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Michael Webber

Michael Webber
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering

Michael Webber is the Deputy Director of the Energy Institute, Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he trains a new generation of energy leaders through research and education at the intersection of engineering, policy, and commercialization. He has authored more than 200 scientific articles, columns, books and book chapters, including a recent op-ed in the New York Times and frequent features in Scientific American.  A highly sought public speaker, he has given more than 175 lectures, speeches, and invited talks in the last few years, such as testimony for hearings of U.S. Senate committees, keynotes for business meetings, plenary lectures for scientific conferences, invited speeches at the United Nations and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and briefings for executives at some of the nation’s leading companies.  His TV special “Energy at the Movies” is scheduled for broadcast on more than 30 PBS stations nationwide in April 2013, and his capstone class “Energy Technology and Policy” is scheduled for distribution as a MOOC (massive online open course) through a partnership with edX in Fall 2013.  More than 5000 students signed up for the course during the first 3 days of its registration period.  He has also offered the course as part of executive education programs in Austin, Houston, Washington DC, and at Duke University. Webber is on the board of advisors for Scientific American, holds four patents, and is one of the originators of Pecan Street Incorporated, which is a public-private partnership in Austin, TX running the nation’s largest smart grid experiment. Previously, he studied energy, innovation, manufacturing, and national security at the RAND Corporation.  Prior to that, he was a Senior Scientist at Pranalytica, where he invented sensors for homeland security, industrial analysis, and environmental monitoring. Webber’s education includes a B.A. with High Honors (Plan II Liberal Arts) and B.S. with High Honors (Aerospace Engineering) from UT-Austin, and an M.S. (Mechanical Engineering) and Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Electrical Engineering) from Stanford University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995-1998.  In 2005, Michael was recognized by the College of Engineering at UT-Austin as an Outstanding Young Engineering Graduate, and in 2006 was honored as the Commencement Speaker for the spring graduation ceremony.  Michael was selected as an American Memorial Marshall Fellow of the German Marshall Fund for 2007, a White House Fellowship finalist in 2009, and an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow in 2009.  An enthusiastic instructor, Webber has won three major teaching awards at UT. His expertise, opinions, and research have been published, cited or featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, NPR (Science Friday), PBS (weekly newsmagazine NOW), The Daily Telegraph, BBC, ABC, CBS, Discovery, Popular Mechanics, New Scientist, MSNBC, History Channel, Nature, Earth Magazine, Solar Today, Texas Monthly, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle and many other prominent media outlets. Webber lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.

Posts by Michael Webber

The Risks and Rewards of Keystone XL

Why is the Keystone pipeline still our best national interest?
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Posts about Michael Webber

‘Cultural Shift’ Underway as Energy Efficiency Becomes More Affordable

April 30, 2014
Results of the latest UT Energy Poll indicate that more Americans are taking steps to decrease their home energy use as energy-efficient products gradually become more budget-friendly. Has conservation finally gone mainstream?

Are Americans Losing Interest in Energy?

October 17, 2013
A new survey finds that consumers consider energy issues less important and worry less about home conservation than they have in the last two years. However, many remain concerned about the consequences of failing to prepare for future needs.

Natural Gas Won't Cure Climate Change — But It Could Help

June 19, 2013
The booming U.S. natural gas market offers promising opportunities to address global warming. But the transition toward using more gas will require policy support, incentives, and a sea change in the transportation, manufacturing, and building sectors.

Understand the Future of Energy by Looking to the Past

April 29, 2013
Over the last few hundred years, transitions to new energy sources have created significant challenges. We’ve moved from wood to coal, then from petroleum to natural gas, and onto today’s nuclear and renewable energy alternatives. The trend has been toward energy sources that are less carbon-intensive and more environmentally friendly — but no solution is perfect, and there is always a need to improve upon the previous generation.

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