A professional from the renewable Energy industry applied to Yale and got a full-ride scholarship. She has graciously shared the essays that she wrote to get admitted with a full scholarship to Yale.

Essay 1

“As I look down memory lane, these last seven years have shaped me decisively. Today I stand proud, independent and an educated woman who never gave up on herself. Sleep became secondary to meeting the client’s deadlines. Physical pain and a hectic study routine became trivial in front of maintaining good grades. Enjoyment and leisure time became second in front of fulfilling my parents’ dream of enabling me to pursue higher studies. Today, all sacrifices are indeed yet gratefully validated.

Reality struck us when we became victims of Hurricane Katrina. The consequences were and still to date are devastating for my family. My father used to have a healthy, buzzing business in the heart of the city of New Orleans. A split-second moment brought everything to a halt. Everything that followed has been playing catch up in terms of finances. Amongst these solutions, even with a hefty heart, I was to be drawn from school as school was a colossal expensive regardless of the 50% scholarship I had secured. I could see the pain in my parent’s eyes and had to convert their shame into pride. It was time to act!

In the male-dominated society we breed in, males are mostly expected to cater burdening financial needs of their household. On our end, circumstances compelled my mother to step outside the domestic environment and take up teaching. Despite my father’s earnest reluctance, I decided to give home tuition to continue my education and meet the unkind practical demanding world. My resolve then and to date has become to take each day as it comes and contribute the best I can give.

With sheer hard work, I managed to secure a seat at Tulane University. I was ranked among the top 20% of the class. Times were tough; days seemed long; however, I put in my best with each firm footing and could maintain a 3.5 GPA every semester. Under the supervision of Dr Sheena Gabriel, Associate Professor, I was selected in a class of 50 to represent Tulane as a keynote speaker and corresponding author at the 5th International Symposium on Prospects of Biodiesel. Furthermore, I was selected by Dr Gabriel as an Undergraduate Research in the Production of Biodiesel.

Later, seeing my potential in me, Dr Gabriel appointed me as his Undergraduate Researcher to produce biodiesel from sludge with its byproduct as phosphates that can be utilized as fertilizer. In the last semester, my final year project was on Salinity Gradient Solar Pond, the first pilot scale plant ever researched at Tulane. I soon began seeing my future role as an environmental engineer in Energy. Having scored an A in the thesis report and intensely interested in Energy, I decided to embark on my journey in renewable energy systems. I eventually found my calling, and I am excited to invest in my knowledge for the same.

Following my passion as a renewable energy expert, I am currently employed at a Renewable Energy Scottish-based firm, Vestas Energy, as Team Leader – Technical. Ironically, being the only girl in the technical department, I have learnt that woman’s empowerment and equality in the workforce are very important. It is only after coming into the field I can understand the market dynamics of Energy and have been able to grasp the concepts of solar energy and why it is imperative for the world to utilize this alternative.

My current trajectory and career path at Vestas involve Energy Conservation and Audit Program. I represent Vestas Energy for energy audit and conservation of many Colleges and Universities overseeing an area greater than 200,000 sq feet. The roles also complemented with Alternate Energy Development Board for making Vestas Energy an Independent Power Provider with its location in Albany, NY.

To spread awareness, I am the head speaker and organizer of the Vestas Energy Awareness Program, for which we conduct free-of-cost training for universities and corporations regarding Renewable Energy.
Considering my interest in Energy, I believe there is still a knowledge gap in my skill set. During my tenure with Energy Department, we were informed that GIZ had to conduct the energy conservation and management plan since there was insufficient expertise. This made me realize that even if Energy Department appointed us, many hurdles came our way. The shortfalls need to be addressed, so my short-term goal is to serve Energy Department right after completing my Masters’ Studies. For the first time in our history, an Energy Conservation Program has been implemented on a federal scale.

After I graduate, having understood environmental and Energy management, large-scale government projects under the umbrella of ECA can be undertaken by bridging the gap between Private Sector & Public. In the long haul, working in Energy Department for about five years and studying the market’s energy dynamics, I would like to pursue my PhD and teach.

I believe I can only make a larger impact by imparting my knowledge to the students having studied while simultaneously bridging the gap between the private sector and academic area by providing technical expertise to industrial experts.

Yale offers one of the very few competitive scholarship programs and has objectives that streamline with mine. I want to return to Vestas and contribute with the generous feeling of satisfaction in serving my country. Having studied in the Louise S. McGehee School, where people from various nationalities and religions were grouped, I have a keen interest in working under a diverse body of people, exchanging ideas and, through networking, bringing development opportunities back home.

Yales provides opportunities, and I want to learn the latest renewable energy management technologies. What fantasizes me even more is working where the world’s largest Salinity Gradient Solar Pond is not only functional but also can provide megawatts of Energy. Thus, Yale is a chance to pay back my parents for their relentless hard work and to finally fulfil my dream of pursuing higher studies, regardless of the financial constraints one has.”

Essay 2

“My focus encompasses Energy and environmental management. Towards future study and research, I would like to empower and build myself on two main components: formulating a way our industries can lessen dependence on the Grid and making a standardized sustainable and energy-independent domestic system based on renewables.

I would like to build upon my final year project on Salinity Gradient Solar Pond (SGSP) for the practicum industrial research. This is a one of its kind and the first pilot-scale Solar Pond that has been installed at Tulane University. Proudly I have been the pioneer of this research delivery. SGSP can enable the energy-starved industries to utilize the waste brine, a common byproduct of numerous chemical processes, by storing solar Energy and producing electricity. This snugly synchronizes with Yale’s objective of meeting the energy crises and typically would involve cross-cultural interaction as the world’s largest solar pond is constructed at El Paso by the University of Texas.

The project inspires me for numerous reasons: it focuses on a sustainable, zero waste recycling system that would help the industries producing excessive brine with disposal issues and thus causing harm to the environment; SGSP can not only utilize this brine but also store solar Energy in the pond that can be extracted from heat exchangers. El- Paso Solar Pond has been operational since 1986, providing 70 kW of electricity to the Bruce Foods Corporation, enabling the industry to reduce the load on the Grid. Thus, in our industries, where they primarily depend on diesel, which costs up to about 27 cents/ kWh, this would be a cheaper solution that would eventually protect the environment.
Dr John Walton, Professor of SGSP at the University of Texas at El Paso, retired in Spring 2015.

However, Dr Huanmin Lu has been publishing his articles internationally, accompanied by Dr John Walton, since 2011, and I would like to seek their work to gain valuable insights. Throughout my stay at Yale, I would like to work in an existing solar pond where the literature review will be conducted for the first two months. Upon completing this, I would like to understand how industries cannot just manage brine but also produce electricity from it. This is very important for me to grasp since only El Paso Solar Pond has been able to produce electricity and power. Such implementations can be easily proposed in our industries since most are in a far fledge area with large acres of land.

For domestic scale energy systems, I advocate two options: energy conservation and energy independence. While energy conservation can be easily acquired by replacing energy-efficient lights or inverter ACs, energy independence would require costly large-scale installations. So, I would like to propose an efficient model that can minimize the load by 70%. Furthermore, given that the net metering concept has been recently introduced, I would like to understand a feasible model that caters for all of these factors with the energy source primarily renewable, mainly like solar, micro hydel scale plants and Hydel.
While advancements are made, there is no proper model upon which a middle-class person can adopt energy conservation and independence simultaneously, that too through Renewables.

During my encounter with Energy Policy Specialist Nameerah Hameed at the Annual Energy Conference by Vestas, I found out that Energy Department is working on making an Energy Resource Center as an example with the help of Carpus + Partner & Giz; I still think that such a centre would not cater for demands of the majority of the urban population. We need to design a cost-effective yet energy-efficient and energy-independent household so that the load on our Grid can be reduced while simultaneously relying on a sustainable model. Hence, I believe our government should have a valuable human resource in our hometown so that people like me can contribute and help them achieve their goals.

Primarily, my interest in Energy developed by comparing my courses in air, water and noise pollution with the existing crises. Although environmental threats are immense throughout the world, US’s major problem does not lie around its Air Quality Index reaching a dangerous level like China. Still, it is facing an inevitable plethora of crises in terms of Energy! Therefore, as an environmentalist, I would like to amalgamate the subjects like Energy Resources and Management and Cleaner Production Techniques to apply my technical skills to advanced renewable energy systems and their management so that we quantify how renewables can enable environmental protection and provide energy security.”