Alumni
How to Build a Space Station
Nanoracks, co-founded by Chris Cummins ’89, started as a niche startup that facilitated research on the International Space Station. Now it’s building a space station.
What Does It Take to Create Financial Products That Can Save the Planet?
Investors are increasingly eager to contribute to solutions for climate change and other environmental problems. Charlotte Kaiser ’07 of The Nature Conservancy’s NatureVest explains how the company builds financial products that attract mainstream capital while delivering conservation impacts.
How Trust Can Power Renewable Energy
Lily Donge ’97 talked with us about how building trust is critical for any kind of real innovation—and how it’s helped her develop new models for scaling renewable energy.
How Balancing Creativity and Rigor Helped Disney Build a Star Wars Vacation Experience
Architect Ann Morrow Johnson ’14 is the executive producer and executive creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering’s immersive vacation experience Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. We talked with her about balancing innovative creativity and strategic rigor.
How Connecticut Accelerated Its Vaccinations
Josh Geballe ’02, Connecticut’s chief operating officer, explains the state’s controversial decision to switch to age-based eligibility for COVID vaccines—and says it likely saved lives.
California’s Path to a Carbon-Neutral Grid
Elliot Mainzer ’98, CEO of CAISO, explains how California is working to avoid another summer of blackouts even as the state transitions to a carbon-neutral grid.
Why the Texas Power Market Failed
Texas-based energy economist Ed Hirs ’81 says the February 2021 power crisis exposed longstanding, fatal flaws in the state’s energy market design and oversight.
To Reduce Risk, Build Trust, in Developing Countries and the U.S.
Mena Cammett ’12 of the World Bank says that the tools used to analyze risk in emerging markets are increasingly relevant to the United States. To mitigate vulnerabilities, build trust.
Maintaining Momentum on Climate Change
Tyler Van Leeuwen ’14 of Shell explains explains how his internal skunkworks team helps move Shell toward its decarbonization goals.
To Tackle Plastics Pollution, Embrace a Circular Economy
To cut down on plastics pollution, says Matt Kopac ’09, sustainable business and innovation manager at Burt’s Bees, we need a fundamentally different approach to sustainability.
Pharma Collaborates in the Fight against the Pandemic
Nandish Poluru ’13 discusses the pharmaceutical industry’s unprecedented cooperative efforts to treat and prevent COVID-19.
