*Pictured (L to R): Ryan Wall, Gideon Banner, Brett Gallagher, Guy Brearey, and Jonathan Kienzle*

On February 1, SEIC members Gideon Banner, Guy Brearey, Brett Gallagher, Jonathan Kienzle, and Ryan Wall competed in the 3rd Annual Columbia University Energy Symposium Case Competition.

This year’s case addressed an issue facing many small communities: grid resilience, and the opportunities and challenges of meeting that issue with a microgrid. The Stern team – named “Transmission Critical” – was tasked with determining not only the financial implications of a microgrid investment, but also how to address the concerns of the many different stakeholders involved. After applying with a response to a short mini-case (dealing with community solar), the NYU team was selected as one of 14 teams from top-tier schools from across the country. The team presented its solution to a panel of judges from firms such as NRG and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Despite not advancing to the final round of presentations, the team saw the competition as an excellent opportunity to learn about the wide variety of challenges associated with implementing a successful microgrid project. Most importantly, everyone was glad to have the chance to represent both NYU Stern and the Energy and Infrastructure Club with pride.