wind, transportation, water, solar, energy storage
Profession:
mechanical engineering
Research Details
About My Research
I am completing a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, and am currently on a leave of absence as co-founder and engineering lead at Fenix International, a San Francisco based startup. The Fenix mission is to become a utilities company for the next four billion, providing affordable and reliable energy solutions to customers earning below $10/day in both rural and urban areas of developing countries. In addition to my work at Fenix, I continue to pursue several academic research interests. My developing world work has included: bicycle generators for cell phones, efficient cook pots, affordable microscopes for field clinics, and pull cord generators. Additionally, I have experience in the green building industry and in wind power, and I am a Soros Fellow and a Udall scholar.
Personal Info
Jonas Ketterle
ketterle [at] stanford [dot] edu
Why I'm interested in Eureka Fund
I am unbelievably excited about crowd sourcing funding for innovative social ventures. EurekaFund is helping to bridge an important funding gap between small grants and out of pockets costs (less than $5,000), and larger research grants and investments ($100,000 and above). By financing the second stage of research that builds upon compelling initial work, EurekaFund enables researchers and entrepreneurs to make a more compelling case to attract funding from large donors. This, of course, increases their chance of creating a meaningful impact. I see crowd sourcing research funding as part of a global trend towards distributed systems, a few common examples of which include the Internet, mobile computing and fundraising for presidential campaigns, and I’m eager to prove out this model in new areas.
Eurekafund empowers scientists and researchers working on today’s problems to share what they do, and the hope and inspiration they carry with them, with a larger audience. It is scientifically peer reviewed and gives the opportunity for anybody’s involvement, providing an antidote to a stream of bleak political news and hyped technology promises. I hope that Eurekafund will help me instill courage in others to do the work that makes them come alive.
