Berkeley Energy Connections (BEC) is an effort by the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative and the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The program facilitates connections and collaborations between those at UC Berkeley and the Lab, providing new opportunities for growth.

Please contact the BEC Chair, Nick Bojda, for more information or if you would like to get involved.

BEC has three lead program components:

Graduate Student Outreach

EETD and BERC will operate an event designed to introduce students to work conducted at the Lab. EETD invites students to apply with the department, in search of new talent to add to LBL.

Students Opening Ideas with LBL (SOIL)

With countless important ideas in the minds of researchers at LBL, SOIL will collect and distribute the concepts and projects out to the skills and eagerness awaiting in Berkeley's campus. After the software is developed, researchers will input projects into a web application which also collects the information of participating students. When the software finds matching skills and time (among other parameters), everyone will be invited to start communicating. Projects can be as simple or complicated as one desires; SOIL will be a flexible tool designed for the sole purpose of creating beneficial connections.

The LBL EETD Co-Sponsorship of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Idea Lab

The Environmental Energy Technologies Division has teamed up with BERC to help host and provide speakers for the EE&C Idea Lab. With this new partnership, new volunteers are joining and the Idea Lab will be often held at the laboratory and run once every two weeks. Participating students will be invited to enjoy free food with an LBL employee or other efficiency expert, who will present their recent work, in an informal environment of focused interest. Students will come having read relevant publications and are prepared to contribute to a lively and thoughtful discussion, benefiting both the guests and the students. The topics rotate as every session invites a different researcher. Always a multi-specialized crowd, the gatherings will stimulate new dialogue and connections.