Energy Efficiency in Practice: Career and Internship Insights from the Field
On November 21, three current students and two recently graduated UC Davis alum described their experiences working in the energy efficiency sector. The panelists spoke to over 40 students and UC staff, acknowledging that using the networks they established at UC Davis were critical. They also suggested taking one or all of the three courses offered by UC Davis in energy efficiency or through UC Extension (e.g., Resource Management Certification Program) were invaluable in giving them a "leg up" on terminology. "You don't have to be an engineer to work in the energy efficiency field," noted current MBA ('09) student, Terence Fleischer, "I came in as a banker with a degree in psychology, but knew I wanted to get into the field." Terence worked at Energy Market Innovations, Inc. in Seattle this summer, doing a broad range of activities, including analyzing California's climate policies. Amy Barr, who graduated as an MBA last year, described her current job as Project Manager for Heschong Mahone Group, Inc. in Sacramento. Her work focuses on energy efficiency in buildings and she works closely with the State's major utilities. She noted that there is a trend she sees in bringing on MBAs who have training in energy efficiency and that they are hiring "now!"
Dan MacDonald (MBA '08), an intern with the Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps, which placed MBA students last summer in companies such as salesforce.com, Yahoo, and Cisco to develop a business case for implementing energy efficiency policies and practices, noted that it paid for him to get involved in a variety of projects and activities. He found networking as part of NetImpact and being involved in Focus the Nation last year really helped. He acknowledged that the press resulting from his involvement and his course work in energy efficiency got him the job at EDF. "You need to be willing to be flexible," Dan said, "get involved in a lot of projects." Tai Stillwater, Ph.D., TTP said his summer internship with Chevron Energy Solutions was really valuable in that he was able to do analysis and think about various business models he hadn't considered before. Diana Mejia joined the group by phone. She is currently Program Manager in PG&E's Customer Energy Efficiency-Technology Transfer division. Diana strongly encouraged students to get involved and participate in the Little Bang Poster Contest. "Little Bang was a great opportunity for me to feel comfortable about going out and doing presentations," she told the audience, "the people you meet remember you, including utility managers and venture capitalists." Diana participated in a couple different teams for Little Bang which moved on to compete in the UC Davis Big Bang Business Plan Competition. Ultimately, though not directly related to energy efficiency, her team won Big Bang with an innovative wine corking technology. For a list of panelists, click here.