Green technology: its broad impacts & benefits create exciting jobs

"The increased awareness of problems with gas and petroleum use is changing the way our society looks at its energy sources." – Shannon Geiger, GE Energy

"If you don't think of IT as green, you definitely should!" – Samuel Graham, Walmart

By Sue Marquette Poremba
Contributing Editor

Opportunities for techies are growing in green technology. Companies and government organizations of all types are looking for ways to reduce waste in general and energy use in particular, says David Riley, associate professor of architectural engineering and executive director of the center for sustainability at Penn State University.

"Sustainability has appeal to anybody who takes the time to understand its broad impacts and benefits," Riley declares. "The DOE and other agencies are currently investing in green technology through grants for new factories and research. We are starting to see advances in technologies like batteries, solar panels and efficient heat pumps. These will have big impacts on homes, cars and other important systems."

Attracting diversity
Riley has noticed that women and people from diverse backgrounds tend to be more aware of the strain being put on our environment, and to have a more active desire to protect it. Why so? "They seem to lack the 'entitlement' complex that makes many people feel that natural resources are theirs for the taking," Riley reflects. "Indigenous cultures are the last remaining populations that actually live sustainably. We can learn
a lot from them: their value sets, and how they think about decisions."

Joyce Tucker, Boeing VP of global diversity and employee rights, adds that "We're working to tap into the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of our team and to leverage their differences as strengths to create a competitive advantage for Boeing. That approach helps people participate in decisions on how to advance both their own careers and our common business objectives."

Enrique Salem, president and CEO of Symantec, says, "We view workplace diversity and inclusive hiring and promotion as a business imperative. We must reflect the diversity of the global market to best serve our customers and spur innovation."

Fouad Dagher manages energy services and more for National Grid
Fouad Dagher is manager of new products and energy services in the energy product management organization of National Grid (Waltham, MA), an international company that supplies electricity and natural gas to customers in New England and New York. In a current project, Dagher is managing installation of five MW of solar generation on five company-owned sites.

"The power from these sites generates enough electricity to power about a thousand homes annually," he explains. "We're using four former brownfield locations in Massachusetts to host the installations, so we're also converting brownfields to greenfields."

Dagher grew up in Majdalounah, a small village in Lebanon. "I wanted to fulfill my dream and become an engineer, and the opportunities were not there in Lebanon for me to do that, so at the age of twenty I left my entire family behind and traveled to the U.S."

Dagher always enjoyed working with electricity and electronics. "I used to convert old transistor radios to two-way communications devices like a phone system. I created a mini network with wires strung to my friends' homes. That's where my desire to become an EE started."

In the U.S. he attended the University of Massachusetts-Lowell for a BS and MS in EE and energy engineering. In college he was part of a research team studying how solar energy is used in Latin American and African countries.

After he finished his MS Dagher spent five years at Mobil Oil's solar division, developing photovoltaic systems for utility scale applications. He joined National Grid as a power quality engineer, helping customers with power quality issues. He met with customers to understand their concerns, then made cost-effective recommendations to resolve their problems.

Dagher says that working on solar and other energy projects at National Grid gives him
a sense of satisfaction that he's doing his part to preserve the environment for future generations. "And I'm thrilled to see that, like my college advisor who gave me the opportunity to work on green projects, I am influencing others to learn new skills!"

Shannon Geiger does wind turbine design at GE Energy
When she completed her BSME at Virginia Tech University in 2007, Shannon Geiger joined GE Energy (Greenville, SC) as part of the company's Edison Engineering Development Program. After completing her four six-month rotations she moved into an exciting job as a GE Energy engineer/technologist in strategic operations, a branch of conceptual design, working with wind turbines.

Her interest in green technology and renewable energy was stimulated during a college internship where she worked on automotive fuel cells. "That led me to talk to GE at a school career fair," Geiger says. "GE has such a good reputation and I was drawn to the wind turbine work they offered."

Some of her work with the Edison program focused on gas turbines, but Geiger wanted to work with wind as a clean energy source.

"My third rotation was in product services, where we offer our expertise to customers to ensure optimum operation of their wind farms," she explains. "The operation of all our turbines is closely monitored. In the case of a performance anomaly, we'd identify the root cause of the problem and make any needed adjustments. Sometimes we'd get to climb the turbines. Climbing a 260-foot tower will make you realize that it's time to get back to the gym, but the view from the top is breathtaking."

That work pointed to the direction she wanted her career path to follow. "I knew I didn't want to be as technical as pure design or even component ownership. The job I'm in now is interesting because it's a branch of conceptual design. You're able to see new system-level designs shaping up on the horizon. You get to see cutting-edge technology as it's developed!"

Her job is to keep up to date with the competitive wind power landscape to identify areas of opportunity for GE product line growth. "If a new technology like direct-drive generators is capturing an increasing market segment, my team would analyze the need to invest in that technology and the larger engineering team would focus on creating a design for that market. Direct-drive generators are an attractive choice for the offshore wind industry because they eliminate a gearbox in the drive train. That can improve the reliability of the system, a big bonus in difficult-to-reach locations."

She's also involved in strategic planning for new technologies. And she's working on her MSME through Georgia Tech.

The increased awareness of problems with gas and petroleum use has changed the way our society looks at its energy sources, Geiger believes. "I was in college, and working in the automotive industry, when gas prices started to soar. That's when I began to think about what I could do myself to help reduce our dependence on petroleum."

Walmart senior project specialist Samuel Graham: IT can be green
While studying at Langston University (Langston, OK), Samuel Graham had
an intense discussion about IT opportunities with a recruiter from Walmart (Bentonville, AR). He began working there when he completed his BSMIS in 2004.

Today Graham is a senior project specialist in the company's IS division, deeply immersed in IT for Walmart and fascinated by the connection between IT and green technology.

"If you don't think of IT as green, you definitely should!" he says. "It costs a lot to run data centers and systems and business applications. The whole thing about thinking green is the sustainability concept: through sustainability you can learn how to control expenses and costs better."

Graham's group is involved in virtualizing systems and decommissioning older systems; his specialty is Windows server virtualization and he also manages the communications surrounding the projects. "In our virtualization projects we have a dollar value we need to gain in efficiencies," he explains. "Those efficiencies can come in power and cooling savings."

Graham likes computers, likes working in the field and appreciates the value his job provides for the company and its customers. "Walmart is about saving people money and that runs through every aspect of the business," Graham says. "Our sustainability efforts and cost savings get passed along to our customers."

Graham grew up in Chicago and went to school in Oklahoma, but now Arkansas is his home state. "You can do a lot of things outdoors," he says. "I'm a big golfer now, and there are a lot of golf courses around here."

Gautam Bahri works on huge new solar plants for Boeing
Gautam Bahri grew up in India and earned his BSEE in Calcutta in 1977. He worked and consulted in India and abroad, and in 2002 he and his family located permanently in California and he became a U.S. citizen. "I had some business here and did some consulting," Bahri explains. His work was mainly in power engineering, and in 2007 he responded to a recruiting ad and went to work at the Seal Beach, CA location of the Boeing Co (Chicago, IL).

"The ad talked about renewable and clean energy like solar and power plants, and I'd been involved with that most of my working life," he says. "I thought it would be interesting to get involved with it from Boeing's point of view."

Bahri is now a project manager with Boeing Energy. "We're working on ways to modernize the U.S. electrical grid and make it more secure," he says.

The work involves very large projects. "We are working with several developers on utility-scale power plants. One project we're discussing would cover about a square mile of land, and we would put solar panels on the whole property, with high- and medium-voltage substations connected to the grid."

When Bahri got out of college most of the jobs for EEs were in power systems, and he made that his career. He's seen a lot of changes in power systems and the way people think about power. Renewable energy is a focus today, and so is the need to improve the power grid.

"The infrastructure needs to be adapted to handle all this new technology," he says. "We need to make sure the renewable energy we have is reliable and can be integrated into the grid. This is a revolution that will take years to do, but once it's done we'll have clean energy and energy independence."

Principal engineer Jim Baca: conservation and cost savings at Intel
Jim Baca got his BSEE from New Mexico State University in 1987 and worked at a variety of technology-related jobs. In 1996 he went to work for Intel in Rio Rancho, NM. "It was the technology that attracted me to Intel," he says. "I like the way it's changed the world in our lifetime. I wanted to be part of that."

His job with Intel involves green technology indirectly. "The stated focus is on efficiency and the amount of energy we use. We want to promote conservation and cost savings," he explains.

That means producing a product with more efficient battery life and an infrastructure that can optimize power. "After all, it isn't just hardware but also software that utilizes power. Everything we do needs to be optimized for performance and power use," Baca says.

In 2008 Baca was named a principal engineer. He's co-owner of an internal program that "closes the loop with our other groups. We provide feedback regarding the power domain, and recommendations to optimize our products' future power and performance."

He works with a group called "Flex." Group members act as consultants spanning IT and product software. "I go out and network with people from other parts of the company and then help develop the technology they need," he explains.

He also acts as a mentor. "It's one of the most rewarding aspects of working at a technology company. You can help with career development and show people how to look at the strategic side of the business," he says. "I want to help them see the broader future of what we're doing and expand their career opportunities."

Dr Karina Edmonds: at DOE, the greenest job in the world
As the first technology transfer coordinator for the Department of Energy (DOE, Washington, DC), Karina Edmonds, PhD, says she has one of the greenest jobs in the world. Not only that, but it's a lot of fun.

"I work with all seventeen of DOE's national labs, helping to accelerate the transfer of discoveries made at the labs to the commercial marketplace," Edmonds explains. "A primary mission of the DOE is promoting America's energy security through reliable, clean and affordable energy, and everything I do strives to meet this goal."

One of the exciting aspects of Edmonds' job is the chance to play a role in creating a clean energy economy, as technologies transition from the lab to the commercial sector.

"I learn about the cutting-edge innovations being generated by DOE's top-notch scientists at our world-class facilities," she says. "I'm teaming up with all the technology transfer offices at the labs and looking at ways to get our technologies out to the commercial sector as quickly as possible so they're widely deployed." A key part of the job, she says, is increasing the rate of successful technologies being commercialized from DOE labs. "These technologies have the potential to create clean-energy jobs and provide solutions to our energy challenges."

Edmonds came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic with her family when she was eight years old. Her parents wanted to improve the opportunities for the family and stressed the importance of getting a good education. Edmonds took their advice, and earned a 1992 BSME from the University of Rhode Island and a 1993 MS and 1997 PhD in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology.

"I chose ME because of the flexibility it would provide in terms of the job market and my interest in solid mechanics," she says.

She joined the DOE after working in technology transfer at the Jet Propulsion Lab (Pasadena, CA). "Tech transfer gives you the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge innovations and then help those innovations make it to the marketplace," she explains.

As an undergrad Edmonds had a key role in starting a NSBE chapter at URI. She's still working with students. "I like to encourage the kids, especially women and people of color, to consider a career in the natural sciences. Our country is facing many challenges, particularly in energy, and we'll need all the bright minds we can get to focus on these challenges. The opportunities afforded with a strong STEM background will be endless!"

Jose Iglesias is a green driving force at Symantec
As VP of education and enablement services at Symantec Corp (Mountain View, CA), Jose Iglesias is a driving force behind the company's green IT efforts. For the past three years he's been the go-to exec across the company for green technology issues: both internal efforts and services that can help customers with their own energy efforts.

Iglesias, born in Cuba, has a BS and an MS from Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA). The idea of green technology is nothing new, he says. In 1978, the year he completed his MSCS, Earth Day was big and plenty of people were already discussing ways to conserve resources. Saving the environment was a topic important to Iglesias personally.

"Back then and still today, I love camping and backpacking and reveling in nature," he says. "Saving the earth has always been a passion of mine. When that interest began to be called 'green,' I became green!"

Iglesias has been in his green leadership role for the past three years. "It was something I volunteered to do," he explains. "I called it my nighttime job, but it's become more of my daytime job!"

IT is one of the fastest-growing components of energy use, and green IT looks closely at energy consumption, reducing costs and providing a significant return on investment as well as reducing environmental impact. It also involves finding ways to dispose of the toxic materials generated by technology. "What do you do with laptops and desktops and monitors when you're done with them? Just putting them in a landfill is a really anti-green idea!"

Iglesias sees three routes to advancing the green IT effort. The first is reducing the amount of equipment used to perform IT functions, while keeping the same level of service. This can be approached through expanding software capabilities.

A second way is power-managing the equipment already in use, which can be done, for example, with software that automatically puts a machine in "hibernate" mode after a certain amount of time. That, he says, can save $52 a year per desktop in typical electricity charges. The third area involves better ways of disposing of old equipment. Symantec partners with an e-recycler, which disposes of equipment responsibly or re-purposes it for a second life, Iglesias says.

Besides his green work, Iglesias is head of Symantec's Hispanic diversity and inclusion program. He works with company groups across the U.S. to create an environment for networking, career counseling and awareness of the contributions of the Hispanic community.

Paula Hubert: making Walgreens building projects green
Walgreens (Deerfield, IL) is the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., with more than 7,500 stores in all fifty states, DC and Puerto Rico. Like many forward-looking companies, Walgreens makes sustainable design a priority in planning new buildings. As a senior project architect, Paula Hubert works on ways to make the company's building projects green.

Hubert graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana with a BS in architectural studies in 1987. She worked for several architecture firms before joining Walgreens in 1992.

"I'm responsible for our sustainable and green design," she says. "I manage new store development in the Midwest, and have the additional duties of managing LEED projects, looking at sustainable initiatives and coordinating with engineering and construction so they're up-to-date on what we're doing that is green." LEED, she explains, stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized green building certification standard.

Hubert began this responsibility in 2006. The first LEED-certified Walgreens store opened last year in California and several more are under way. "I don't manage all of that," she notes, "but I do act as a consultant to the people working on the projects."

She's also involved in making standard building materials more green for Walgreens' new stores. That includes things like low-flow plumbing fixtures and products with low amounts of volatile organic compounds and high recycled material content.

For Walgreens to be involved in green building practices is just good business, Hubert believes. "We are taking some exciting and creative steps toward sustainability and I like being part of this Walgreens team and our company's commitment."

Tord Dennis: green principles at Siemens PLM
Growing up in Liberia, Tord Dennis loved taking things apart and putting them back together. As he grew up he liked that kind of work even more. He came to the U.S. to school, earning his BSME from West Virginia University in 1990, his MSME from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001 and his MBA from Georgia Tech in 2005.

While at Georgia Tech he became an instructor and research engineer, and eventually got involved in product life-cycle management (PLM). "I was exposed to a lot of technologies and green research, all from the PLM aspect," he explains. "That got me interested in the business side of the technologies I was working with."

He joined Siemens PLM Software (Plano, TX) in 2005 as a product marketing manager, including work in compliance management and environmental compliance.

"We help our customers make sure they are designing for the environment: that everything they design is compliant with existing regulations and that their designs do not harm society," he says.

"We've learned how to bring in cost benefits, and now we're looking to see how we can spread environmental-friendly design across the organization. As you start to look at your materials you have to look at the processes, too. That leads to improved energy usage, reduced emissions, cost savings and positive benefits to society.

"My role is to help shape how our product works to solve environmental compliance problems and meet green design goals." His engineering background helps him communicate with engineers and understand their objectives, which shape the product, then align them to customer needs.

Dennis is chair of Siemens' African ancestry resource group. "This group is a particular interest to me. It's an opportunity to reach out to others of similar backgrounds and let them know that at Siemens there are a lot of people contributing from very diverse backgrounds."

Dr Zakiya Leggett: sustainability research at Weyerhaeuser
Zakiya Leggett, PhD is a scientist at Weyerhaeuser Company Southern Timberlands (Vanceboro, NC), working in sustainability research. She majored in forest resources at Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL), earning her BS in 1999. She finished an MS in forest management at Duke University (Durham, NC) in 2000 and got her PhD in forest soils from North Carolina State University in 2004.

She chose forestry partly because of the scholarships available to encourage minorities to get into the field, and in turn she mentors others who might be interested. "It's challenging when you're in a field dominated by white males," she says.

She joined Weyerhaeuser as a post-doctoral student, working to update the company's sustainability platform. "We were doing fertilization and herbicide spraying and other things that some environmentalists might not be comfortable with. My job was to go through and evaluate our practices and make sure what we're doing isn't negatively affecting the environment."

Then she transitioned into her current role as a sustainability scientist. Right now she's working on Catchlight Energy, LLC, a Weyerhaeuser joint venture with Chevron to produce biofuels. One of Weyerhaeuser's responsibilities is supplying sustainable feedstock, and Leggett is leading a research study to evaluate the sustainability of producing feedstock in Weyerhaeuser's loblolly pine plantations in the Southeast.

"At Weyerhaeuser, it's our usual practice to plant a stand of trees and monitor the trees, but we don't do anything to pull biomass off for at least twenty-five years," she explains. "This venture with Chevron will require us to use part of our land base to plant switchgrass which will be removed on an annual basis."

Leggett's study will investigate how this change in land management will affect everything from soil nutrients to wildlife. "Can we be confident that this will be a sustainable practice that we can continue to do over a long period of time?" That is the great environmental enigma, and Leggett's work may help supply an important answer for the future of the world.

D/C

Sue Marquette Poremba is an engineering and construction writer in State College, PA.

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