Michael Machala

Michael has worked in clean energy, development, and sustainability for nearly 15 years, both domestically and internationally. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy with interests encompassing international development that requires energy for income generation and how to increase success through transdisciplinary approaches. His current work in India lies at the intersection of energy, agriculture, and livelihood to improve the incomes of farming communities while reducing food loss. Michael’s systems work encompasses technoeconomics, socioeconomics, policy, the environment, and ethics for appropriate technology design with the potential to scale sustainably. His technical experience spans fundamental research at the atomic level to life cycle assessment and applied engineering in solar, battery, and fuel cell technologies. Michael has lived in Europe and Southeast Asia where he worked in R&D and on renewable energy integration in developed nations and electricity-poor villages. Currently, he leads multiple teams in India and Stanford. Michael completed a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Stanford.