August 16, 2004, No. 01F

LET THERE BE LIGHT: One semester before he gradates ME senior Danny Gold landed a job with a startup that wants to bring renewable energy rural villages in India.

Prior to graduation, one ME senior lands a job that lets him travel the world

In today’s economy it’s a dream come true simply to find a job before graduation. But ME senior Danny Gold has taken his luck to the next level. Not only did he land a job at a startup this past summer, but he’s getting paid to do two things he loves, wind turbine research and international travel.

“It’s unbelievable. After graduation I will be traveling around India and teaching locals how to operate renewable energy equipment,” he says.

Danny, who has focused his engineering interests on wind turbines, answered an e-mail from his professor, Liwei Lin, intended to solicit engineers for commercial energy research. The original e-mail was sent to Professor Lin by Mihir Parikh, a Berkeley Engineering alum (B.S. engineering physics ’69, Ph.D. engineering science ’74) who was looking for bright Berkeley professors to staff his energy startup company. Danny was not a professor but made the cut anyway.

He was the only undergraduate chosen among a crack group of professors, post- docs and graduate students.

Danny spent the summer doing precursor wind turbine research to help determine if the startup could find a viable market in selling small, renewable energy systems to the myriad tiny villages in rural India. Many of these villages currently have no electricity.

Their challenge is not only to sell energy to these rural communities, but to provide a source that is simultaneously renewable, cheap, and reliable.

While many other companies have tried and failed to bring low-cost energy to Indian villages, Danny is confident that this startup, which is yet to be named, can accomplish the task.

“We will be successful because we truly care about what we are doing. We aren’t just trying to sell electricity, we want to help people. If you are successful in helping people then money can be made as a result,” he says.

Despite such altruistic motives, Danny acknowledges that the energy market in India is complicated, competitive, and overwhelmingly diverse. The team is carefully researching the market opportunities and climate for their product before diving in.

“First we must find out if it’s possible to do what we want to do. There is a chance that we might not go through with it, but if it works out, there are almost a billion people to serve,” he says.

If the company takes off, Danny will help develop its renewable electricity generator and educate local populations on how to use it. If not, he will fall back on plan B, pursuing a job in the nanotech industry.

Or perhaps he will opt to work for himself if his personal summer research project pans out.

“Ten percent of energy is lost while conducted through wires because the wires have electrical resistance. I want to develop high-temperature nonresistant electrical conducting wires that don’t lose energy,” he says.

Danny might have finally reached his quota in terms of dreams fulfilled as he checks yet another one off his list.

“I have always wanted to be recognized for my engineering skills in an article in Engineering News,” he laughs.

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