If Christy Martell, MBA 10, has her way, the world will realize a more sustainable energy future. She outlines how to help achieve that goal in an essay that was named among ten finalists in the Energy of Tomorrow competition.
Time and Fortune magazines, in partnership with Shell, invited students from the top 30 MBA programs on the Financial Times’ Global 2010 list to participate in the first-ever Energy of Tomorrow competition. Twenty-five schools accepted, with each submitting an MBA student essay that discusses a workable and innovative model to help secure a sustainable energy future for the world.
Beginning May 4, readers can vote on Martell’s essay online at www.time.com/energyfortomorrow. The school whose student essay is voted the “readers’ choice” will receive $5,000 to use for the school or to donate to charity.
The first-prize winner chosen by a panel from Time and Fortune will receive an expenses-paid trip to Cape Town, South Africa, to participate in the Energy for Tomorrow breakout session at Time and Fortune’s Global Forum. The essay also will be published in the Time and Fortune European and Asian editions in June.
In her essay, Martell proposes reducing upfront capital costs by leveraging unique financing arrangements and business models so that more consumers, both in the developing and developed worlds, can afford alternative energy technologies. She proposes spreading out the capital costs over a longer timeframe and providing access to financing to those who might not otherwise be able to get it.
Martell excited at the possibility of traveling to Cape Town to attend the Global Forum.
“It would allow me to broaden my network and the Haas brand with industry experts, CEOs, and senior management from multinational companies," Martell says. "The conference is a great opportunity to take part in a global discussion to develop a strategy to promote energy sustainability."
Before coming to Haas, Martell spent four years as a strategy consultant for Deloitte working on a wide variety of projects in energy, aerospace and defense, health care and high tech. But her future lies in sustainable energy, she says.
At Haas she helped develop the Cleantech to Market program and is a member of the team that won the US semifinals of the 2010 International Renewable Energy Case Competition. The team will travel to Macedonia this month for the competition’s finals. In the meantime, she has landed a job in sales with Bloom Energy, a solid oxide fuel cell manufacturer, where she interned last summer.