Our 2020-2021 ThinkEnergy fellows are outstanding students who are working diligently to advance innovation in the Energy field. This year we have 15 students from various majors and schools working on three amazing entrepreneurial projects. We hope these student profiles will help you to get to know more about these students, their passions, and their amazing work. See all the profiles here.

Jackson Smith, a third-year from Grove City, Ohio majoring in Materials Science and Engineering:

1- What is your favorite thing to do at CWRU outside of the classroom?

I love being on the rowing team because I get to see the sunrise on the Cuyahoga every morning during practice.

2- Over your college journey, which class impacted you the most?

My freshman year I took a class in the Materials Science department that was about touring different places in industry. It showed me all the opportunities there are for materials scientists and really cemented my choice to major in materials.

3- If your soul was a song, which song would it be?

Don't Stop Me Now – Queen

4- If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life what would it be?

Vietnamese style noodles with shrimp

5- How did you hear about the ThinkEnergy Fellowship and why did you apply?

I had heard of ThinkEnergy but didn't really know much about it until Mark actually reached out to me and encouraged me to apply because they needed materials majors. I decided to apply because I wanted to learn more about entrepreneurship and energy.

6- What energy problem is your entrepreneurial team working to solve with a product?

My team is working on developing a Li-ion battery that would be less likely to cause battery fires. The batteries would provide the same experience as a normal battery but be safer for consumers.

7- What is your role(s) on your entrepreneurial team?

I work as an engineer as well as doing whatever else the team needs.

8- What is your favorite part of the program so far this year?

I enjoy hearing the different speakers each week. There are so many different areas in energy that each week is something different and interesting.

9- What is one thing you find challenging in the program so far?

For me the whole business and marketing aspect is really foreign to me. I've never been the kind of person that thinks about those things but they are very important to being an entrepreneur and having a start up.

10- What is one thing you hope to get out of the experience?

I want to understand all of the different aspects of starting your own business as well as the opportunities for a materials scientist working in energy.”