Energy.gov

The first in a series of "Energy Talks" kicked off at the Energy Department on Oct. 11 with 100 ninth-graders from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, listening to talks on everything from fuel cell technologies to building efficiency to future careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

In addition, students had the opportunity to participate in a solar rooftop tour, peek under the hood of a fuel cell car, and test mini wind-powered cars.

“This is a great tie in to our (STEM) program,” said Brian Wright, an engineering teacher at T.C. Williams who helped organize the field trip. “This is an eye-opening experience for them about what technologies are out there and jobs. It helps open them up as to what they can study.”

EERE Associate Assistant Secretary Janine Benner kicked off the event by asking students to think not only about what they want to be when they grow up, but what problem they’d like to solve. After explaining the history and role of the Energy Department, as well as what part the National Laboratories play, Benner encouraged that more young people continue to come up with these innovations by studying math and science—especially girls.

“We often see girls dropping out of STEM early. There are a lot of reasons for this, but none of them is that girls can’t do science or math,” said Benner, who herself was one of those girls who left STEM early, not because she wasn’t good at it, but because at the time, she wasn’t interested. She said then she didn’t realize the impact science and technology would have on changing the world.

“This is an eye-opening experience for them about what technologies are out there and jobs. It helps open them up as to what they can study.”
-Brian Wright, engineering teacher at T.C. Williams High School

She explained to the girls in the audience that you can be a scientist and be girly at the same time. But it wasn’t just the girls. Benner also urged to the boys that STEM can be a lot of fun because you can invent stuff, explore nature, and think of solutions to tough problems. It may be challenging, she said, but don’t give up.

Crystal McDonald, an education lead with the Building Technologies Office, talked to the students about climate change and energy efficiency. McDonald, who works with 25 school districts in the D.C. area, showed students the varying energy use at two local high schools to demonstrate the impact of energy efficiency on buildings.

“Climate change is real,” she told the students. “And I believe we can do something about it. Be curious about energy; our national resources; the Paris Agreement (if you don’t know what that is, look it up, she said); be curious how it is all interconnected and then ask yourself, ‘Am I part of the clean energy revolution?’”

Erika Gupta, a technology manager with the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, had students on the edge of their seats as she stated the goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. She reiterated McDonald’s comments about climate change and the Paris Agreement, and explained to students how a fuel cell works, the various types of fuel cell vehicles and the need for hydrogen stations to service these vehicles.

She showed the rise of traditional gas stations beginning in the 1900s with a mobile station on two wheels to the stations we are used to today. The students were impressed with the varying vehicles and asked a multitude of questions, including how much they cost.

Jennifer Gangi, director of communications and outreach for the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, continued the conversation by impressing students with the fact that there are 250 megawatts of fuel cells installed around the country. She informed students with various advances in the fuel cell industry and caught their attention by telling them that Walmart, Google, Apple, Home Depot, Ebay, Verizon, and AT&T all rely on fuel cells.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event is that with science, technology, engineering and math – you can change the world.

“That’s exactly what we do every day at the Energy Department,” Benner said.

See the Energy Talks presentations at Energy.gov/EnergyTalks.