Eduardo Cotilla-Sanchez, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, received the LatinX Champion of Champions award at a conference that celebrates and promotes the accomplishments of Black LGBTQ people in STEM fields.

The Black Queer Town Hall in STEM, organized in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Iowa, aims to foster community and make STEM more equitable. As the LatinX Champion of Champions awardee, Cotilla-Sanchez was invited to give a talk about his research to improve energy access in remote communities.

Cotilla-Sanchez’s research includes developing ways to use microgrids that can keep electricity running during emergencies such as storms or earthquakes. Currently, a focus of energy infrastructure investments is improving power systems resilience in urban areas, and rural communities are likely the last to have power restored. By building smaller microgrid systems in rural areas, those communities would not be reliant on the main energy grid during emergencies.

“This is essentially an environmental justice problem,” Cotilla-Sanchez said. “Everyone needs to have access to clean energy resources.” Toward this goal, he is also working on integrating marine energy into power grids as an alternative energy source for rural communities.

Because Cotilla-Sanchez works to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in his research, he was excited to engage with other researchers at the Black Queer Town Hall doing the same. “It was intriguing to see how people are solving research problems while working toward equity for all in STEM,” he said.