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NJ Wind Institute 2023-2024 Fellowship Cohort

Mariatu Alale

Mariatu Alale

Undergraduate Fellow

Design, Fabrication, and Testing of a Model-Scale Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) for Wind Energy Harvesting
Faculty Advisor: Onur Bilgen

Mariatu is an undergraduate student studying computer science at Rutgers Newark who is deeply intrigued by the field of sustainable energy. Her focus is primarily on the generation of electricity through wind power and how to effectively leverage technological progress to promote both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Teemer Barry

Teemer Barry

Graduate Fellow

Understanding the Seasonal Linkages of Underlying Oceanographic Conditions and
Phytoplankton Dynamics In and Around Offshore Wind Development Areas

Faculty Mentor: Grace Saba

Teemer is a Ph.D. student in the Rutgers Department for Marine and Coastal Sciences. His research centers around biological oceanography, investigating baseline phytoplankton class composition shifts in sequence with oceanic changes. 

Ashley Bhandari

Ashley Bhandari

Undergradaute Fellow

Economic impact research of offshore wind energy using machine learning algorithms ​​​​​
Faculty Advisors: Mariya Naumova and Moulik Kallupalam Balasubramanian

Ashley is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Economics and Mathematics at Rutgers New Brunswick. She believes in the importance of research and wants to learn more about the economic and statistical applications of offshore wind energy using machine learning algorithms.

Andrea John

Andrea John

Undergraduate Fellow

An Investigation of Potential Impacts of Wind Turbines and Foundations on Ocean Stratification
Faculty Advisor: Travis Miles

Andrea is double majoring in operational Meteorology and Communications, specializing in Strategic Public Communication and Public Relations. She also has a minor in Business Administration. She is interested in the applications of forensic meteorology with current forecasting systems and is looking forward to achieving her master's and Ph.D. in Meteorology in the future.

Zain Kamal

Zain Kamal

Undergraduate Fellow

Observing and Analyzing Global Offshore Wind Farms from the Space
Faculty Advisor: Ruo-Qian (Roger) Wang

Zain has a passion for applying computational methods to planetary/particle puzzles such as the history of Mars’s magnetic field and “flavors”/symmetries of massless particles called neutrinos. He is also dedicated to sharing knowledge with others by teaching physics labs and freshman courses, mentoring high school students in research projects, and developing educational resources. 

Kevin Leach

Kevin Leach

Graduate Fellow

Are The Laws Enough? Opposition to Offshore Wind Energy in New Jersey and Solutions Through Comparative Law Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Steve Gold

Kevin is a J.D. candidate at Rutgers Law in Newark. He graduated from American University with a double major in Physics, and Justice and Law. His previous research experiences include focuses on spectral line analysis (astrophysics), human rights law, and space law. Kevin is passionate about finding ways to bridge the divide between law and science. 

Juan Lopez Muro

Juan Lopez Muro

Graduate Fellow

Co-Design Strategies for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT)
Faculty Mentor: Laurent Burlion

Juan graduated in aeronautical engineering from the National University of La Plata in Argentina and studied advanced control and drone systems at ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse, France. His current work involves FOWT platform control for load alleviation using robust control techniques and reference governors, as well as the control of over-actuated vertical take-off and landing systems.

Jessica Parineet

Jessica Parineet

Graduate Fellow

The Socioeconomic and Policy Implications of Offshore Wind Implementation
Faculty Mentor: Mark Paul

Jessica is a Master of Public Policy student concentrating in Climate and Energy Policy. She completed her undergraduate degree in Economics at Rutgers-New Brunswick. She is passionate about climate justice and addressing economic inequality through climate mitigation policy. Her research focuses on the policy mechanisms being used to ensure net socioeconomic benefits to the state of New Jersey.

Jeeva Ramasamy

Jeeva Ramasamy

Undergraduate Fellow

Data Science for Offshore Wind Energy Operations and Forecasting
Faculty Advisor: Aziz Ezzat Ahmed

Jeeva is an aspiring Data Scientist who enjoys problem-solving and working in a team. He is currently a junior at Rutgers-New Brunswick pursuing a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Data Science. With a keen interest in sustainability and renewable energy, Jeeva is committed to working towards a cleaner and more sustainable future through innovative research using Data Science.

Michael Supple

Michael Supple

Undergraduate Fellow

Carbon Negative Turbine Blade Materials
Faculty Advisor: Richard Riman

Mike is a student in the School of Engineering at Rutgers-New Brunswick majoring in Material Science Engineering. He is very passionate about sustainability and renewable energy and is thrilled to have an opportunity to work on a project that includes both. Mike is very excited to embark on this fellowship opportunity that aligns with his career goals and can’t wait to see what his research, as well as others, yields.

Leon Tkacenko

Leon Tkacenko

Graduate Fellow

Ecological Vulnerability and Offshore Wind
Faculty Mentor: Julie Lockwood

Leon is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Rutgers Ecology and Evolution Program. His research focuses on how climate change is impacting bird populations. Through the last year, he has developed a strong interest in the impacts of offshore wind installations on birds. His interests in the topic largely lie in the potential for population-scale impacts given the rapid expansion of offshore wind installations globally.

Ryan Weightman

Ryan Weightman

Graduate Fellow

A Mathematical Model for the Optimal Design and Integration of a Wind Farm
Faculty Mentor: Benedetto Piccoli

Ryan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Center for Computation and Integrative Biology at Rutgers University–Camden. He earned both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in pure mathematics from Rutgers. He is interested in applying mathematical methods to real-world problems in order to better understand systems and optimize decision-making.