People

Paola Pimentel Furlanetto
Paola is passionate about power systems and how their evolution can transition society into a more efficient, environmentally responsible, and just era. Her research interests are market structures and public policy dedicated to improving the power grid through renewables, energy storage, and other disruptive technologies.

Vivian Ogechi Nwadiaru
Vivian received a BEng in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and an MS in Energy Engineering. Her research with ELEVATE explores equitable demand response strategies such as pricing schemes for the deployment of solar and storage technologies to reduce cost and improve reliability in low-income communities. Vivian enjoys threading the line between engineering and policy and is also dedicated to bridging the skills gap for STEM students in Nigeria through STEMJets, an NGO she co-founded.

Jonisha Aubain
Jonisha Aubain is a Mechanical Engineering PhD student working under Dr. Erin Baker and Dr. Krish Sharman. Her work is on the experimental design and construction of a reference tidal turbine to be tested in the Ocean Resources and Renewable Energy (ORRE) Lab. Connected to this, she is doing a techno-economic analysis of tidal energy being applied to her home, the US Virgin Islands, to replace the use of diesel power as an energy source.

Faustina Serwaa Sarfo
Faustina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from KNUST in Ghana and an MSc in Renewable Energy Engineering from University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Currently pursuing a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UMass Amherst under Prof. Erin Baker,  her research focuses on developing metrics for an optimized energy system model for Ghana, emphasizing the integration of community perspectives for grid reliability, and improved electricity access for marginalized communities. With over seven years of experience in the energy, oil and gas sector, Faustina brings a practical perspective to the lab’s interdisciplinary research in energy transition.