Preparing the next generation of engineers to solve the world’s energy and sustainability problems

Lorena Grundy, Penn Engineering's new practice assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, decided she wanted to be an engineer to make a difference in the world. She imagined she would one day drive her own research in the realm of energy and sustainability, but an unexpected experience during her doctoral studies changed her entire outlook on how she could best make an impact in the field.

In her doctoral research, Grundy studied how polymers (long strings of repeating chemical units) could be used to create solid electrolytes for lithium metal batteries in an endeavor to create smaller and lighter batteries that can store more energy for renewable energy applications such as energy storage for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels.

While pursuing her Ph.D., Grundy was required to reserve time in her busy schedule to teach undergraduate courses, something she was initially worried about. However, after teaching her first class, something shifted in her desire to contribute to the field.

"I remember being concerned about teaching, since I wanted to spend all of my time on my research," says Grundy. "Now I think back and realize how I completely changed my outlook on the responsibility after my first day. I found that I loved teaching, maybe even more than my research."

Grundy went above and beyond, taking on many more hours as a teaching assistant than was necessary to fulfill her teaching commitment. She ended up receiving three outstanding teaching awards and found every excuse to teach while working on her engineering dissertation.

"When I started to fall in love with this kind of work, I knew I had to refocus my career path to one that would allow me to spend the majority of my time teaching," she says. "I enjoyed being with students one-on-one and connecting with them as people. I also loved the immediate gratification that comes when a student would walk into my office unsure about a topic, and then after a meeting together, would leave feeling confident and excited about that topic. It's really one of the most rewarding jobs there is."

Rather than making an impact through her own research, Grundy sees an even greater potential to make an impact on real-world problems in energy and sustainability by preparing the next generation to solve them.

"My own research may only go so far, but my teaching and mentoring can go as far as all the students who I'd have the opportunity to teach," she says. "This allows my impact to become much greater through work I thoroughly enjoy and feel that I have a natural talent for."

Grundy's position at Penn Engineering is focused on preparing the next generation of engineers to solve current and future energy and sustainability problems, teaching two courses this semester, one of which is an upper-level introductory course in energy and sustainability.

Read more at Penn Engineering Today.