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Posts
Wisdom in the Age of AI presentation
Calvin University hosted the Wisdom in the Age of AI Conference in early October 2026. My colleague Jeremy VanAntwerp and I developed a presentation entitled
2026-10-08
My (nearly) perfect todo system
In the twilight of my career, I
finally
developed the (nearly) perfect todo system.
2026-09-24
Calvin University carbon neutrality presentation
In Summer 2026, I supervised rising senior students Anneke Kuperus and Dylan Meengs to develop the first realistic carbon neutrality plan for Calvin University. We worked…
2026-09-18
Calvin Engineering Department seminar
Today, I gave a version of my Christian Engineering Conference keynote speech as a Calvin University Engineering Department seminar.
2026-09-16
Europe Summer 2026
I am extremely fortunate to have great colleagues around the world. During the summer of 2026, I had the opportunity to visit Cambridge, Leeds, and Lisbon to work with…
2026-08-15
CEC keynote speech
Previously, I posted some photos from my keynote speech at the 2026 Christian Engineering Conference. In respose to some requests, I have now also posted the speech itself at …
2026-06-15
CEC keynote speech photos
About 18 months ago, Gayle Ermer, my department chair, asked if I would contribute a keynote speech at the 2026 Christian Engineering Conference, the biennial meeting of the …
2026-05-29
High stakes teaching
Colleague Jeremy Van Antwerp and I presented a paper on High Stakes Teaching (HST) at the 2026 Christian Engineering Conference. The paper is titled “High-stakes teaching…
2026-05-28
Installing solar panels
As I walked between the Engineering Building and the Science Building this afternoon, I heard the distinctive whine and rat-a-tat-tat of an air impact wrench. I turned…
2026-04-28
ENGR333 project Fall 2025
The Fall 2025 ENGR333 project focused on development of a green revolving fund for the City of Grand Rapids.
2026-01-02
ABET-Lemelson award wrapup
Here are some final thoughts, photos, and links associated with the ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award ceremony…
2025-12-06
ABET-Lemelson award acceptance speech
On Friday, 24 October 2025, I received the ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award at a ceremony at the Marriott…
2025-10-26
Global transport emissions 1850-2020: Historical drivers and lessons for transport decarbonization
My latest article (with co-authors from Portugal and England) has appeared in
Transportation Research Part D
. In it, we look at global transport CO
2
emissions from 1850 to…
2025-09-24
From twin transition to twice the burden? Digitalisation, energy demand, and economic growth
My latest paper is now available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108747. The “twin transition” in the title is the ongoing digital transition and the hoped-for…
2025-09-08
Insights from the evolution of transport technologies, 1800–2020
My colleague Bernardo Tostes is the lead author on my latest article: Insights from the evolution of transport technologies, 1800–2020: Energy use, transitions, and efficiency…
2025-08-18
ABET/Lemelson Innovation in Sustainability Award
I am surprised and humbled to be the recipient of the 2025 ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award.
2025-08-01
Part II
My latest article (again with co-authors Gregor Semieniuk and Paul Brockway) is now available at https://doi.org/10.1177/01956574251331966. This is Part II of a two-part…
2025-07-24
Energetic and Economic Aspects of Rebound, Part I: Foundations of a Rigorous Analytical Framework
With colleagues and friends Gregor Semieniuk (economist) and Paul Brockway (energy analyst), I developed a mathematical framework to describe the rebound effect. More than…
2025-07-07
ENGR333 project Fall 2024
The Fall 2024 ENGR333 project focused on solar PV electricity generation for Calvin University.
2024-12-26
Calvin Solar Farm project featured in The Banner
The Fall 2024 ENGR333 Calvin Solar Farm project was featured in an article in The Banner today.
2024-11-27
Calvin Solar Farm interview
I was interviewed today on The Shelley Irwin Show. I discussed the Fall 2024 ENGR333 Calvin Solar Farm project.
2024-10-01
A country-level primary-final-useful (CL-PFU) energy and exergy database: overview of its construction and 1971—2020 world-level efficiency results
My colleague Paul Brockway is the lead author on a new article that took six years to write: A country-level primary-final-useful (CL-PFU) energy and exergy database…
2024-06-17
Estimation of useful-stage energy returns on investment for fossil fuels and implications for renewable energy systems
My colleague Emmanuel Aramendia is the lead author on a new article entitled Estimation of useful-stage energy returns on investment for fossil fuels and implications for…
2024-05-20
On the right track? Energy use, carbon emissions, and intensities of world rail transportation, 1840—2020
My colleague Bernardo Tostes is the lead author on a new article entitled On the right track? Energy use, carbon emissions, and intensities of world rail transportation…
2024-04-28
ZA2005 blog comes back to life
Over the December 2023 holiday, I set a project for myself: resurrect four old blogs.
2024-01-13
CLPFUDatabase: A suite of R packages for energy conversion chain analysis
My latest article was published today and is entitled CLPFUDatabase: A suite of R packages for energy conversion chain analysis and was published in the
Journal of Open…
2024-01-09
ENGR333 project Fall 2023
The Fall 2023 ENGR333 project focused on the carbon neutrality date for Calvin University.
2023-10-06
ENGR333 project Fall 2022
The Fall 2022 ENGR333 project focused on sustainable heating for Calvin University.
2023-10-05
ENGR333 project Fall 2021
The Fall 2021 ENGR333 project focused on the sustainable housing and featured a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Kent County.
2023-10-04
ENGR333 project Fall 2020
The Fall 2020 semester ENGR333 class did not have an all-class project, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023-10-03
ENGR333 project Fall 2019
The Fall 2019 ENGR333 project focused on the energy rebound effect.
2023-10-02
ENGR333 project Fall 2018
The Fall 2018 ENGR333 project focused on renewable energy generation.
2023-10-01
ENGR333 project Fall 2017
The Fall 2017 ENGR333 project focused on campus energy cost savings.
2023-09-30
ENGR333 project Spring 2017
The Spring 2017 ENGR333 project focused on campus energy consumption.
2023-09-29
ENGR333 project Fall 2015
The Fall 2015 ENGR333 project focused on building operational efficiency.
2023-09-28
ENGR333 project Fall 2014
The Fall 2014 ENGR333 project focused on net zero homes. I asked the students “What would it take for a home in Grand Rapids to become net-zero?”
2023-09-27
ENGR333 project Fall 2013
The Fall 2013 ENGR333 project focused on production and use of biofuels at Calvin University.
2023-09-26
ENGR333 project Fall 2012
The Fall 2012 ENGR333 project focused on a prospective West Wing addition to the Spoelhof College Center at Calvin University.
2023-09-25
ENGR333 project Fall 2011
The Fall 2011 ENGR333 project focused on the Bunker Interpretive Center (BIC) at Calvin University. I asked the students “What would it take for Calvin College to obtain an …
2023-09-24
ENGR333 project Fall 2010
The Fall 2010 ENGR333 project focused on heating and air-conditioning in campus dormitories, which are notoriously leaky and inefficient.
2023-09-23
ENGR333 project Spring 2010
The Spring 2010 ENGR333 project assessed options for the design of a redundant data center for the Calvin campus.
2023-09-22
ENGR333 project Fall 2008
The Fall 2008 semester ENGR333 project assessed the feasibility of a Green Revolving Fund for Calvin College. I asked the students “What would it take to implement a Calvin…
2023-09-21
ENGR333 project Fall 2007
The Fall 2007 semester ENGR333 project involved a collaboration with students in BIOL354, taught by my colleague Dave Warners. We asked our students “What would it take to…
2023-09-20
ENGR333 project Fall 2006
In the Fall 2006 semester, I challenged the ENGR333 students to “construct a realistic plan to make a significant impact on the Calvin College campus with electrical power…
2023-09-19
ENGR333 project Fall 2005
In the Fall 2005 semester, I challenged the ENGR333 students to “develop realistic designs for the wellness center HVAC system and upgraded physical plant infrastructure.”
2023-09-18
ENGR333 project Fall 2004
In the Fall 2004 semester, I assigned the first in a long series of ENGR333 all-class projects.
2023-09-17
About ENGR333
ENGR333 is a class taken by senior mechanical engineering students and energy, environment, and sustainability engineering students at Calvin University, usually in the Fall…
2023-09-16
January Series in July
Today, colleague Kate Van Liere and I were featured on the January Series in July.
2023-07-27
Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching
Tonight, I was awarded Calvin University’s Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching. My acceptance speech follows.
2023-04-20
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