News

This year, five WNCG alumni and postdoctoral fellows accepted faculty positions throughout the country. Their acceptance continues the recent wave over the last few years of WNCG students and postdoctoral fellows finding permanent homes at some of the world’s leading institutions. Here’s a quick look at where a few of these alumni are headed, what they look forward to most about being a faculty member and how WNCG helped prepare them for their new ventures. Joe Neeman WNCG Advisor: Sujay Sanghavi

WNCG Postdoctoral Researcher, Pedro Santacruz, recently accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at San Jose State University. “Since I started working on my PhD, an academic position has always been my ultimate goal,” Prof. Santacruz states. “I have a particular affinity for teaching and, combined with the possibilities for research, an academic position is a perfect fit for me.”

Currently, local utilities in the U.S. generate 12 percent more energy than they anticipate needing. Otherwise, if they experience a brownout or blackout, utility companies face heavy penalties from the government. “Most of that extra energy is going to waste,” WNCG Prof. Brian Evans states. “If utility companies had access to better information, they could predict user demand and how it evolves over the day. They could reduce energy waste by around four-to-six percent.”