Purpose

Purpose

Longhorn Energy seeks to leverage the world-class academic, co-curricular, and extra-curricular energy opportunities at UT for the betterment of all members of the UT community. In particular, the aim of this organization shall be to build community and collaboration between students at UT, support energy-related activities and events, and to aid members in pursuit of energy careers.


Leadership Board

President McCombs School of Business and Jackson School of Geosciences

President
McCombs School of Business and Jackson School of Geosciences

Jenny Sauer

Jenny is pursuing an MBA and MS in Energy & Earth Resources at the University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in electricity markets and business strategy as policies, technologies, and customer preferences rapidly evolve. Jenny has interned with Wood Mackenzie Consulting, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Lower Colorado River Authority’s Wholesale Markets & Supply division, and currently with Lincoln Clean Energy’s solar and wind development team. Jenny’s research with NREL describes voluntary renewable energy markets, community choice aggregation, and residential PV financing. Prior to graduate school, Jenny completed her bachelor’s degree at Vanderbilt University and worked in healthcare data analytics and project management.

 
Vice Chair Jackson School of Geosciences

Vice Chair
Jackson School of Geosciences

Dilge Kanoglu

Dilge is an MSc candidate in Energy and Earth Resources at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, she received an MSc degree in Earth System Science from Middle East Technical University, Turkey and worked on developing quantitative measures of societal acceptance, particularly in the context of shale gas development. She also has research experience in environmental policy development. To this end, she has contributed to several interdisciplinary projects funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. Dilge’s primary interests involve studying the relationships between energy, environment, the economy and society.

 
Chair - Energy Week LBJ School of Public Affairs

Chair - Energy Week
LBJ School of Public Affairs

Somtoochukwu IK-Ejiofor

Somtoochukwu Ik-Ejiofor is a Master of Public Affairs candidate at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She is interested in energy policy and finance, with a focus on emerging markets, energy finance solutions, global and regional trends in energy markets. Over the summer, Somtoochukwu interned at the Texas Department of Agriculture. She hopes to pursue a career in energy policy, directed at providing affordable energy prices for consumers. Prior to attending UT, Somtoochukwu received two Bachelor of Science degrees in four years from the University of Houston; Economics and Political Science.

 
VP of Finance McCombs School of Business and LBJ School of Public Affairs

VP of Finance
McCombs School of Business and LBJ School of Public Affairs

Vineet Raman

Vineet Raman is pursuing an MBA and Master of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is interested in the policy mechanisms that promote technological innovation in the energy sector. Vineet has worked on projects related to the expansion of EV charging infrastructure. This past summer, he interned with Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector practice where he supported technology implementations for state and local governments. Prior to graduate school, Vineet worked as a technology consultant in the oil & gas industry for four years and completed his bachelor’s degree at The University of Texas at Austin where he earned is B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

 
VP of Entrepreneurship Cockrell School of Engineering

VP of Entrepreneurship
Cockrell School of Engineering

Upayan Mathkari

Upayan Mathkari is a junior undergraduate student in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering. Passionate about sustainability, Upayan has been involved in research in energy technology for the Texas Materials Institute and gave a TEDx talk on his concept of a closed-loop manufacturing model for minimizing waste-generation and greenhouse emissions. Last summer, Upayan interned at an Austin-based startup, Yotta Solar, where he worked on passive thermal regulation systems for solar energy storage. Upayan enjoys learning about innovative trends in clean energy and sustainability and aspires to create some in his future career.

 

VP of Alumni Relations
Jackson School of Geosciences

Sean Corcoran

Sean Corcoran is pursuing his MSc in Energy and Earth Resources at the University of Texas at Austin. He is interested in studying the transformation of the electrical power system at the intersection of engineering, economics, and policy. Prior to attending UT, Sean had experience in federal energy policy, power system modeling, and utility scale renewable project development. Outside of class, Sean conducts research in the LBJ School of Public Affairs investigating greenhouse gas mitigation strategies associated with the shale boom in the Gulf Coast Region. Sean received a B.S. in economics and B.S.E in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

 

Co-VP of Research
Cockrell School of Engineering

Max Brozynski

Max Brozynski is a Ph.D. student in the Operations Research and Industrial Engineering program, where he previously earned an M.S. Before coming to UT Austin, Max studied at the London School of Economics in the U.K., obtaining a B.Sc. in Mathematics with Economics. His graduate research began with energy system optimization model development and applications in urban-scale decarbonization strategies. This work has been published in the journals Applied Energy and Sustainable Cities and Society. Max is currently constructing and analyzing innovative Markov models to establish an analytical theory of technology transitions. His research is yielding highly generalizable insights about how governments can effectively support the development and diffusion of new technologies, considering both costs and benefits, in diverse domains like energy, healthcare, and transportation. Max was formerly President of the UT chapter of INFORMS. He enjoys motorcycling, traveling, and working on unreliable Italian internal combustion engines.

 

Co-VP of Research

University of Texas Law School

Hamidou Drame

Hamidou Diogo Drame is pursuing an LLM (Master of Law) in Global Energy and International Arbitration Law at the UT School of Law. Admitted to France (Lyon) and Guinea Bars, his practice focuses primarily on structuring and financing energy and mining projects in Francophone Africa. Before joining the Pan-African law firm Guilex Avocats based in Conakry, Hamidou worked at the African Development Bank (ALSF), SD Avocats ALN in Guinea, Bile-Aka-Brizoua-Bi law firm in Ivory Coast and the Paris offices of Bird & Bird, and Watson Farley & Williams. He is also a recipient of the 2019 -2020 MD Anderson Research Fellowship in Transnational Law from the Institute for Transnational Law at The University of Texas School of Law. As a fellow, his research is related to the governance of natural resources in West Africa in connection with sustainable development goals.

 
Co-VP of Corporate RelationsCockrell School of Engineering

Co-VP of Corporate Relations

Cockrell School of Engineering

Laurel Morris

Laurel is pursuing a B.S. in Environmental Engineering, Biochemistry, and a minor in Business (UT-Austin Class of 2021). Passionate about drawing and pursuing opportunities in Energy sustainability that solve problems and improve returns for Businesses. She is Directing UT’s first Smart City Case Competition where 50+ students tackle one of Austin’s most pressing issues (outlined by city leaders), leveraging technology. She is also the Head of Partnerships for ElecTrip, providing private travel between major Texas cities in Electric Vehicles, the preferred alternative to driving, flying, or taking a bus for 1000+ Texans.

 

Co-VP of Corporate Relations

LBJ School of Public Affairs

Reena Fram

Reena is a Master of Public Affairs graduate student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Prior to moving to Austin, she managed conferences, synthesized and analyzed strategies, and supported grantmaking to clean energy advocacy organizations at the Energy Foundation. Passionate about environmental protection and resource management, she has experience developing environmental impact assessments for water and wastewater treatment in Northern California. She earned her B.A. in Political Science and German from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 


 
Co-VP of Professional DevelopmentCockrell School of Engineering

Co-VP of Professional Development

Cockrell School of Engineering

Spencer Trihus

Spencer Trihus is a senior undergraduate Chemical Engineering student in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His experience from living in Saudi Arabia sparked his passion for the energy sector, in particular cleaner energy solutions within the petroleum sector. While at UT, his extracurricular work has centered around economical impacts and perception of alternative energy sources within modern society. His current areas of interest include energy policy and emerging technologies within both the petroleum and renewable energy fields.

 
VP of Professional DevelopmentCockrell School of Engineering

VP of Professional Development

Cockrell School of Engineering

Korede Akinpelumi

Korede Akinpelumi is a 4th year PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He is interested in fossil energy and the advancement of low carbon technologies that can sustain its use. He has previously interned with Chevron and Equinor and worked as a contractor at the National Carbon Capture Center in Alabama. In his work at UT, he has contributed to creating mitigation strategies for aerosol emissions in CO2 capture from Coal and NGCC power plants. Prior to becoming a Longhorn, Korede received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria where he was also the valedictorian.