Michael Webber

Updated on Jan 31, 2024

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Name Michael Webber

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Michael Evan Webber (born 1971) is an American professor and engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. He serves as Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources and associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He also serves as deputy director of the Energy Institute and co-director of the Clean Energy Incubator. He is known for speaking on topics of energy technology and policy.

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Biography

Michael Webber was born in Austin, Texas, in 1971 to Stephen and Josephine Webber. His father was professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin and his mother a self-described bureaucrat. After graduating from Westlake High School in 1989, he attended the University of Texas as Austin where he played in the Longhorn Band, eventually serving as Drum Major. In 1995, he received a B.S. Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Plan II Honors. He went to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, to pursue a M.S. in mechanical engineering. He continued at Stanford where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995 to 1998. He completed his Ph.D. at Stanford in 2001 in mechanical engineering with a Ph.D. minor in electrical engineering with advisor Ron K. Hanson. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.

Corporate

After completing his Ph.D., Webber shifted into private research first at Pranalytica and then at the RAND Corporation where he conducted research on energy, environment and industrial topics. He currently holds four patents as a result of his innovations, mostly related to environmental monitoring and trace-gas sensing. With the Austin Technology Incubator, Webber helped originate the Pecan Street Project in 2008. Now, Pecan Street Inc. the public private partnership supports the innovation and development of smart grid solutions. He also serves on the editorial board of advisors for Scientific American.

Academic

Webber joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 as associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy under the Jackson School of Geosciences. The following year he started as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2009 he joined the Clean Energy Incubator as Co-Director. The University of Texas System board of Regents recognized Webber in 2011 with the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award(11), and he earned tenure in the following year. He now holds an associate professorship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering as well as serving as Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources. His research group in the Cockrell School of Engineering focuses on questions related to energy resources, technology, and policy. In 2013, he was named Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Other Intellectual Contributions

In addition to research and teaching, Webber has presented over 175 speeches and lectures on topics related to energy policy, technology, and research. In 2009, he was invited to speak at the first session of the International Energy Conference at the United Nations. He was called to deliver expert testimony and legislative recommendations to the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Webber currently stars in "Energy at the Movies" a PBS special which began national syndication in March 2013. Producing parties seek to release up to six episodes a year for the next five years. The special can now be seen on more than 78 stations in 25 states. Beginning in Fall 2013, Webber will teach a Massive Open Online Course through UTAustinX a division of edX titled Energy 101: Energy Technology and Policy.

Selected Publications and Speeches

Over his career, Webber has published more than 150 articles, columns, reports, commentaries, and books and delivered more than 175 lectures, speeches, and seminars.

Books

M. E. Webber. Changing the Way America Thinks About Energy, Petroleum Teaching Extension (PETEX), The University of Texas at Austin (2009)

M. E. Webber. Energy Technology & Policy, Cambridge University Press (contract 2014)

M. E. Webber. Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival (2016)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

M.E. Webber, D.S. Baer, and R.K. Hanson, “Ammonia Monitoring Near 1.5 μm with Diode Laser Absorption Sensors,” Applied Optics, 40(12), pp. 2031– 2042, 2001

C.W. King and M.E. Webber, “Water Intensity of Transportation,” Environmental Science and Technology, 42(21), pp 7866–7872 (7pp) (September 24, 2008)

A.D. Cuellar and M.E. Webber, “Cow Power: The Energy and Emissions Benefits of Converting Manure to Biogas,” Environmental Research Letters, 3 034002 (8pp) July 2008.

Popular Press and Technical Commentary

M.E. Webber, “Green Star State,” Texas Monthly, May 2009.

M.E. Webber, “Will Drought Cause the Next Blackout?,” New York Times, July 23, 2012.

K.T. Sanders and M.E. Webber, “Quantifying the energy embedded in the US water system,” Global Water Forum, UNESCO, January 8, 2013.

Michael E. Webber “Energy, Water and Food Problems Must Be Solved Together-Our future rides on our ability to integrate how we use these three commodities,” Scientific American, Feb. 2015.