determine the location of each Symposium event.
Questions on the IES 2025 Energy Symposium?
Please email: [email protected]