On Class Day, Andlinger Center celebrates graduates, awards thesis prize for work on bioenergy in Brazil
At its Class Day ceremony on May 26, the Andlinger Center honored 11 graduating seniors for their achievements in energy and the environment. Six students received a certificate from the Program in Sustainable Energy, while five received the newly established Minor in Sustainable Energy.
Iain McCulloch, director of the Andlinger Center, offered congratulations and thanks to the students for their dedication to today’s energy and environmental challenges.
“Through their wonderful accomplishments, the Class of 2025 members of the Program in Sustainable Energy have enriched not only themselves, but the entire Princeton community,” said McCulloch, who is also the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment.
McCulloch applauded the students for the wide range of topics they explored in their senior theses, from exploring materials science for clean energy technologies to analyzing the intersection of technologies and energy policies.
Yuyu Yasuda, a chemical and biological engineering student, explored a low-energy, moisture-driven approach for direct air carbon capture, while geosciences student Zane Smith explored the role of rural electric cooperatives in the clean energy transition.
At the ceremony, the Senior Thesis Prize in Energy and the Environment was awarded to mechanical engineering student Helena Frudit for her work to develop a supply chain optimization model for Brazil’s bioenergy sector. The thesis prize is given each year to the student whose thesis exemplifies outstanding research and a commitment to solving the world’s energy and environmental challenges.
Frudit’s optimization model balances the location and availability of bioenergy resources with the location and size of bioenergy conversion facilities across over 5,500 municipalities in Brazil. The model will be integrated into a broader Net-Zero Brazil study, which will chart several technological pathways by which Brazil can fully decarbonize its economy.
“The bioenergy sector is something especially unique to Brazil’s economy,” said Frudit, who was advised by Eric Larson, a senior research engineer at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. “Being Brazilian myself, I was very happy to have the chance to work with Eric on the study.”
Larson applauded Frudit’s work on her thesis, describing it as “an original, important, and well-executed piece of scholarship that reflects a tremendous work effort.”
After graduation, Frudit will work as an engineer for a grid operator in the United States, working to maintain the energy system’s reliability.
Other graduating seniors similarly plan to pursue energy and environmental challenges across a wide range of fields. Some students will proceed into graduate programs in environmental engineering and meteorology, while others are pursuing careers as water resources engineers and as investment analysts focused on renewable energy and carbon capture technologies.
In closing the ceremony, Elke Weber, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and a professor of psychology and public affairs, offered warm wishes to the students and their families as they begin the next chapter of their lives.
“Speaking on behalf of my colleagues and everyone at the Andlinger Center, we offer you the warmest of congratulations and wish you all the best in your future endeavors,” said Weber.