As a child growing up in Lebanon, Carol Menassa was given a gift that sparked a lifelong interest in structural design.
“When I was five, I received a Lego set. That was it. That’s when I knew I wanted to build things.”
During her childhood, Menassa - University of Michigan Assistant Professor and John L. Tishman CM Faculty Scholar - became passionate about structures: how they are built, and later, how they are designed to withstand use over time. As an undergraduate, she decided to make construction her life’s work and majored in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the American University of Beirut.
Electricity for rainforest villages in Gabon. Tent fabric that harvests solar energy for nomadic people in Kazakhstan. A modular greenhouse and fish farm in an unused industrial building in Highland Park, Michigan.
These are some of the goals and possibilities a team of 17 researchers will pursue with a new $3 million Third Century Initiative Global Challenges grant from the University of Michigan.
At the Energy Institute Symposium, a great selection of University of Michigan graduate student showcased their work in the Energy Institute’s thrust areas, including carbon-free energy sources; energy storage and utilization; transportation and fuels; and energy policy, economics and societal impact. A special thanks to all the students that submitted nearly 50 posters highlighting the depth and breadth of energy research at the University of Michigan. After much deliberation, the winning posters from the the Energy Institute Symposium were chosen:
