See the Summer Ecopreneurial Immersion (Eco-SEI) Fellowship awardees for 2023.
Meghan Wood
Meghan is passionate about solving problems at the intersection of climate, business, and technology. Before coming to Stanford to earn a joint MBA/MS degree in environment and resources, Meghan worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company in Toronto. Her most fulfilling work came from the relationship she built between her home Bain office and The Nature Conservancy in Canada. Meghan has spent her past year focused on understanding ways to both lower electricity bills for those who need it most, while creating major climate benefits at the same time.
Eco-SEI Focus – Vatio: Solar for all
Meghan is focused on discovering ways to unlock residential solar as a solution for all. The current offerings require homeowners to commit to $15k+ or 20 year contracts, limiting the potential for many individuals who are budget constrained, who may move in a few years, or who are renting to participate in solar. Meghan is exploring the idea of solar-in-a-box that can be plugged into a standard home outlet to start saving electricity costs from day 1. These smaller scale systems would provide an entry point into the market and contribute to 20%+ savings on bills for a low upfront cost.
Tomo Kumahira and Ryotaro Takanashi
Tomo is pursuing MBA-EIPERs degree as Knight Hennessy Scholar. Having supported various social entrepreneurship projects in Japan, US, and Kenya, Tomo aspires to tackle climate change by scaling up capital-intensive, long-term technology solutions in the living essentials space such as agriculture, forestry, and water. Formerly a private equity investor at Mitsubishi Corporation, Tomo served as Acting CFO at Komaza, a Kenya-based sustainable forestry startup partnering with over 30,000 smallholder farmers. At Komaza, Tomo designed the world’s first securitization instrument for smallholder forestry and led over $50M of blended finance including carbon credits development. Tomo is Acumen East Africa Fellow.
Ryo is an MBA/MS-Sustainability candidate passionate about lifeline/supply-chain resilience of critical resources, such as food and water. During his Urban Engineering Master’s research about maintaining lifelines amid depopulation at the University of Tokyo, he witnessed devastating food-supply-chain collapse in Detroit, and realized that the vulnerability was not Detroit-specific. It spurred him to become the youngest-ever Chief Corn Trader and Supply Chain Manager at Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan’s largest commercial grain importer, where he maintained supply amid crises, including COVID. In pursuit of distributed supply, Ryo proposed and founded the Cultured Meat Task Force, securing one of the group’s first startup investments.
Eco-SEI Focus – Project Mizu
Agricultural Water is exposed to the most concentrated climate risks. Reliable water access is essential for climate change adaptation in agriculture, given 72% of freshwater is used for agricultural production that heavily relies on natural sources such as aquifers, rivers, precipitation, and glaciers. Climate change will impact all of these sources. Our early interviews with farmers, asset owners, supply chain managers, and policymakers have revealed a need for a one-stop platform that curates various adaptation solutions. We are building an optimal solution package that combines climate-crop re-matching, weather prediction, measurement, energy-efficient transportation and storage, water-efficiency, and ecosystem restoration.
Gabriella Dweck
Gabby met her co-founder Kelly Redmond met, during their first year in the Engineering Design Impact masters program at Stanford. Upon discovering their shared passion for environmental justice and motivations for affecting positive climate outcomes, they began working on building they venture Oleo Sustainable Palm Oil Solutions. Gabriella’s background in biomedical engineering and experience developing and bringing new products to market in the medical device industry will enable her to develop Oleo’s technology and go-to-market strategy.
Eco-SEI Focus – Oleo Sustainable Palm Oil Solutions
Palm oil is the most widely-used vegetable oil in the world. Unfortunately, its production often begins with clearing tropical rainforests. To address this issue Oleo has developed a synthetic alternative to palm oil produced from recycled agricultural waste to benefit smallholder farms in Indonesia and keep economic development within the country while also reducing the demand for farmland and the clearing of rainforests.
Bharti Singhla
Bharti is an E-IPER MS + MBA student. She comes with over 7 years of business experience, including Co-Founder and COO at Chakr Innovation (a hardware cleantech startup in India) and management consulting at BCG. For the last six years, she was building Chakr, reducing PM emissions from diesel used in industries and commercial buildings in India. An engineer by training, she is passionate about translating technologies for scalable business applications. Owing to her childhood in the rural Himalayas in India, she believes in living in harmony with nature. Being an engineer, she is passionate about hardware climate-tech solutions, especially based on circular economy.
Eco-SEI Focus – Circular Economy for Wastewater
As per WHO, more than 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries. Nitrates in water can pose an important chemical risk for human health and consumption. The problem of water contamination and shortage is only expected to be exacerbated as a result of climate change and population growth.
Bharti’s project is based on the principle of Circular Economy – which will be the most important tool in our fight against climate change and sustainability. By recovering nutrients from wastewater, we can reduce the energy needs for fertilizer production. We can also generate clean water for consumption by the community and ultimately generate livelihoods. Thus sustainably solving three problems: water shortage, carbon emissions from the production of fertilizers, and food security.
Krish Mehta
Krish Mehta, from Mumbai, is a joint MBA and MS candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Doerr School of Sustainability. From a young age, Krish was determined to tackle climate change after witnessing its devastating impact on vulnerable communities. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, earning dual degrees in business and engineering. He then worked as an engagement manager within McKinsey’s sustainability practice and later at Tesla to manage the Model 3 P&L. At Stanford, Krish works with a team of PhD and Masters students to decarbonize concrete. Krish’s work is supported by the TomKat Center.
Eco-SEI Focus – Gremix: Decarbonizing concrete
Cement, the glue that binds sand and gravel to form concrete, contributes to 8% of global CO2 emissions. We aim to change that.
Claudio Guardado and Augusto Viotti Bozzini
Claudio is an Industrial Engineer from Monterrey, Mexico, who is passionate about climate tech and reducing inequality in emerging markets. He has experience as a management consultant in the energy sector across Latin and North America, co-founded a non-profit, and worked with the Mexican government in an Agrotech project. Now pursuing a joint MBA/MS degree at Stanford, Claudio is determined to create a positive impact in Latin America by scaling proven cost-saving solutions.
Augusto is an Electronic Engineer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who is passionate to help SMEs in emerging economies thrive. Prior to the GSB, Augusto worked as a management consultant throughout Latin America, and at a Climate Tech startup in East Africa. During the summer, he is devoted to find ways to help SMEs achieve their maximum potential through sustainable and cost-efficient solutions.
Eco-SEI Focus – Energiza- Enabling sustainable growth for SMEs in Latam
Claudio and Augusto are joined by Alan, an Industrial Engineer from Mexico City, Mexico. Together Team Energiza is committed to addressing the challenge of recurring costs that heavily impact SMEs across Latam, where utility expenses can reach as high as 40% of their total costs. During this summer, their primary objective is to help improve SMEs’ financial situation by scaling proven sustainable technologies through innovative business models. By deeply understanding the needs of these SMEs and exploring the intersection of climate tech and fintech, Claudio, Augusto and Alan aim to deploy sustainable solutions for positive change.
Nick Okafor
Nick Okafor (he/him) is a doctoral student in Management Science & Engineering, where he researches the practice and pedagogy of responsible innovation. He puts research into practice as the founder of trubel&co, a nonprofit championing the next generation to tackle complex societal problems using data, design, and technology, reshaping society for the better. Previously, Nick was a Senior Associate at Sidewalk Labs (Google’s urban innovation arm), where he drove commercialization for emerging products that improve quality of life in cities. He is committed to ensuring the digital revolution can increase opportunity, mitigate harm, and create liberatory futures for all.
Eco-SEI Focus – trubel&co: Mapping Climate Justice
trubel&co champions the next generation to tackle complex societal challenges using equitable data analytics, responsible technology, and inclusive design. trubel&co builds youth power by grounding career technical education with liberatory design and experiential learning, equipping those closest to inequity with the skills to fix the problems they care about the most. Adapting from past pilots with MIT, trubel&co is launching Mapping Climate Justice, where high school students design geospatial tools advancing environmental justice and climate resiliency. This course builds data literacy and civic awareness through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), boosting students’ critical consciousness, technical proficiency and self-efficacy.
Ignacio (Nacho) Sabate
Nacho started his career at L.E.K Consulting, where he led projects for industrial and private equity clients in industrial sectors. There, he worked on M&A and corporate strategy projects for renewable companies, recyclers, and chemical companies. Later on, Nacho was the Head of Corporate Strategy and M&A at Hyundai’s zero-emissions aerospace division, overseeing the development of the division’s commercialization strategy as the company scaled from 50 to 500 employees. Ignacio also led M&A and venture investing at Supernal, as well as invested while at Porsche’s venture capital arm. While at Porsche and at Hyundai, Ignacio invested in various materials and robotics companies. While at the GSB, Nacho began working with the Perseus team early on in his first quarter at Stanford, helping the team develop initial perspectives on commercialization opportunities and the unit economics of Perseus’ product.
Eco-SEI Focus – Perseus Materials
Perseus Materials is commercializing novel composite material (e.g., carbon fiber, fiberglass) technologies developed in Stanford labs that provide time and emissions improvements over existing solutions. By reducing the time required to cure these materials from hours to seconds, our technology can significantly increase factory throughput and reduce costs to make composites significantly more affordable. This technology also allows manufacturing companies to produce composite materials with a much smaller carbon footprint.
Tal Sarig
Tal Sarig is pursuing a dual MBA + MS in EIPER at Stanford. Before his academic journey, Tal’s leadership skills were honed as a submarine officer and COO of the Israeli Submarine fleet. Alongside his military career, he followed his passion for agriculture, leveraging his upbringing on a family farm in northern Israel to establish a successful estate winery. Tal’s commitment to sustainable practices led him to intern at Gold Leaf Farming, where he focused on evaluating and implementing sustainable agriculture techniques. His interest in biochar production stems from his desire to contribute to environmentally-friendly farming methods and mitigate climate change impacts.
Eco-SEI Focus – Biocharmers
The project addresses the critical issue of soil degradation and carbon sequestration in agriculture. Recognizing the pressing need for sustainable farming practices, the project’s goal is to implement biochar production as a solution. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance produced from organic waste through a process called pyrolysis. Over the summer, the project will evaluate and develop strategies for integrating biochar into agricultural systems, focusing on its benefits in improving soil fertility, water retention, and carbon sequestration.
Sarah Sausan
Sarah Sausan is a PhD student conducting research on geothermal technology in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy. With a MS in Energy Engineering and experience as a product manager in the energy-tech space, her passion for renewables and energy transition led her to explore Project Rhino.
Eco-SEI Focus – Project Rhino
Project Rhino explores the intersection between clean energy, software, and AI. The project aims to cut the time and effort needed for energy prospect evaluation by 80%. Thus, new players can participate in the clean energy boom with much less upfront cost.
Terry Baggett
Terry Baggett, an MBA Candidate at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, is a distinguished scholar and military veteran. Holding a BS in Chemical Engineering from the US Military Academy, Terry balanced academic success with athletic achievements. His leadership experience spans roles such as Aide de Camp to the Commanding General of the 7th Infantry Division to Rifle Company Commander. Terry also interned as an analyst at Altamont Capital Partners. His track record showcases effective resource management and successful implementation of training and readiness programs. Beyond his professional pursuits, Terry enjoys exploring new cultures and prioritizes physical fitness.
Eco-SEI Focus – Water Reuse in the Permian Basin
Terry is presently undertaking an in-depth research study concerning the utilization of produced water within the Permian Basin. With a steadfast vision to bolster reuse efficiency, Terry is actively pursuing advancements in current allocation methods, with the ultimate objective of fortifying the sustainability of water resources within the oil and gas industry.
Garrison Edward Roe
Garrison is an MBA student with experience as an investment banking analyst, focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions.
Eco-SEI Focus – Digital Sustainable Aviation Fuel
The Digital Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) team is working to streamline the procurement process for SAF purchasers, particularly in the private aviation industry. By bringing easy-to-use book-and-claim transactions to customers with high willingness to pay, the team hopes to accelerate utilization and increase production of SAF.
