BERC Innovative Solutions

Please note that the BIS deadline has been extended. Student Applications for Spring 2012 projects are now due by noon on January 30, 2012.  Download the application here.

BERC Innovative Solutions (BIS) is an energy and resources-focused consulting program led by students from across UC Berkeley’s top graduate departments. The program’s evolution has been driven by demand from both students and organizations in business, nonprofit and government.

BIS is dedicated to working with clients to address their strategic energy and resources opportunities and challenges, while providing talented students with experiential learning through meaningful projects. The BIS application process matches balanced teams with complementary areas of academic focus and past professional experience with the skill sets needed to meet each client's needs. Collaborating across academic disciplines provides both unique opportunities for student participants and rich perspectives for BIS clients.

BIS engagements focus on projects like the following:

• Market Assessments - customer segmentation, market assessment
• Organizational Strategy - growth strategy, go-to-market strategy
• Policy Research and Proposal Analysis - regulatory barrier assessment, policy strategy
• Scenario Planning - economic/policy based planning workshops

BIS TEAM AND PROJECT STRUCTURE

BIS teams consist of 3-5 students depending on project scope. Each team member should plan to dedicate 5-8 hours a week to BIS and can expect to work directly with client project leadership. Projects will be based on the semester calendar with an average duration of 8-10 weeks. Prior to the semester's project kick-off, teams will participate in the BIS Energy, Resources and Sustainability Consulting Workshop led by an experienced consultant from the sector.

CLIENT INFORMATION

Any inquiries about BIS may be directed to Sarah Fisher, Amir Khan, or Yuri Yakubov, the 2011-2012 BIS Chairs, at BIS@berc.berkeley.edu.

BIS's past clients include

• Municipal organizations such as City of San Francisco Department of Environment
• Venture Capital firms such as  Firelake Capital
• Multinational conglomerates such as Siemens
• Start-up companies such as Alphabet Energy and Bloom Energy