Michael Webber

Associate Director, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator, Austin Technology Incubator, and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Michael Webber is the associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, do-director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, and assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he trains a new generation of energy leaders through research and education at the intersection of engineering, policy, and commercialization. He has authored more than 150 scientific articles, columns, books and book chapters, including a compendium of his commentary, Changing the Way America Thinks About Energy, published in May 2009. A highly sought public speaker, he has given more than 175 lectures, speeches and invited talks in the past few years, including testimony for hearings of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, keynotes for scientific conferences, lectures at the United Nations, and briefings for executives at some of the nation's leading companies. Webber is on the board of advisors for Scientific American, holds four patents, and is one of the originators of the Pecan Street Project, which is a $30 million public-private partnership for smart grid innovation and deployment. Prior to joining UT-Austin, Webber studied issues relevant to energy, innovation, manufacturing, and national security at the RAND Corporation. Previously, he was a senior scientist at Pranalytica, where he invented sensors for homeland security, industrial analysis, and environmental monitoring.

Webber's education includes a BA with High Honors (Plan II Liberal Arts) and BS with High Honors (Aerospace Engineering) from UT-Austin, and an MS (Mechanical Engineering) and PhD (Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Electrical Engineering) from Stanford University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995-1998. In 2005, Michael was recognized by the College of Engineering at UT-Austin as an Outstanding Young Engineering Graduate, and in 2006 was honored as the commencement speaker for the spring graduation ceremony. Michael was selected as an American Memorial Marshall Fellow of the German Marshall Fund for 2007, a White House Fellowship finalist in 2009, an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow in 2009, and an Aspen Institute Environmental Forum Scholar in 2010. An award-winning teacher, Webber was selected for a Dad's Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship at UT Austin for 2010-2011, a Regent's Outstanding Teaching Award by the UT System for 2011-2012, and the Cockrell School of Engineering's Award for Outstanding Teaching by an Assistant Professor for 2011-2012. From 2004 to 2006 he was a board member for the Hope Street Group, which is a non-profit bi-partisan national organization for young professionals interested in promoting policies that expand opportunity and economic growth. Webber's expertise, opinions and research have been published, cited or featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, NPR (Science Friday), PBS (weekly newsmagazine NOW), The Daily Telegraph, BBC, ABC, CBS, Discovery, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, New Scientist, MSNBC, History Channel, Nature, Earth Magazine, Solar Today, Texas Monthly, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle and many other prominent media outlets.