Brandon Clark - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

I am attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute with majors in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Chemical Engineering.  I expect to graduate in the spring of 2018.

My academic interests include Electrochemistry and materials for power and energy production technologies, sustainable development, public health, global food and wealth insecurity

My motivation for engineering in general stems from a desire to combine my analytical talents with my curiosity, creativity, and interest in helping those in need. My broad interest in service finally narrowed towards power engineering through my love of travel and my experience in the club Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The club’s purpose is to perform sustainable engineering development projects. After four months of designing, organizing materials, and contingency planning, I traveled to Guatemala in May 2015 with EWB. We built twenty rainwater-harvesting systems and studied energy usage in the rural community of Guachtuq. Last winter break, I traveled to Ghana and set up a solar energy business for women in the village of Chandanyili with the organization Saha Global. I also researched water, energy, and food availability in cities compared to rural areas. From then on, I was sold on the benefits of energy technology and engineering advances in the world.

My experience traveling expanded my view of the world’s technology. The people I met, the struggles they overcame, and their immense gratitude for the water systems and solar energy businesses I helped provide emotionally stirred me. I began to research all I could about the world’s access to water and energy and the different ways that I could volunteer, and this sealed my interest in understanding the world’s power and energy situation and the usability of novel renewable energy technology. I love the power engineering field's potential to have widespread, diverse applications on such a large scale.

How has been selected as a PES Scholar impacted you?

Since I have become a PES scholar, I have gained improved relationships and respect from professors aware of my award, I have found more access to career opportunities in the power engineering field, and I have been nominated for further scholarships, awards, and honor societies.