Berkeley Lab’s Jessica Granderson Recognized for Research Leadership

Jessica Granderson, Research Scientist and Deputy of Research Programs for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab’s) Building Technology and Urban Systems Division, has been honored with a Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Award in the area of Research Leadership. This is the fourth year that the awards have been presented at the annual U.S. Department of Energy / MIT Clean Energy Symposium to mid-career women leaders working to advance clean energy.

The Research Leadership award “recognizes scientists and researchers working at universities, national labs, or in industry who have developed advanced innovative clean energy technologies with the potential for demonstrable impact.” Granderson was recognized as a research leader for her groundbreaking work in building controls, automation, and analytics. In addition to the award, she receives $8,000 to be used toward advancing the C3E Initiative’s goals of “closing the gender gap and increasing women’s participation and leadership” in fields where women are underrepresented.

“It was an honor to be recognized among this year’s group of awardees,” said Granderson. “The symposium offered a wonderful opportunity to meet an accomplished group of women who have each made tremendous impact in our industry. My sincere thanks to DOE, MIT, and the C3E ambassadors and sponsors.”

At Berkeley Lab, Granderson’s team conducts research to develop innovative energy solutions for commercial buildings. She provides technical expertise and knowledge transfer to advance the energy management initiatives of some of the nation’s largest enterprises. In addition, the building industry is using Granderson’s methodologies to verify performance-based savings, reducing the time, cost, and complexity necessary to characterize building performance. Granderson’s work also helps to advance the widespread deployment of affordable, commercial energy management solutions that can be used to increase energy efficiency on a broad scale.

Beyond her technical and research contributions, Granderson dedicates time to mentoring students and junior staff, and she particularly supports individuals from groups historically underrepresented in the Engineering and Science fields.

“One of the things that excited me most about this award was that, beyond the personal recognition, it comes with a generous gift to advance the goals of the C3E initiative,” said Granderson. “I look forward to applying this gift towards a scholarship to support an undergraduate woman of color pursuing a degree in engineering or the applied sciences.”

Jessica Granderson holds an AB in Mechanical Engineering from Harvard University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Eight other women also were honored at the symposium. For more information 2015 C3E Award winners and on the symposium, see the links below.