Upcoming

MIT Sloan Club of NY and MIT South Asian Alumni Association

Sustainability and Climate Change, and Interactive Models

Thursday, February 6, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 pm EST

MIT Sloan Professor Emeritus John Sterman, PhD '82, will share his insights on building and using system dynamics models. The interactive EnROADS climate policy simulation, which he developed with Andrew Jones, SM '97, has helped thousands of leaders and concerned citizens around the world understand the impact of various policy scenarios on controlling global warming.

An informal Meeting and Discussion on

Sustainable Supply Chains

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST (1700 CET)

Join our open and informal discussion about Sustainable Supply Chains, led by the MIT Club of Germany Sustainability Director, Peter Klement, MBA '09.

The Club of Germany's Sustainability Team is working on digital solutions for planet, profit and people. Peter will lead off the discussion with an introduction to the collaboration with Plattform Industrie 4.0 and the supply chain framework they have developed. Then there will be an open general discussion.

Digital technologists, business planners, operational professionals and other interested alums are invited to brainstorm and discuss issues for developing a platform. This can also serve as an introduction for anyone interested in joining this supply chain community and the project team.

The EESN Climate Business and Innovation group (CBI) intends to use this informal discussion format in the future for sharing ideas on other innovative solutions, which can be suggested by alumni members of the Network.

Around the Network

At the January 14 EESNetwork meeting, Chair Sarah Simon '72 introduced the Leadership Team, Ambassadors, goals, programs and presented opportunities to support the connected alumni groups around the world and the Network umbrella work coordinating work. EESN slides explaining the Network, its programs and goals are here. Contact [email protected] if you are interested in representing your EES work or alumni group, have ideas for EESN, or want more information on the meeting and upcoming programs.

The MIT Alumni for Climate Action group has published its first member newsletter. It covers several of the events members have arranged with the MIT Clubs of Rochester and Washington, DC, and the newsletter covered other news.

Call to Action

for digital technologists and supply chain designers. The MIT Club of Germany has created an open-source community on sustainable supply chains, with the intent of sharing knowledge and creating open-source IP that enables organizations to transform their global supply chains. EESN has set up an open general discussion for anyone interested in improving supply chains for the circular, green economy on February 18; see the meeting notice above.

Team members of the Sustainable Supply Chain community, either alum or public, will learn about sustainable supply chains and help build the Sustainable Supply Chain Framework (SSCF). Community calls/communications and working on open-source IP will typically take ~8 hours per month. The value to community members includes building a personal brand, extending the professional network to spot commercial opportunities, and becoming part of the global MIT network.

If you are interested in learning more about this unique opportunity, please reach out to Peter Klement at [email protected] to join.

Alumni/ae News

Journalist Zahra Hirji, SM '13, has been writing for the Bloomberg Green. One recent article was "Trump’s Climate Rollback Starts Now. It Can't Erase US Carbon Cuts." The article indicates that a climate skeptic in the White House can’t completely undo the nation’s roughly two-decades-long decline in emissions. Zahra was also featured on the Bloomberg Zero Podcast that was released on Jan 8, "Making Sense of Warming Going Past 1.5^oC."

Property owners can now compare clean energy choices and ROI with Station A, a new digital platform venture started by Manos Saratsis, SMArchS ’15,and Kevin Berkemeyer MBA ’14. Saratsis built a thermal energy model which became the tool for simulating building electricity use. Berkemeyer served as president of the MIT Energy Club and was a research assistant on MITEI's Future of Solar report and a teacher’s assistant for course 15.366 (Climate and Energy Ventures). He says classes in entrepreneurship with professor of the practice Bill Aulet, SM 94, and in sustainability with Senior Lecturer Jason Jay, PhD '10, were formative.

Professor Ju Li, PhD '00, is part of a team that found a way to coax subsurface iron into releasing H2 and creating NH3.

Jeff Benoit, SM '89, Vice President of Clean Energy Solutions at Power Systems Mfg., will be a keynote speaker at POWERGEN International 2025 on Feb 12. He will also be speaking on The Role of Gas Turbines in the Clean Energy Transition (using hydrogen) at CERAWeek, called the World's Premier Energy Event, in Houston, March 10-14. MIT Club of South Texas members often participate in the Innovation Agora Forum of the week's program.

Manuela Zoninsein, MBA '20, CEO of Kadeya, will be a presenter at the AMITA on-line Entreprenuership Series event on Feb 27, "From Idea to Launch." Her company, Kadeya, makes a hydration machine that cuts back on waste by dispensing water in a reuseable bottle that can be sanitized and refilled in the unit. More info and registration here.

On January 23, Jason Jay, PhD , Director of the Sloan Sustainability Initiative, was in WEF's Davos meeting for the Climate Scale-up Day, participating on a panel and in the discussions.

The MIT Alumni/Student Decarbonization Team will be making four presentations at Campus Energy2025 Accelerating the Transition in Boston February 3-6. Immediately following this national conference, the GeothermalRising Thermal Energy Networks (TEN) Symposium will be held February 7-8 at the MIT Samberg Center. Sloan Sustainability Initiative Director Jason Jay, PhD '10, will be one of the speakers. The Symposium includes a tour of the Framingham (MA) Geothermal District on Saturday Feb 8.

The MIT Energy and Climate Club presents its 2025 Energy Conference, on Monday and Tuesday, March 3-4, 2025. Breakthrough to Deployment Driving Climate Innovation to Market, includes many hybrid sessions if you won't be there in person.

MIT Professor Evelyn Wang '00 is returning to MIT from DC, after leading US DOE's ARPA-E. She will become the first MIT VP for climate. and will lead the Climate Project at MIT.

Emeritus Professor Paul Joskow, Sloan Economist, will present a webinar "How Will U.S. Climate Policy Change Under Donald Trump?" on Thursday, Feb 13, at noon. He will address two basic questions: How successful will Trump be in significantly reducing federal support for addressing climate change and how will changes in federal laws and administrative actions affect state policies? And how will these changes affect the long-run trends in U.S. and international greenhouse gas emissions? Registration here.

The EESNetwork invites you to

participate in our EESNetwork - the umbrella group that promotes alumni activities and groups working to educate, connect and take action on clean energy, climate and the green economy. The Network enables Ambassadors and alums from member alumni groups to meet each other and share information on programs and alumni news.

Please write to [email protected] if you'd like to be an Ambassador or volunteer.

Add your comments and voice to the EESN communities on-line

The EESN LinkedIn subgroup has news for MIT alums in or interested in energy, environment sustainability and climate.

About EESN

Educate, Connect, and Act

The EESNetwork and its groups welcome all MIT alumni/ae to help make a difference in speeding up the transition to a clean sustainable economy, adaptation and environmental restoration.

• EESN home page
• EESN webinar list with links to available slides and recordings.
• MIT Centers: MITEI, ESI, CEEPR, Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy, Climate and Sustainability Consortium
• MIT Climate Portal, MITOS, The Climate Project, Climate HQ.