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Moderator
Mike Wagner, Charles Ringrose Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UW–Madison
Dr. Wagner is principal investigator of the Energy Systems Operations Lab, a faculty member of the Solar Energy Lab, and a faculty affiliate of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium. His research includes thermal systems modeling, system design and operations optimization, and predictive performance analysis of energy generation and storage technologies. Prior to joining UW-Madison, he was a senior researcher and principal investigator for over 11 years in the Thermal Systems group at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado. Dr. Wagner is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.S., M.S.) and Colorado School of Mines (Ph.D.).
Panelists
Song Jin, Professor of Chemistry, UW–Madison
Prof. Song Jin received his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University in 1997, Ph.D. in 2002 from Cornell University with Prof. Francis DiSalvo and carried out his postdoctoral research with Prof. Charles Lieber at Harvard University. Dr. Jin is interested in chemistry, physics and technological applications of nanoscale and solid-state materials. Dr. Jin developed innovative nanomaterials synthesis of metal chalcogenides, silicides, and halide perovskites, and the screw dislocation-driven growth of nanomaterials. Jin advances the exploitation of (nano)materials for electrocatalysis, solar energy conversion, energy storage, optoelectronics, spintronics, and biotechnology. Dr. Jin has authored over 300 publications and 14 patents. He has been recognized with a NSF CAREER Award, a Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar Award, the ACS ExxonMobil Solid State Chemistry Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the ACS Inorganic Nanoscience Award, and an ECS and MRS Fellow. He also serves as a Senior Editor for ACS Energy Letters since 2007 and an Executive Editor since 2026.
Julie Michelle Klinger, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, UW–Madison
Dr. Klinger’s research focuses on the dynamics of global resource frontiers and space-based technologies with particular emphases in China, Brazil, and the United States, where she has conducted extensive ethnographic, qualitative, and quantitative fieldwork over the past 15 years. Her research examines how diverse forms of violence and strategies for survival shape land use, environmental conservation, and livelihood security. She has published numerous articles on rare earth elements, natural resource use, environmental politics, and outer space.
Dr. Klinger has built her global research agenda in three thematic areas: critical minerals supply chains, global space politics, and community survival strategies. Dr Klinger publishes, advises students, and conducts fieldwork in each of these research areas. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley, and previously held faculty positions at the University of Delaware and Boston University.
Luca Mastropasqua, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UW–Madison
Dr. Luca Mastropasqua is the principal investigator of the Hydrogen and Electrochemical Research for Decarbonization (HERD) Lab. Dr. Mastropasqua’s research focuses on the conceptualization of new electrochemical devices and their integration into energy conversion and industrial processes. His chief research goal is to use electrochemical technologies to provide power generation, grid energy storage, and decarbonize sectors such as aviation, freight, shipping, steel, and cement production via electrochemical synthesis of high-value products. Prior to joining UW-Madison, Dr. Mastropasqua was a Senior Scientist at the University of California, Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC), and a Postdoctoral Associate at Princeton University. Dr. Mastropasqua received his PhD cum laudae from Politecnico di Milano in 2017 in Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology, one M.Sc. in Energy Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, and one in Thermal Engineering from Cranfield University.
Bu Wang, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UW–Madison
Dr. Wang leads the Sustainable Materials Innovation Lab in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department (SMIL-CEE). The lab's mission is to develop innovative and interdisciplinary technological solutions to address the urgent need for sustainable civil engineering materials.
Dr. Wang is a fellow in the Grainger Institute for Engineering and has an affiliate faculty appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Wang received his PhD in ceramic engineering from Alfred University, and his MS in electrical engineering from Tainjin University.