Wharton Energy Club

Diana Townsend-Butterworth

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:19:48 +0000

Diana attended Harvard College and is now a 2011 candidate for an MBA in Finance and Energy and an MA in International Studies at Wharton and the Lauder Institute. Between college and grad school, Diana worked as a trader and a high-yield research analyst in the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley, covering automotive companies. She then became COO of Learnvest, Inc, an online site to teach women about personal finance. Before Wharton, Diana also studied Conservation Biology at Columbia and chaired the Wildlife Conservation Society’s junior committee. This summer, Diana will be working on energy projects for the Boston Consulting Group in Washington DC and traveling to do research for her thesis on alternative energy in Southeast Asia.

Christian Gomez

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:31:37 +0000

Christian Gomez is a first-year MBA student majoring in Multinational Management. He is pursuing a joint MA degree in International Economics and Latin American Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Last year, Christian researched renewable fuels markets at PFC Energy and worked in Booz Allen Hamilton’s Diplomacy and International Development practice. Prior to graduate school, he held positions at the Inter-American Dialogue, Princeton in Latin America, and the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. Christian graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 2003 with a BA in Politics. Christian is a beginner ice hockey player and an experienced fan of the Washington Redskins.

Fritz Charles

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:07:38 +0000

Fritz Charles is a first year MBA student at The Wharton School of Business majoring in Entrepreneurial Management and Real Estate. Prior to Wharton, Fritz worked as an equity derivative trader at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. At Lehman Brothers, he was part of a cross functional team that issued $473mm in SunPower, First Solar, and Evergreen Solar convertible bonds. On campus, he is leading an Independent Study Project studying the use of Solar energy in Haiti. Fritz is part of Wharton’s Wildmen Hockey team. An avid sports fan, he supports the New York Mets, New York Giants, and New York Knicks religiously. He graduated from Baruch College with a degree in Finance and Investments.

Matt Rader

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:03:16 +0000

Matt Rader gets excited about transforming historic cities into thriving, sustainable communities. As VP for Community Outreach in the Energy Club, he creates opportunities for exchange between local energy-related businesses, organizations, and the Wharton community. Prior to Wharton, he advised cities on urban redevelopment strategy at the Urban Land Institute, an international real estate trade association and think tank. He also served as Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust and the East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District, two urban redevelopment non-profits in Philadelphia.
Matt enjoys urban biking, baking, reading, and exploring local history. He holds a B.A. in Architectural History from the University of Virginia and a Certificate in Non-Profit Executive Leadership from Bryn Mawr College.

Meghan Luchi

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:40:39 +0000

Meghan Luchi is a first-year MBA candidate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she is majoring in finance. She graduated in 2003 from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. After graduation, Meghan began her professional career as a chemical engineer at Merck & Co. She spent three improving the effectiveness of chemical synthesis steps through conducting laboratory experiments and overseeing manufacturing operations. She then spent three years in the Strategic Analysis & Planning group as an analyst and then associate manager. In this role, she advised company planning which included providing the R&D budgets of each asset in the pipeline for annual portfolio valuation. While at Wharton, Meghan has been gaining experience in the energy sector through an offshore wind independent study. She will be spending her summer as a consultant in the BCG Philadelphia Office.

Elle Seybold

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:39:48 +0000

Elle is a dual-degree MBA and MA in International Studies candidate at the Wharton School and the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 2002 with a BS in Finance. Before embarking on her Masters programs, Elle worked for five years with Beekman Capital in Santa Fe, NM. She started as Analyst and rose to the role of Director of Research and Partner. Upon graduation she hopes to join the energy industry. Through her roles she gained a working knowledge of the conventional and unconventional oil and gas fields in North America as well as many of the larger fields located in West Africa, offshore Brazil, and the Middle East. On the services side, she researched several of the predominant and promising techniques applied in well completions and enhanced recovery of hydrocarbons. At SAIS, Elle wrote her thesis on U.S. energy policy. Elberta enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing, mountaineering, equestrian events and volunteers for Search & Rescue.

Shannon Lijek

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:35:38 +0000

Shannon Lijek is a 2011 MBA Candidate majoring in Strategic Management and Finance. Prior to Wharton, Shannon worked as a Software Engineer for Lockheed Martin designing and developing software and deploying with radar systems abroad. She spent the last year and a half as the program’s Software Development Manager. While at Lockheed Martin, Shannon also earned a MS in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.
During the past semester, Shannon has been very active in a Wharton Independent Study Project analyzing the economics, regulations, policies, and solutions for a Neighborhood-Scale Residential Solar PV System. This summer Shannon plans to work at Salt River Project (SRP) quantifying the benefits and value of SRP’s Smart Meter program. For the 2009 Wharton Energy Conference, Shannon was an Operations Director and handled all on-site premise logistics and operations. She has been selected as one of the two Co-Chairs for the 2010 Wharton Energy Conference and is excited to organize another successful event!

Miriam Grobman

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:35:04 +0000

Miriam is a dual degree candidate, pursuing an MBA from the Wharton School and MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, focusing on Europe and Russian language. Prior to Wharton, she was an Executive Officer at Lloyds TSB Bank Corporate Banking team in New York. She worked on client relationship management, analyzing current and potential client needs and creating sales pitches. Prior to Lloyds, Miriam spent 2.5 years at Deutsche Bank as Credit Risk Analyst, with her last assignment in Leveraged Finance. After Wharton, Miriam wants to pursue a career in business development in emerging markets. Last year she served as a Marketing Chair for the Wharton Energy Conference and intends to use this experience to enhance the brand of the Wharton Energy Club and streamline internal and external communications.

Russell Sprole

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:34:30 +0000

Russell is a second-year MBA candidate at the Wharton School. Prior to Wharton, Russell spent two years as an Associate Producer for NBC Sports, where he earned two Emmy Awards for his work on Sunday Night Football and the Beijing Olympics. Before joining the MBA program, last summer Russell solidified his passion for renewable energy and energy efficiency while interning at Ecological Development, a sustainability performance services company. At Wharton, Russell served as Director of Operations for the Wharton Energy Conference and focused on minimizing the carbon footprint of the conference. In January, Russell led ten students on the Wharton Energy Trek, visiting a dozen renewable energy development and technology companies in the Bay Area. This spring semester, Russell is partaking two Independent Studies: one evaluating the potential for offshore wind in the Great Lakes and the other comparing financial models for distributed and utility scale solar developments. Russell graduated from Yale University in 2007 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science; he also played on Yale’s varsity lacrosse team. In his spare time, Russell enjoys playing hockey, lacrosse, golf, and snowboarding.

Laura Moss

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:33:46 +0000

Laura graduated with a B.S.E in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2006. Prior to Wharton, she spent three years working at CGI Group, Inc. in Washington DC doing IT consulting, working primarily with large oil and gas companies. Laura will be spending the summer in Houston, TX, working at Exxon Mobil in their Chemicals group.