Students
Clare Cloudt
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Educational Background:
Texas A&M University | May 2007 | Bachelor of Arts, History; minor in History of Art & Architecture
University of Texas at San Antonio | Expected Graduation May 2013 | Master of Architecture
Professional History:
Clare Cloudt spent her first two years of college in aerospace engineering, where she gained a valuable foundation in the technical aspects of construction and design before focusing on architecture history. After graduating from college in 2007, Clare worked as the marketing assistant at O.I. Analytical, a company that designs, builds, sells, and services analytical instruments for laboratory and commercial use. She managed all tradeshow and conference activities, provided graphic designs for advertising and technical documents, and contributed to the technical writing and editing of product manuals and methodologies. She also taught night classes in computer drafting software at Blinn College in Bryan, Texas. Clare is currently pursuing her Master of Architecture degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio in a career-change program for students without a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Clare is a member of the Three+1 project, which has designed three affordable, energy-efficient homes for San Antonio Alternative Housing, a local organization that provides low-income families with high quality housing and community services. Clare performed energy analysis for the three designs using REM/Rate and BEopt, and has designed a research study to monitor the homes and compare energy consumption patterns. She began working at the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute in November of 2010, where she attended meetings with the Mayor’s Green Jobs Council and learned building energy simulation software. Clare also contributes to the marketing and advertising activities at the Institute. She is currently performing an energy-efficiency study at the USAA campus in San Antonio to determine cost-effective retrofit options for the company’s headquarters.
Related Projects:
Garrett Tyree
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Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | 2015 | Electrical Engineering
Professional History:
In 2011 Garrett Tyree started as a Crew Member of Chipotle Mexican Grill and currently works. During the summer of 2011, Garrett started working with UTSA TSERI (Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute) where he has been working on a portable wind turbine and desalinization system along with 3 others. This project is still underway and will soon be completed.
What first inspired you to work in your field?
My inspiration to work with UTSA TSERI came from building a solar car team with my high school, James Madison. During this project, I was able to have Dr. Les Shepard as a supervisor. From there, I realized that in order to complete more projects of the same type that I would need to become an electrical engineer. I knew that I would pursue higher education and it is amazing that I am able to work. Also, I am glad that I can get some real-world experience while getting my education.
Current Work at the Institute:
Portable Wind Turbine and Desalinization System
Related Projects:
Jaro Nummikoski
Contact: 210-458-6008 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Educational Background:
Texas State University | May 2004 | Bachelor of Business Administration; Finance | University of Texas at San Antonio | December 2013 | Master of Science, Electrical Engineering
Professional History:
After obtaining his degree, Jaro Nummikoski went to work in the Broker/Dealer sector of finance, focusing in various securities markets. In 2010 he decided to return to school to pursue his interests in engineering. Jaro is currently working towards a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering with a research focus in Renewable Energy. He hopes to use his degree and the experience gathered working for TSERI to obtain a job in the solar energy industry.
What first inspired you to work in your field?
Jaro’s passion for sustainability stems from his enjoyment of the outdoors and his desire to protect all natural habitats. In early 2012 he had a solar power system installed on his house and plans to make other energy efficiency improvements. Jaro believes that his background in Finance and Engineering will help him make a positive long-lasting impact on the environment around him.
Current Work at the Institute:
Jaro is currently working on a project in Solar Forecasting at the institute. The Solar Forecasting project seeks to provide complete predictions of solar irradiance for specific geographic locations. These irradiance predictions can then be used to estimate the output of a solar array on the minute, hour, and day time scales. Jaro’s duties on the project involve installation and operation of Total Sky Imagers and coding algorithms to process sky images.
Related Projects: UTSA Installation of Distributed Solar Energy ResourcesLarge Scale Photovoltaic Integration
Jeffrey Jay Shaffar
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Educational Background
Northwest Vista Colleg | 2010 | Associate’s in New Media Communications | University of Texas at San Antonio | 2013 | Bachelor’s in Communication Studies.
Professional History
I’ve been involved in various types of work experiences throughout my career thus far – all of them contributing towards my interest in people and topics that everyday people deal with on a daily basis. Whether it was serving food and beverages, valeting cars for upscale restaurants, lifeguarding in S. Padre Island and even pedicabbing people around metro Austin – working diverse jobs and with different types of people has given me a broad range of knowledge and understanding of people and the world we live in.
Professional Affiliations
Secretary of the UTSA Cycling Club, Volunteer for the UTSA ESL Department
What first inspired you to work in your field?
My passion for a sustainable lifestyle, education and interest in social documentaries inspired me to work for the Institute. I believe that educating and inspiring people on a global scale to be more environmentally responsible citizens will positively alter the way people run the world in the near future and beyond.
Current Work at the Institute
I am currently working on developing a series of short videos to showcase the innovative research and the amazing people behind the research done at the Institute. I hope to create videos that will appeal to a wide range of audience to help educate people about UTSA’s sustainable energy research.
Related Projects:
Jennifer Kennedy
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Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | 2013 | Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art; concentration in Painting and Digital Media
Jennifer Kennedy was hired in the Fall of 2010 as the first student employee of the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute. She is an undergraduate perusing a BA in Studio Art with a double concentration in Painting and Digital Media. Jennifer designed the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute website that launched in March 2012, and acted as sole liaison between the Institute and website developers. She is designing a university-wide touch screen interface to engage and educate the UTSA community on the sustainable energy research being conducted at the University. As a graphic designer, she has worked closely with Dr. Shephard, director of the Institute, in designing numerous presentations, posters, banners and reports. She is also the Institute photographer and videographer, and has served as student leader liaison, events coordinator and events promoter. In the spring of 2011, Jennifer co-founded the Institute’s student organization, R3, Roadrunners for Renewable Resources with Martha Wright and Michelle Garza. Jennifer served on the Earth Week planning committee as one of two student representatives in 2011 and lead committee efforts as Planning Committee Chair in 2012. Her Earth Week Green Fund Proposal was the 2nd proposal ever passed at UTSA. In the spring of 2012 she was awarded 5th place with Clare Cloudt and Jay Gomez for their rooftop garden design in the Campus Greening Idea Contest. She is also a multiple scholarship recipient and holds membership in the Honors College, Honors Alliance, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Related Projects:
Karen McGill
Contact: (210) 458-6008 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | December 2011 | Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering | University of Texas at San Antonio | December 2013 | Masters of Science, Mechanical Engineering
Professional History:
Karen McGill is a graduate research assistant working with the Texas Sustainable Research Institute. She has had a passion for engineering and science from a young age and has tutored math and science at the middle school, high school, and college level for several years. During her undergraduate studies, she served as an intern at an aircraft maintenance/overhaul/repair facility located at Port San Antonio. There she gained knowledge about C-130 engines as well as professional engineering experience.
Professional Affiliations:
Karen is a member of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics).
What first inspired you to work in your field?
Karen loved math and science at a very young age. She is inspired by change, innovation, and the need for constant problem solving. She wants to be a part of creating a better, smarter planet.
Current Work at the Institute:
Karen is currently working on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation project which aims to understand energy consumption based on demographic data within the CPS Energy service areas.
Related Projects:
Megha Udayshankar
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Educational Background:
Bangalore University, India | 2006 | Bachelors’ in Civil Engineering | The University Of Texas at San Antonio | May 2014 | MS in Civil Engineering
Professional History:
After graduating with a Bachelors’ degree, I worked in the Construction Industry in India for around 4years where I worked as an Engineer in the field of Construction Management. My work included preparing estimates for the project on the receipt of structural and architectural drawings, planning of work schedules for construction activities, monitoring and tracking the progress of project site and inspection of construction activities at project site for contractors’ billing and payment. This gave me a good exposure on working with software tools used in Civil Engineering which is AUTOCAD, REVIT ARCHITECTURE, PRIMEVERA p6. Overall, as a Civil Engineer, my work experience helped me understand the various practical aspects of the industry, however there’s lot more to explore. I hope by getting a Masters’ Of Science degree in Civil Engineering at UTSA and the experience I gain at TSERI will give me a better opportunity to become a successful professional in future.
What first inspired you to work in your field?
Although I worked in the area of Construction Management, I was always passionate about working on Water Energy, Water / Waste water treatment and at UTSA I was inspired by the work that Dr. Les Shephard and his team at TSERI was involved in and I soon realized that by being a part of this institute I can contribute my small effort in creating a better world for tomorrow.
Current Work at the Institute
Graduate Research Assistant. I look forward to working with Dr. Shephard on improving the water quality and recycling water after Hydraulic fracturing process, which is a procedure of extracting natural gas out of shale formation.
Related Projects: Eagle Ford Shale
Michelle Garza
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Educational Background:
San Antonio Community College | 2010 | Associates Degree, Business | University of Texas at San Antonio | 2014 | Bachelor of Science, Environmental Science
Professional History:
Michelle started her thirteen-year career at Starbucks Coffee Company, where she began as an entry-level barista promoted to District Manager. In 2008, Michelle returned to higher education to continue her studies. Fueling her passion and commitment for enriching peoples daily lives within the local and global community. After completing her undergraduate associate degree in Business Management at San Antonio Community College, she soon continued working toward a bachelor degree in Environmental Science at UTSA. At UTSA Michelle started working with the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute where she works currently as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. She recently was elected to be the President of the Roadrunners for Renewable Resources, an Institute student organization at UTSA where she hopes to connect the Institute with the students and make a difference for the UTSA student body and students’ lives!
Professional Affiliations:
Sierra Club San Antonio, Roadrunners for Renewable Resources, SWRI, Starbucks Coffee Company
Current Work at the Institute:
Undergraduate Research Assistant, sustainability outreach initiatives with Dr. ElNakat; momma knows more campaign, STEM, design and produce flyers, reports, and literature reviews, student organization.
Related Projects:
Mubin Maredia
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Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | 2016 | Bachelor of Science, Biology
Mubin Maredia is a student assistant with the Texas Sustainable Research Institute. His current work includes: helping the Faculty, Staff, and Research Students with their administrative needs. As a Student Assistant Mubin’s duties include maintaining contact lists, posting advertising for events, creating power point presentations for the Director, and handles the proper filing, scanning, and copying of important paperwork.
Related Projects:
Robert M. Apolinario
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Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | May 2011 | Bachelor of Arts, Political Science | University of Texas at San Antonio | Master of Public Administration
Professional History:
Robert M. Apolinario has always been driven by his passion to serve the public. He holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is currently enrolled in UTSA’s Masters of Public Administration program. After serving 8 years in the United States Military he felt the best way for him to continue fulfilling his passion would be through politics and gaining an understanding public policy. Robert is excited to serve the people of San Antonio through his work at the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute. He is heavily involved in researching public policy as it relates to an electric vehicle infrastructure in San Antonio.
What first inspired you to work in your field?
I see my research in the areas of energy conservation policy and environment policy as a meaningful way to pursue my passion for public service.
Current Work at the Institute:
Electrification of Transportation Policy & Energy Efficiency & Sustainability Policy
Related Projects: Electrification of Transportation
Sabrina Johnson
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Educational Background
University of Texas at San Antonio | May 2013 | Bachelor of Science Environmental Science.
Professional History
Sabrina Johnson has worked since May of 2007 for H-E-B Grocery Company where she receives their education scholarship. During the fall of 2012 she began working as an Environmental Sustainability Intern at (TSERI) Texas Sustainable Research Institute.
Professional Affiliations
Member of the Nu Chi Chapter of the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society, Roadrunners for Renewable Resources
What first inspired you to work in your field?
My passion for environmental sustainability and conservation comes from my love of outdoor activities such as hiking and for all animals. I conserve as much as I can in my everyday life to hope that others will be able to enjoy the things that nature has to offer for many generations to come. This passion has inspired me to pursue my bachelor’s degree in environmental science and soon my degree in environmental law.
Current Work at the Institute
Working with Dr. ElNakat on the Green Fund proposal SmartLiving Campus Learning Station for the UTSA downtown campus.
Related Projects: UTSA SmartLiving Campus
Shihlin Lu
Contact: 210-458-6008 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Educational Background:
University of Texas at San Antonio | 2014 | B.S. Environmental Science
Professional History:
Shihlin Lu’s passion for renewable energy and green buildings transpired while studying architecture during her first two years at UTSA. Now, she is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. She was also a founding officer and former President of the United States Green Building Council Students at UTSA, a student organization that promotes green building practices and sustainability throughout the campus and community. Shihlin started working at the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute in June 2012, where she works as an undergraduate research assistant. She is currently working on the Smart Living Campus project, analyzing second-by-second energy consumption data that is being collected at the downtown campus, and developing a mobile energy app which will engage students, faculty, and facilities managers in the realm of energy conservation measures and awareness. Shihlin also enjoys running and endurance sports, participating in local races ranging from 5K to half marathons.
Professional Affiliations:
United States Green Building Council Central-Balcones Chapter, USGBC Students at UTSA
What first inspired you to work in your field?
In November 2010, I was selected as one of the Greenbuild Scholars to attend the Greenbuild Conference in Chicago, IL. Hosted by USGBC, Greenbuild is the world’s largest green building conference that brings together professionals, educators, and students from all industries. After attending a variety of sessions about the green building industry, I knew that I wanted to make an impact on the environment on a broader scale. Working at the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute has strengthened my focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green building systems. Being surrounded by a group of highly motivated and intellectual individuals inspires me to excel every day as a student, leader, and future professional.
Current Work at the Institute:
Undergraduate Research Assistant- Smart Living Campus project; SmarteBuilding system; energy app development, building occupant engagement
Related Projects: Large Scale Photovoltaic Integration
Tolu Oshikanlu
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Educational Background:
Louisiana State University | 2011 | Bachelor of Science, Petroleum Engineering; Business Minor
Professional History:
Upon graduation in 2011, Tolu Oshikanlu worked for an Oil and Gas service company (Schlumberger LTD) in the Eagle Ford Shale. His experience as a Fracturing Engineer helps propel his interest in the Energy Industry. During this period he helped with performing Well-Completion jobs and also with increasing production of many well in the Engle Ford Shale. There he was able to work with and account for a crew of about 22 individuals. Having decided to return to graduate school, he believes the knowledge and experience he has acquired over the years would be of useful impact at the UTSA Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute.
What first inspired you to work in your field?
I grew up in Nigeria; a country that has the best Crude in the world, one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world and a country that has a high energy-deficiency problem. Growing up in Africa, I was exposed to oil and gas industry and was fascinated about the energy industry. So, after high school, I decided to come to the United States to study Petroleum Engineering. The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute provides me with the opportunity to channel the little experience I have, to help improve Sustainable Energy.
Current Work at the Institute:
Graduate Research Assistant, Sustainable Development of the Eagle Ford and the Energy – Water Nexus.
Related Projects: Energy Water NexusEagle Ford Shale
Yashar Sahraei Manjili
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Educational Background:
Tehran Polytechnic | 2004 | Bachelors of Science, Electrical Engineering | Petroleum University of Technology | 2007 | Masters of Science, Automation and Control | University of Texas at San Antonio | 2014 | PhD., Electrical Engineering
Professional History:
From 2008 to 2010 Yashar S. Manjili worked with National Iranian Oil Engineering and Construction Company (NIOEC), automation and instrumentation division. There he was in charge of reviewing and endorsing the sequential control methods and piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) designed for oil refineries and pump stations. Yashar started his career at the UTSA at 2010 as a research assistant in the department of electrical and computer engineering. His research interests are intelligent control, network control systems, and energy management in smart grid. In 2012 he joined the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute (TSERI) as a graduate research assistant (GRA) to continue his career in touch with energy industry. This is an opportunity for Yashar to do his research on intelligent energy management in smart grid network at a professional environment with high standards, enhance his doctoral thesis with practical experience, and add realistic taste to theoretical aspects of his research in conjunction with the current energy market. He is expected to graduate by August 2014.
Professional Affiliations:
GRA at TSERI, student member IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), UTSA department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
What first inspired you to work in your field?
My passion for conserving energy and saving nature has led me to consider environmental protection through reducing the amount of air pollutants, produced due to conventional electricity generation methods, by using smart energy management approach. Besides, non-stop increasing demand for electrical energy was the other chief motivation for me to choose this field of research. The outcomes of my thesis will also help reduce the electricity consumption costs, and increase reliability of the power network itself.
Current Work at the Institute:
PhD research on intelligent energy management in smart grid network, Solar forecast with Dr. Vega.
Related Projects: Large Scale Photovoltaic Integration
