This week's UT Energy Symposium Student Research Showcase features presentations by top student researchers working in energy at UT Austin.

Sebastian Souyris  

Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar panels - A Dynamic Discrete Choice Approach

Sebastian's research lies in the broad area of data-driven optimization, statistics and economic modeling in operations and management science. In the last couple of years, he has been studying the factors that influence residential energy consumption, and in particular the adoption of solar photovoltaic systems, with the goal of designing public and private interventions to incentivize efficient energy use.  Sebastian is a Ph.D. Candidate in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. He received his M.Phil. in Operations Management from NYU, and his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from University of Chile. More about his research in www.ssouyris.com

Sean Wood

Looking Towards Higher-Capacity Anode Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries

Sean is a 5th year PhD student in Chemical Engineering working under Dr. Buddie Mullins and Dr. Adam Heller. He holds a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. His research on lithium-ion battery materials aims to make them charge faster and last longer, while also improving their safety and cost. Outside of his research, Sean enjoys volunteering at events that introduce children to basic concepts of science and engineering so that they may one day be inspired to join these fields themselves.

The UT Energy Symposium meets every Thursday during the long semesters. Come early to attend a networking session before the talk: refreshments will be served at 4:45 p.m. in the POB Connector Lobby outside the auditorium.