Climate change is the biggest threat facing both humanity and the natural world. Tackling this threat requires a massive shift in the way we produce and consume energy, and novel computing techniques will play an essential role in optimizing society’s energy- and carbon-efficiency. These new techniques provide a unique opportunity to reshape society towards a more equitable and sustainable state by ensuring that the energy transition benefits rather than harms already marginalized groups. The objective for the Computing for an Equitable Energy Transition (CEET) REU site is to expose undergraduate students to the important and significant role that computing will play in the energy transition, both as an increasingly significant energy consumer and in optimizing society’s energy- and carbon-efficiency in an equitable way. CEET's activities will focus on three distinct computing sub-disciplines that are important for enabling an equitable energy transition, including i) designing energy-efficient, reliable, and low-cost sensors, i.e., sensing, ii) designing energy- and carbon-efficient cloud platforms and applications, i.e., computing, and iii) analyzing collected data to identify and exploit opportunities for improving society’s sustainability that are equitable, i.e., analysis.

Our 10 week summer program offers a $700/week stipend as well as room and board, meal vouchers, and up to $600 of travel reimbursement. Students will be mentored in conducting impactful research as well as computing and analysis techniques. Students will also receive professional development training to successfully apply to and excel in graduate school and the non-academic jobs.

• An interest in using computing and data analytics to solve the challenges of climate change and the energy transition.
• An interest in building equity into inequitable systems.
• Be enrolled in university, or community college for the Fall 2024 semester.
• Have never previously accepted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
• U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful refugees, or permanent residents of the United States.
  

Nice-to-have:

• Experience with programming, data analysis, and/or energy systems.