modi research group - current lab staff
Edwin Adkins, Lead Researcher, Lantern Project &
jea98@columbia.edu Biomass Cookstoves
Edwin Adkins works as an Research Coordinator, specializing in energy-related issues, for the Millennium Villages Project, a multi-sectoral project with 12 sites throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Edwin investigates potential technologies to meet villagers' basic needs in areas of electricity and lighting, cooking, and mechanical power, then works with the site teams throughout Africa to implement related interventions. He also helps to develop monitoring and evaluation tools to assess progress toward a variety of energy-related objectives in each of the sites.
Matt Basinger, Lead Researcher, Biofuels & Lister Engine
mlb2133@columbia.edu
Matt Basinger is an Earth and Environmental Engineering doctoral student investigating biofuels for developing country applications. He coordinates the BELT (Biofuel Engine Longevity Test) Cooperative involving collaborative research between several universities all performing parallel endurance tests with vegetable oil fueled stationary engines common to Africa and India. He is also studying the appropriateness and scaling of potential feedstock sources like Jatropha Curcas.
Matt Berg, ICT Coordinator, MVP & Rapid Response
mlb2178@columbia.edu
Matt Berg is a technology practitioner with over 15 years experience living and working in Africa. Matt currently serves as the ICT Coordinator for the Millennium Villages Project. He is responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of ICT activities in the MVP sites. Prior to joining MVP, Matthew was the Director of the Geekcorps’ Mali Program, a USAID funded project aimed at improving access to information to rural areas of Mali. Matt has an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Jiehua Chen, Postdoctoral Statistician, MVP
jc3288@columbia.edu
Jiehua Chen is a Postdoctoral researcher working in the Applied Statistics Center and Professor Vijay Modi's research lab, as well as a term assistant professor in the Statistics department. She received her PhD in Statistics from Stanford University in 2008. Her research focuses on the development of statistical tools for analyzing data with spatial and temporal information, such as remote sensing data, climate change problems, etc. She is also working on Bayesian analysis of social networking casual inference problems.
Ram Fishman, Researcher, India Water Project
rf2241@columbia.edu
Ram Fishman is a 3rd year phd student in the sustainable development
program. He holds a B.Sc. in mathematics from Tel Aviv university and
a M.Sc, in Physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Having
grown up in Israel, where water scarcity is constant issue, and having
spent many months travelling in India, he was excited to participate
in the project.
Roy H. Han, Researcher, Rural Electrification
rhh2109@columbia.edu
Roy H. Han is working on a program to find houses automatically in
rural satellite images. The distribution of houses helps plan the
placement of infrastructure for the UN Millennium Villages project.
He has worked in various labs and industries ranging from retail and
neurogenetics to technology transfer and airline reservation systems.
Alex Hofmann, Researcher, Rural Electrification
ah2678@columbia.edu
Alex Hofmann is a graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia. He is working with the Modi research group to help create a platform for optimising electrical infrastructure. He is studying programming, photovoltaic systems, transformers and electricity economics and is focused on parameterization and program integration for electrification models.
Rahul Kitchlu, Energy & Income Generation Specialist,
Biomass Cookstoves, Lantern Project & MVP
rk2569@columbia.edu
Rahul serves as the Energy & Income Generation Specialist for the Millennium Villages Project. He is responsible for development and deployment of off-grid energy systems that aid in economic development of the communities across the MVP sites in rural Africa. Rahul has nearly 10 years of experience running international projects in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Rahul holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UNB, a Master of Management degree from MIT and has studied public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Selin Kocaman, Researcher,
ask2170@columbia.edu Rural Electrification
Selin Kocaman received her B.S. degree from the Industrial Engineering department of Bogazici University in Turkey. She will receive her M.S. degree in Operations Research from the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) department of Columbia University in May 2009. In the Energy Group, she is working on infrastructure planning, with a focus on optimization of rural energy networks.
Panos Kotsidas, Researcher
pk2252@columbia.edu Solar Concentration
Panos Kotsidas graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering focusing on aerodynamic optimization of external and internal flows through adjoint equations. He acquired field experience working in Unilever Netherlands and Greece. He received his MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. His research is focused in sustainability and solar energy. He is currently working towards his PhD, exploring the development of a Concentrating Photovoltaic (PV) system. Through a novel approach to tracking, and capitalizing on different approaches to concentrating technologies, he is aiming for the cost reduction of a complete PV system that finally allows for the development and commercialization of solar concentrating technologies for residential and industrial applications.
Susan Kum, Researcher, MVP/ Rural Electrification
sk2804@columbia.edu
Susan Kum provides Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support for the Energy Group. She is responsible for managing spatial data and providing technical support to spatial-related projects for the Millennium Villages. She is also assisting in research projects on rural electrification. Susan holds an MPH in epidemiology and a BA in political science and geography.
Kristine Oppelstrup, Energy Data Coordinator, MVP
ako2105@columbia.edu
Kristine Oppelstrup works on the Millennium Villages Project, analyzing data mainly related to energy and infrastructure in the Millennium Villages sites throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. She also helps with planning research and interventions. Kristine has a diverse background, which includes a law degree (LL.M.) from Lund University in Sweden and an M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Penn State University.
Aly Sanoh, Researcher, Rural Electrification
as3047@columbia.edu
Aly Sanoh is a 3rd year PhD student in sustainable development at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. His research interests include investment and planning in rural electrification, power sector development, and regional electricty supply integration in West Africa.
Sahil Shah, Researcher, Rural Electrification
sds2145@columbia.edu
Sahil Shah is an Applied Math undergraduate at Columbia. His work focuses on the development and implementation of Network Planner, a spatial electrification model. It will be used by infrastructure planners as a prelude to an engineering level analysis. Specifically, he has been producing deliverables for funding and streamlining disparate units of the model into a single program.
Nathan Stodola, Researcher
nbs2115@columbia.edu Solar Concentration
Nathan Stodola completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Union College and has worked for two years at the cryogenics company Clever Fellows Innovations Consortium. At Columbia, he has worked on linear tracking mechanisms for concentrated photovoltaic systems, and is currently investigating the correlation in the timing of solar energy and dispatchable power.
Victor Vazquez, Researcher, India Water Project
vv2158@columbia.edu
Victor Vazquez holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad de la Coruña (Spain). He is now a Master of International Affairs student specialized in Economic and Political Development and Environmental Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He had a summer 2008 internship in Blantyre (Malawi) doing research on water and sanitation in the urban area for the Millennium Cities Initiative. Previous experience with Engineers Without Borders in rural water and sanitation projects in Central America.