Drew comes from the north, i.e., Wisconsin. He grew up in Milwaukee and graduated high school in 2017. He moved out to Madison for undergraduate studies and then graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021 with a Bachelor's of Science in mechanical engineering. During his undergrad years, he began his research career as an undergrad assistant in a lab that studied fluid dynamics and the heat transfer properties of two-phase flow. Once graduated, he moved to Austin in the summer of 2021 to begin working toward a Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin within the Webber Energy Group. Drew’s research interests are in big picture energy systems and cleaning up the power grid. Currently, he is researching grid resilience scenarios in extreme weather events by studying what efforts are needed to prepare for increasingly probable extreme weather. The methods involved in this research are robust capacity expansion models of the ERCOT power grid infrastructure that can be modified to explore specific resilience plans. These plans typically involve grid interconnections, distributed energy resources, and storage options at utility and distributed scales. Ultimately, Drew will study the interactions between these three options on a case by case basis to determine what combinations of them might work in practice.
