Energy Faculty Fellow Program
Building strong partnerships within the energy community is essential to meet the multifaceted demands of the changing energy landscape.
Driving Growth Through Meaningful Partnerships
Our energy systems have a profound impact on nearly every sphere of our society. Concerns surrounding an aging and vulnerable infrastructure, and increasing demand for energy to power our lives and productivity have made the development of a clean, secure and resilient energy portfolio a national priority. Concurrently, conversations center on ensuring that clean energy options are available to all communities throughout the nation, with a focus on domestic energy independence and leadership in innovation. Building strong partnerships within the energy community is essential to meet the multifaceted demands of the changing energy landscape.
The Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) at Georgia Tech is approaching this challenge through the Energy Faculty Fellows Program focused on growing partnerships with other academic institutions -- specifically, Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) including R2 universities, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), or Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs).
In addition to identifying and pursuing innovative research concepts, a key goal of the program is to develop long-term research relationships with potential partner institutions in preparation for collaborative opportunities in energy-focused funding, education, and curriculum development. The program aims to initiate new collaborative relationships as well as strengthen existing partnerships to amplify the impacts of ongoing efforts. Program participants will spend 10 weeks working closely with research groups at Georgia Tech on collaborative projects that advance regional, national, and global energy priorities and establish long term collaborations on grand challenges in energy.
2026 Fellowship Applications Open
Applications Due: February 16, 2026
Application packets should be sent to the Energy Comments Mailbox and should include:
- Current CV
- A one-page summary of ongoing research efforts, specifically highlighting energy engagement
- A one-page proposal of potential energy research that the program fellow could advance during the summer program which could include designing research efforts around the following topics: energy affordability and resilience; national security; energy intersections with natural systems (e.g., water, terrestrial or ocean ecosystems); nuclear energy; critical materials; decarbonization of energy systems
- List of potential Georgia Tech Host(s): Please identify and contact 1-3 faculty members at Georgia Tech with whom you may be interested in collaborating. If you are in conversations with a potential host, please note in your application. Details can be finalized as the application review process is underway.
Programmatic details: The program will be a 10-week collaborative effort hosted at Georgia Tech. A stipend will be provided to all selected fellows and housing support is available to those outside of the local area. Faculty applicants must also identify a student within their home institution to bring with them to engage in the summer research.
A key goal of the program is to develop long-term research relationships with potential partner institutions in preparation for collaborative opportunities in energy-focused funding, education, and curriculum development.
2025 Energy Faculty Fellow Program
The Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute concluded the third cohort of the summer Energy Faculty Fellows this August!
The 2025 cohort welcomed a diverse group of researchers for a 10-week summer fellowship from across the country. The program is designed to advance energy innovation and collaboration by supporting cross-institutional partnerships and facilitating dialogue on regional, national, and global energy priorities.
The cohort included:
- Cody Gonzalez, assistant professor from University of Texas San Antonio
- Jamal Mamkhezri, associate professor of Economics at New Mexico State University
- Judy Jenkins, professor of Chemistry at Eastern Kentucky University
- Hossein Taheri, associate professor of Manufacturing Engineering from Georgia Southern University.
2024 Summer Program
After completing a 10-week, on-campus fellowship, the members of 2024 Summer Energy Faculty Fellows Program presented their research and discussed their future plans for continuing their research at their home campus.
The fellowship program was launched in 2023 and hosted three faculty and two undergraduates in a fantastic inaugural summer experience. The fellows were competitively selected from a nationwide pool of applicants, and the 2024 cohort expanded to include 10 participants. Each of the Fellows brought a student and was hosted by a Georgia Tech energy researcher. The 2024 Faculty Fellows and their students included:
- Kristen Brown and Dom Forza also of the University of Texas at San Antonio (Host: Joe Bozeman III).
- Guenevere Qian Chen with Marco Garza of the University of Texas at San Antonio (Host: Saman Zonouz).
- Beibei Jiang with Tara Joshi of Kennesaw State University (Host: Hailong Chen).
- Milanika S. Turner with Janiyah White of Clark Atlanta University (Host: Joe Bozeman III).
In addition, the cohort also included a collaborator, Zufen Wang from Tennessee State University, with Veronica Kamel (Host: Comas Haynes).
2023 Summer External Energy Faculty Program
In Summer 2023, the first ever Energy Faculty Fellow program (EFF) brought three faculty and two undergraduate students to the Georgia Tech campus. The 10-week program is designed for Georgia Tech faculty to host a faculty member from a primarily undergraduate or minority serving Institution to engage with energy leaders, build networks, and pursue research collaborations in the energy space. Ongoing goals are to continue research collaborations well beyond this summer with faculty and students carrying research efforts to their home institutions and into the new academic year. The Strategic Energy Institute anticipates a pipeline between the institutions, where EFF participants encourage their colleagues to engage with Georgia Tech in future cohorts, call on each other for collaborations on federal grant proposals, and the faculty send students to Georgia Tech's summer undergraduate or graduate programs.
The 2023 Summer program included,
- Xingpeng Li (U Houston, HSI), hosted by Pascal Van Henternryck.
- Guanyu Huang (Spelman, HBCU), hosted by Marilyn Brown (student Nia McKenzie).
- Mario Bencomo (Cal State Fresno, HSI), hosted by Comas Haynes (student Mikayla Leggett).