College students Safe Funding to Prototype Lamppost Charging Stations for Electrical Autos
Aditi Desai, Luke Mairo, and Jeffrey Prosserman
In March of 2020, the streets of NYC had been virtually empty — as they had been nearly all all over the world. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed radical adjustments by way of local weather change. As transportation ceased, so did the quantity of air pollution, and long-time objectives regarding carbon dioxide emissions had been achieved over the span of merely a number of weeks.
This impact, though taken to an excessive, reveals simply how necessary sustainable transportation could be within the combat in opposition to local weather change. Jeff Prosserman and Luke Mairo, M.S. in Sustainability Management (SUMA) college students and the founders of an organization referred to as Voltpost, intention to allow this inexperienced transition. Voltpost works to retrofit lamp posts into electrical automobile charging stations managed by a cell utility — an answer they hope will speed up electrical automobile (EV) adoption by offering cities with scalable curbside charging for drivers.
Just lately, Jeff and Luke, in addition to Aditi Desai, a part-time SUMA pupil and a full-time Volpost worker, secured $1.three million in funding for Voltpost’s mission. They’ll use the funds to develop the Voltpost lamppost charging system, safe pilot contracts, and develop the Voltpost group.
Jeff (who graduated from SUMA in 2021), Luke, and Aditi took the time to speak with us about their time within the SUMA program and the way it has helped them ahead their local weather change objectives.
What drew you to the SUMA program?
JP: Previous to beginning the Columbia College Sustainability Administration graduate program, I used to be the director of innovation at Samsung in New York Metropolis. Given the state of the local weather disaster, I got here to the conclusion that I might now not stand on the sidelines. I noticed the SUMA program as a possibility to develop my understanding of local weather science and enterprise administration expertise. Being a father, my aim is to make a measurable constructive affect and create a extra sustainable future for the following technology.
LM: Previous to this system, I used to be an affiliate at Barclays Financial institution sporting numerous sustainability hats. I chaired an environmental community on the financial institution centered on local weather activism and did an array of labor in sustainable banking on the desk. Seeing the direness of the disaster at hand, I sought to amplify my affect by deepening my experience by means of the SUMA program. This system has offered the instruments and community to make significant change in the way forward for local weather, and go away the world a greater place.
AD: Previous to SUMA, I used to be concerned with the environmental community at Barclays with Luke and likewise engaged in grassroots activism in my private time. I needed to deepen my understanding of the inextricable relationship between environmental justice and local weather motion, which led me to hitch this system. I used to be additionally drawn to SUMA due to its holistic method to sustainability. I see the varied disciplines and functions of sustainability not as mutually unique, however fairly an interconnected net with the potential to create significant, collective change.
What impressed you to create (or be a part of) Voltpost?
JP: In my first semester within the SUMA program, I extensively researched the huge spectrum of points that face our warming planet. Recognizing that main local weather issues might present the muse for know-how innovation, I used to be decided to establish breakthrough enterprise alternatives to scale back carbon.
After analyzing many local weather issues and creating a number of preliminary enterprise circumstances, I wrote the analysis paper From Lamppost to Voltpost in New York: Powering Electrical Car Adoption within the Earth Institute Practicum. This analysis paper sparked dialog and was the muse for Voltpost.
LM: I took the function as president of this system’s Environmental Entrepreneurs (ENVENT) pupil group to seek for and foster revolutionary local weather options. When Jeff joined ENVENT, we mentioned numerous concepts, and his paper for the Practicum instantly stood out as a crucial innovation for city decarbonization. With our complementing expertise, I used to be thrilled to co-found Voltpost with him to make use of the experiences I gained in banking and this system to convey the sustainable and equitable infrastructure answer to life.
AD: After a 12 months as a part-time pupil within the SUMA program, I felt extra compelled than ever to translate my learnings and keenness for affect to my day job. Should you requested me a 12 months in the past, I wouldn’t have anticipated to see myself working at a local weather tech begin up, however I used to be so impressed and motivated by the ingenuity and affect of an concept like Voltpost. I used to be additionally drawn to Voltpost as a result of I shortly noticed the potential for the corporate to advance fairness and enhance each air high quality and mobility for communities burdened by environmental racism and injustice.
Photograph: Mike from Pexels
Did you all meet by means of this system? A selected class?
JP: In my first few days of this system, I joined the Environmental Entrepreneurs (ENVENT) pupil group as vice chairman. ENVENT President Luke Mairo and I mentioned the necessity for college students within the SUMA program to develop equitable local weather options. This ignited a friendship to discover startup alternatives.
I first collaborated with Voltpost co-founder Jörn Vicari at Samsung the place he led product design throughout all smart-enabled classes. With over 20 years of award-winning product route and 50 patents, I knew Jörn might convey the Voltpost imaginative and prescient to the world.
With this group aligned, I knew we had the muse to construct one thing nice.
AD: Luke and I met once we joined Barclays as summer season interns in 2016. With a shared curiosity in environmentalism and sustainability, we had been additionally part of the Barclays Setting Community. Luke later launched me to the SUMA program as he was beginning his first semester in 2020.
How has your expertise within the SUMA program been utilized to Voltpost?
JP: The SUMA program offered an unimaginable alternative to be taught from the perfect minds working in sustainability at present. SUMA lessons strengthened my capability as a enterprise chief. Some key expertise utilized to Voltpost growth embody: monetary modeling, sustainable operations, persuasive communication, enterprise technique, greenhouse fuel accounting, and affect evaluation. SUMA was the springboard for Voltpost. The varied neighborhood of Columbia local weather warriors is our inspiration. That is our origin story.
LM: SUMA offered the expansion to make this leap into local weather management potential. Pupil organizations like ENVENT showcased the chance to foster innovation, partnership, and networks throughout the local weather tech house. Professors, all specialists of their respective fields of sustainability, offered in-depth training and open-ended steerage and help in reaching private objectives. They usually proceed to take action! Voltpost has been an thrilling lens to use coursework throughout the bodily dimensions of power, finance, carbon and geospatial modeling, and neighborhood fairness to a difficult real-world downside.
AD: Lessons like GHG Accounting and Constructing Resilience in 21st Century Detroit have supplied me tangible expertise and methods to contextualize how I method my work at Voltpost. As a result of the SUMA program is interdisciplinary, there are bits and items that I can take from my coursework and apply to my day-to-day.
What was essentially the most helpful a part of the SUMA program?
JP: Past the unimaginable training, the SUMA program supplies entry to good professors and college students united by a shared mission to save lots of our planet. The relationships that develop over your educational journey are merely superb. Many individuals we meet throughout Voltpost enterprise growth conversations are alumni or professors within the SUMA program. This group of individuals is actually inspiring and I’m so grateful to be a part of the Columbia neighborhood.
LM: We’ve typically referred to Columbia because the reward that retains on giving. It’s exhausting to not level to the community of like-minded friends like Jeff, Aditi, and the numerous we’ve met throughout the neighborhood as essentially the most helpful a part of this system. Past these relationships, the College has offered a number of professional bono applications to help Voltpost together with SUMA Web Impression (SUMANI), the Columbia Regulation College Entrepreneurship Clinic, the Columbia Enterprise Neighborhood Impression Program, and the Enterprise College’s Tamer Heart Prize consulting group.
AD: Apart from coursework, becoming a member of and main pupil organizations has been essentially the most memorable a part of SUMA. SUMA has a neighborhood of scholars and professors which can be desirous about serving to one another out. Connecting with college students from numerous backgrounds and views allowed me to be taught in regards to the completely different areas of sustainability. With out pupil golf equipment and interconnected, supportive networks like Columbia’s, I wouldn’t have had publicity to all of the completely different profession alternatives on the market, together with Voltpost.
What’s your hope for each the way forward for Voltpost and of local weather change?
We lately secured $1.three million in non-public financing to develop the Voltpost lamppost charging system and make sure pilots. Our group has now grown to 10 folks devoted to rework lamp posts into Voltposts.
The skilled and monetary threat of creating an organization from scratch is an incredible burden.
Why did we tackle this seemingly inconceivable feat? We’re working out of time, and the extent of necessity is larger than the extent of problem. Our aim is for Voltpost to gas zero-emission transportation globally. Regardless of the future holds, our group is pushed to depart this world a greater place than the place we began.
