Michael Webber (engineer)

Last updated
Michael Webber
2021-Webber-Michael.jpg
Born1971
Austin, Texas
NationalityAmerican
EducationWestlake High School
Alma materUniversity of Texas, B.S. and B.A. Stanford University, M.S. and Ph.D.
Scientific career
FieldsEnergy Resources
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas at Austin
Thesis  (2001)

Michael Evan Webber (born 1971) is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and the CTO of a clean-technology venture fund. Webber serves on the advisory board for Scientific American and is the author of Power Trip: The Story of Energy c [1]

Contents

Biography

Webber was born in Austin, Texas, in 1971 to Stephen and Josephine Webber. His father was professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin [2] and his mother a self-described bureaucrat. After graduating from Westlake High School in 1989, he attended the University of Texas at Austin where he played in the Longhorn Band, eventually serving as Drum Major. [3] In 1995, he received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.A. in Plan II Honors. He went to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, to pursue a M.S. in mechanical engineering. He continued at Stanford where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995 to 1998. [4] He completed his Ph.D. at Stanford in 2001 in mechanical engineering with a Ph.D. minor in electrical engineering with advisor Ron K. Hanson. [5] He currently lives in Austin, TX, with his wife and children.

Career

Corporate

After completing his Ph.D., Webber shifted into private research first at Pranalytica and then at the RAND Corporation where he conducted research on energy, environment and industrial topics. [6] He currently holds six patents as a result of his innovations, mostly related to environmental monitoring and trace gas sensing. [7] With the Austin Technology Incubator, Webber helped originate the Pecan Street Project in 2008. [8] Now, Pecan Street Inc., a public private partnership, supports the innovation and development of smart grid solutions. [9] He serves on the editorial board of advisors for Scientific American . [10]

Webber was co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator (2009—2018) and Deputy Director of the Energy Institute (2013—2018) at UT Austin. He has served on the Board of Advisers for Scientific American since 2009. Webber was a member of AT&T’s Sustainability Advisory Council (2009—2012) and a commissioner for Austin Energy (2008—2013) He was a member of the Roundtable on Sustainability with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering (2012—2018) and was a board member for Sustainable America (2012—2018), the Hope Street Group (2004—2006), and the Houston Advanced Research Center (2012—2018).

From September 2018 to August 2021, Webber was based in Paris, France where he served as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a global energy & infrastructure services company with 170,000 employees worldwide.

Academic

Webber joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 as associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy under the Jackson School of Geosciences. [11] The following year he started as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. [12] In 2009 he joined the Clean Energy Incubator as Co-Director. The University of Texas System board of Regents recognized Webber in 2011 with the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award(11), and he earned tenure the following year. [13] He is now associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources. [14] His research group focuses on questions related to energy resources, technology, and policy. [15] In 2013, he was named Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. [16]

He was honored as an American Fellow of the German Marshall Fund and an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow on four separate occasions by The University of Texas for exceptional teaching.

Author

His first book, Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival, was accompanied by a one hour documentary. His book Power Trip: the Story of Energy was published in 2019 by Basic Books with an award-winning 6-part companion series that aired on PBS, Amazon Prime and Apple TV starting Earth Day 2020. The series had more than 7000 broadcasts in the United States and has been distributed in dozens of countries, ultimately reaching millions of viewers. The second season of Power Trip is currently in production.

Webber has authored four full-length general interest books, created two interactive textbooks, written more than 500 publications, and has been awarded 6 patents.

Other contributions

Webber starred in "Energy at the Movies," a PBS special which began national syndication in March 2013. [17] Producing parties sought to release up to six episodes a year for five years. [18] The special can now be seen on more than 78 stations in 25 states. [19]

Selected publications and speeches

Over his career, Webber has published more than 400 articles, columns, reports, commentaries, and books and delivered more than 200 lectures, speeches, and seminars. [20]

Books

Select Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

M.E. Webber, D.S. Baer, and R.K. Hanson, “Ammonia Monitoring Near 1.5 μm with Diode Laser Absorption Sensors,” Applied Optics, 40(12), pp. 2031– 2042, 2001 [23]

C.W. King and M.E. Webber, “Water Intensity of Transportation,” Environmental Science and Technology, 42(21), pp 7866–7872 (7pp) (September 24, 2008) [24]

A.D. Cuellar and M.E. Webber, “Cow Power: The Energy and Emissions Benefits of Converting Manure to Biogas,” Environmental Research Letters, 3 034002 (8pp) July 2008. [25]

J.S. Vitter and M.E. Webber, “Water Event Disaggregation Using Sub-metered Water and Coincident Electricity Data,” Water 10, 714. https://doi:10%5B%5D.3390/w10060714

Y.R. Glazer, F.T. Davidson, J.J. Lee, and M.E. Webber, “An Inventory and Engineering Assessment of Flared Gas and Liquid Waste Streams From Hydraulic Fracturing in the USA,” Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, October 2017.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biogas</span> Gases produced by decomposing organic matter

Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms or methanogens inside an anaerobic digester, biodigester or a bioreactor. The gas composition is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, moisture and siloxanes. The gases methane and hydrogen can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used in fuel cells and for heating purpose, such as in cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy development</span> Methods bringing energy into production

Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include the production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse of energy that would otherwise be wasted. Energy conservation and efficiency measures reduce the demand for energy development, and can have benefits to society with improvements to environmental issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranfield University</span> British postgraduate public research university

Cranfield University is a British postgraduate-only public research university specialising in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the development of aircraft research led to growth and diversification into other areas such as manufacturing and management, and in 1967, to the founding of the Cranfield School of Management. In 1969, the College of Aeronautics was renamed the Cranfield Institute of Technology, was incorporated by royal charter, gained degree awarding powers, and became a university. In 1993, it adopted its current name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polytechnic University of Turin</span> Technical university in Turin, Italy

The Polytechnic University of Turin is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Italy and in Europe. As of 2023, it is ranked( QS World University Rankings ) 26th worldwide for Mechanical Engineering, 15th for Petroleum Engineering, 28th for Architecture and is among the top 50 (#45th) engineering universities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John B. Goodenough</span> American materials scientist (1922–2023)

John Bannister Goodenough was an American materials scientist, a solid-state physicist, and a Nobel laureate in chemistry. From 1996 he was a professor of Mechanical, Materials Science, and Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He is credited with identifying the Goodenough–Kanamori rules of the sign of the magnetic superexchange in materials, with developing materials for computer random-access memory and with inventing cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashok Gadgil</span> Energy efficiency researcher

Ashok Gadgil Is the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation Distinguished Chair and Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Faculty Senior Scientist and has served as director of the Energy and Environmental Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine engineering</span> Engineering and design of shipboard systems

Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circles as “ocean engineering.”

The Cockrell School of Engineering is one of the eighteen colleges within the University of Texas at Austin. It has more than 8,000 students enrolled in eleven undergraduate and thirteen graduate programs. The college is ranked 10th in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 11th nationally for undergraduate programs and 7th nationally for graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report. Six of the nine undergraduate programs and seven of the thirteen graduate programs are ranked in the top ten nationally. Annual research expenditures are over $267 million and the school has the fourth-largest number of faculty in the National Academy of Engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaunas University of Technology</span> Public university in Kaunas, Lithuania

Kaunas University of Technology is a public research university located in Kaunas, Lithuania. Established in 1922, KTU has been seen as one of Lithuania's top science education centers. According to rankings conducted in 2021, KTU was the second-best university in Lithuania. The primary language spoken in courses is Lithuanian, although there are courses that are taught jointly in Lithuanian and English or solely in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. N. Toosi University of Technology</span> Public research university in Tehran, Iran

The Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is named after medieval Persian scholar Khajeh Nasir Toosi. The university is considered one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in Iran. Acceptance to the university is highly competitive, entrance to undergraduate and graduate programs typically requires scoring among the top 1% of students in the Iranian University Entrance Exam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Novi Sad Faculty of Technical Sciences</span> University faculty in Serbia

The Faculty of Technical Sciences is a higher education institution located in Novi Sad, an independent part of the University of Novi Sad. It was founded on 18 May 1960 and today it is the largest faculty in Serbia by number of students and one of the largest in the region. As of 2020–21 academic year, it has a total of 15,742 students.

Roland Clift is a chemical engineering professor widely known for his work and media contributions on the topic of sustainability.

Technical and Engineering Campus of Shahid Beheshti University (PWUT) is a state university of technology, engineering and science in Iran. PWUT is also the technical training center for power and water industries in Iran.

The Flow Rate Technical Group is a group of scientists and engineers from the United States federal government, universities, and research institutions created May 19, 2010, for an official scientific-based estimate of the flow of oil in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It issued an interim report on May 27. It was convened again on June 10 by Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen after the drilling riser from the well was cut by Maxx3 ROV Dive #35 on May 31, 2010, in an attempt to redirect the flow. Large amounts of oil were not being captured and the group was convened to estimate how much.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Guengerich</span> American entrepreneur and academic

Steve Guengerich is an entrepreneur, educator, and author of several books and numerous articles on information technology.

Rajit Gadh is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the founding director of the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center (SMERC), the UCLA Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium (WINMEC), and the Connected and Autonomous Electric Vehicles Consortium (CAEV).

Thomas Flynn Edgar is an American chemical engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Witwatersrand School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering</span>

The School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering is one of seven schools in the University of the Witwatersrand's Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. The School offers 4-year undergraduate degrees and post-graduate degrees in chemical and metallurgical engineering.

Joan F. Brennecke is an American chemical engineer who is the Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Brennecke develops supercritical fluids, ionic liquids and novel spectroscopic methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change in Texas</span> Climate change in the US state of Texas

The climate in Texas is changing partially due to global warming and rising trends in greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2016, most area of Texas had already warmed by 1.5 °F (0.83 °C) since the previous century because of greenhouse gas emissions by the United States and other countries. Texas is expected to experience a wide range of environmental impacts from climate change in the United States, including rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events, and increasing pressure on water resources.

References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Michael E. Webber". Webber Energy Group. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  2. ↑ "Stephen E. Webber". University of Texas at Austin Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "A call to marching feet". Austin American Statesman. 18 Sep 1993.
  4. ↑ Webber, Michael. "Curriculum Vitae for Michael E. Webber" (PDF). Webber Energy Group. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "People: Former Students". Hanson Group, Stanford University. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "ME Directory". Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Patents & Trademarks". Pranalytica. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "2008 Clean Energy Venture Summit Agenda". Clean Energy Venture Summit. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "What is Pecan Street?". Pecan Street Research Institute. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Board of Advisors" (PDF). Scientific American. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Michael Webber, Faculty Profile: Experts Guide". University Communications, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Curriculum Vitae for Michael E. Webber" (PDF). Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "UT System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards". University of Texas System. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Curriculum Vitae for Michael E. Webber" (PDF). Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "About". Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Michael Webber Joins Energy Institute as Executive Director". Energy Institute, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  17. ↑ Carrion, Mark (26 March 2013). ""Energy at the Movies" PBS series stars UT professor Michael Webber". Daily Texan. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  18. ↑ Jeffrey, James (8 March 2013). "The power of cinema". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Webber Energy Letter – June 2013". Webber Energy Group, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "ME Directory". Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  21. ↑ Webber, Michael (2009). Changing the Way America Thinks About Energy. Austin, Texas: Petroleum Teaching Extension, University of Texas at Austin. ISBN   978-0886982522.
  22. ↑ Webber, Michael (2016). Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival. Yale University Press. ISBN   9780300212464.
  23. ↑ Webber, M.E.; D.S. Baer; R.K. Hanson (2001). "Ammonia Monitoring Near 1.5micrometers with Diode Laser Absorption Sensors". Applied Optics. 40 (12): 2031–2042. doi:10.1364/ao.40.002031. hdl: 2152/20303 . PMID   18357207.
  24. ↑ King, C.W.; M.E. Webber (24 Sep 2008). "Water Intensity of Transportation". Environmental Science and Technology. 42 (21): 7866–7872. Bibcode:2008EnST...42.7866K. doi:10.1021/es800367m. PMID   19031873.
  25. ↑ Cuellar, A.D.; M.E. Webber (July 2008). "Cow Power: The Energy and Emissions Benefits of Converting Manure into Biogas". Environmental Research Letters. 034002. 3 (3): 034002. Bibcode:2008ERL.....3c4002C. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/3/3/034002 . hdl: 2152/20290 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.