Richard Sears received his BS in physics and MS in geophysics from Stanford University in 1976. Currently, he conducts applied research in energy systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and consults for universities and energy companies. 

His research interests are in energy systems, the development of hydrocarbon resources, and the future transition to renewable energy. He recently retired from Shell Oil Company after 33 years in oil and gas exploration and production where he contributed to and led exploration and development projects on six continents. He was an instructor at Shell’s Exploration Training Center in Houston and served as Exploration Economics Manager for Shell Oil Co. He was Head of Exploration for Shell U.K. in London, and from 1998-2005 he was Vice President, Shell International E&P Inc., leading Shell’s global deepwater subsurface exploration and development activities. 

In 2006, he became External Research Coordinator for Royal Dutch Shell, managing Shell sponsored research at universities and national laboratories in North America. Also since 2006, he has held an appointment as Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He has given invited and keynote talks at conferences in the US, UK, Africa and Asia. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Dean of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist in the State of Texas.

Marin Soljacic has been an assistant professor of physics at MIT since September 2005, and an associate professor of physics at MIT since July 2010.

He received a BsE degree in physics and electrical engineering from MIT in 1996, and earned his PhD in physics at Princeton University in 2000. In September 2000, he was named an MIT Pappalardo Fellow in Physics, and in 2003 was appointed a principal research scientist in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT.

His main research interests are in electromagnetic phenomena, focusing on nanophotonics, nonlinear optics, and wireless power transfer. He is a co-author of 97 scientific articles and 18 patents, and has given more than 70 invited talks at conferences and universities around the world. He is the recipient of the Adolph Lomb medal from the Optical Society of America (2005), and the TR35 award from Technology Review (2006). The work on wireless power transfer that he spearheaded has been singled out as one of the most important technological developments of 2007 by The New York Times, BBC News, Scientific American, Technology Review, and Discover magazine. In 2008, he was awarded a MacArthur fellowship grant.

Gregory Stephanopoulos is a professor of chemical engineering at MIT. He received his BS from the National Technical University of Athens, his MS from the University of Florida and his PhD from the University of Minnesota, all in chemical engineering. Upon finishing his doctorate in 1978, he joined the chemical engineering faculty of Caltech, and in 1985 he was appointed to his position at MIT, where he has been ever since.

He served as associate director of the Biotechnology Process Engineering Center from 1990 to 1997 and has been a member of the international faculty of the Technical University of Denmark since 2001. He is also the Taplin Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, Instructor of Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School and the W. and H. Dow Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

As of Jan. 1, 2010, Jefferson Tester has been a professor emeritus in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

J. Kim Vandiver is MIT's Dean for Undergraduate Research, Director of the Edgerton Center and Director of MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), which involves 80% of MIT's undergraduate students in research projects with MIT research staff and faculty. In 1992 he founded the Edgerton Center at MIT, which provides resources for MIT students engaged in hands-on educational projects. The Center also runs a K-12 outreach program for local teachers and their classrooms.

Throughout his teaching career, Prof. Vandiver has stressed the importance of hands-on learning. He has worked to enliven the mainstream curriculum, incorporating more and earlier opportunities for students to solve real-life problems, engage in research, and develop relationships with faculty. In 1998 he was the recipient of the MIT President's Award for Community Service for the Edgerton Center's work with the Cambridge Public Schools. In 2001 he was honored as a MacVicar Fellow for excellence in teaching. In 2005, he received the Offshore Technology Conference Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals. In 2006, he received the ASME A. Lubinski Best Paper Award for the Offshore Technology Conference. In 2011, he was honored with the Arthur C. Smith Award for meaningful contributions and devotion to undergraduate student life at MIT, and in 2012 he was honored with the MIT Gordon Y. Billard Award for special service of outstanding merit.

 

A member of the Ocean Engineering Department, now Mechanical Engineering, faculty since 1975, Prof. Vandiver chaired MIT's faculty from 1991 until 1993. His research focuses on the dynamics of offshore structures and flow-induced vibration. He teaches dynamics and mechanical vibration at the graduate and undergraduate level. Prof. Vandiver received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Harvey Mudd College of Science and Engineering, his master's degree in Ocean Engineering from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Oceanographic Engineering from the MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. He is a Registered Mechanical Engineer in the state of Massachusetts and is an active consultant in structural dynamics with the offshore engineering industry. He is also a certified flight instructor for gliders.

P. Christopher Zegras teaches graduate-level courses in urban transportation planning, statistics and land use-transportation planning in the Department of Urban Studies at MIT, where he has also co-taught urban design and planning studios and Practica in Beijing, Santiago de Chile, and Mexico City.

He currently serves as the MIT lead for the MIT-Portugal Program Transportation Systems Focus Area. He is also a member of the Campus Energy Task Force of the MIT Energy Initiative.