Panel on Engineering the Climate Transition: Innovation & Resilience in the Midwest
IEEE Chicago proudly presents a Panel Discussion on Engineering the Climate Transition: Innovation & Resilience in the Midwest hosted by the IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group, in conjunction with Chicago Climate Week https://www.chicagoclimateweek.org/ where climate events in the Chicago area will be held the week of July 15 to 23.
Join IEEE Chicago Section as part of Chicago Climate Week for a virtual panel discussion on engineering's role in the climate transition. Industry experts will explore innovation and resilience strategies shaping the Midwest's response to climate change, followed by an open audience Q&A.
The session will feature opening remarks, a moderated panel discussion with guest speakers, and a dedicated Q&A segment where attendees can engage directly with the panelists.
Our panelists include:
Peiyuan Li, Senior Research Associate, Climate Research Team, Discovery Partners Institute
Sajith Wijesuriya, Vice Chair, Climate, Sustainability, and Innovation, IEEE Young Professionals Program
John Walz, Treasurer, IEEE Technology for a Sustainable Climate
The panel will be moderated by:
Narendra Venkatesan, Chair, IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group
Alvin Chin, Vice-Chair, IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group
Please see the Zoom link below to join the panel virtually and see the flyer below.
Date and Time
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- Starts 13 July 2026 05:37 AM UTC
- Ends 23 July 2026 11:30 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Peiyuan Li of Discovery Partners Institute
Panelist #1: Peiyuan Li, Senior Research Associate, Discovery Partners Institute
Biography:
Dr. Peiyuan Li is a Senior Research Associate at the Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System. Before joining DPI, he completed his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2021, focusing on urban hydrometeorology and numerical climate modeling. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2016 in environmental and water resources engineering. Currently, Peiyuan's research focuses on urban informatics and urban climate modeling. He has extensive experience with both physical-based urban canopy models and data-driven machine learning approaches. His projects actively contribute to identifying and assessing optimal nature-based solutions for urban environments under climate change.
Sajith Wijesuriya of National Laboratory of the Rockies
Panelist #2: Sajith Wijesuriya, Vice Chair, Climate, Sustainability, and Innovation, IEEE Young Professionals Program
Biography:
Sajith is a Research Scientist at the National Laboratory of the Rockies of the United States of America. His research involves grid-level decarbonization, increasing resilience of human settlements against extreme climates, advanced building energy modeling and advanced thermal energy storage systems analysis. In addition to that he is a Visiting Scientist at the Colorado School of Mines where he contributes to research on the same topics above. He works for and assist two Clean Energy Ministerial work streams. (i) Solutions Center (SC), which provides assistance to developing countries to design and implement clean energy policies, and resolve deployment-related challenges, (ii) NICE Future Initiative on Nuclear Energy policy assistance. He is a Global Expert on SDG7 to the UNDESA UN-Energy process and a IRENA Youth Council Member. He is also a Climate Negotiator for Sri Lanka on Global Stocktake. IEEE MGA has appointed him as a representative to the Sustainable Climate Matrix Organization (TSCMO) to lead its external outreach subcommittee and IEEE PES has appointed him to lead the young professionals advisory council 2026-27.
John Walz of IEEE Chicago
Panelist #3: John Walz, Treasurer, IEEE Technology for a Sustainable Climate
Biography:
John W. Walz, retired from Lucent Technologies / AT&T with more than 20 years of management/coaching experience, covering positions in hardware and software engineering, quality planning and auditing, standards development and implementation, and strategic planning.
He is currently the Treasurer of the IEEE Technology for a Sustainable Climate organization, Past IEEE Secretary, and IEEE Computer Society Chicago Chapter Treasurer.
Narendra Venkatesan of IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group
Moderator #1: Narendra Venkatesan, Chair, IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group
Biography:
Narendra Venkatesan currently an Assistant Professor at Lokmanya Tilak College of Engineering and previously Senior Data Engineer is a multifaceted leader and IT professional with a Master's degree in IT Management and Data Analytics from Illinois Institute of Technology. Currently, he serves as By-laws Chair, IEEE Chicago Section, Young Professional Chair of the IEEE Chicago Computer Society and Chair of Local Climate Change Group Chicago section. He also chaired IEEE Vidyalankar School of Information Technology, Mumbai India establishing the student chapter and organizing multiple events. Served as Senator, Student Government Association at Illinois Institute of Technology, initiating various campus events. Volunteered for IEEE Chicago's 129th 130th and 131st Anniversary. Narendra’s expertise spans leadership, Agentic AI , data analytics, and community engagement, driving positive impact through technology and sustainability initiatives.
Alvin Chin of University of Illinois Chicago
Moderator #2, Alvin Chin, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
Biography:
Dr. Alvin Chin is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Dept of Information and Decision Sciences at the College of Business Administration, University of Illinois Chicago. Previously, he was a Research Scientist at Discovery Partners Institute. His expertise and interests are in mobile social networking, data science, machine learning and AI, IoT and responsible AI. He has worked in industry for over 15 years with RXO as a Principal Data Scientist; BMW Group as IT Innovation Engineer, Emerging Technology Researcher and Senior Machine Learning Researcher; and Microsoft and Nokia as Senior Researcher and Product Owner. He was previously an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University in the College of Computing and Digital Media. A recognized industry thought leader; Dr. Chin holds ~20 patents, has ~60 publications, and has spoken on international, national, and local panels. He has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, MASc in Software Engineering from University of Waterloo, and BASc in Computer Engineering at University of Waterloo. Dr. Chin serves on the leadership board of ACM as Chicago Chapter Chair, Chair of IEEE Computer Society Chicago and Chair of IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Chicago. He also is the Co-Chair of the IEEE Chicago Climate Sustainability Local Group. Dr. Chin is a Senior Member of both IEEE and ACM, and an Advisory Council Member of the Chicago AI Council at AI 2030.
Agenda
|
Time |
Duration |
Segment |
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18:00–18:05 |
5 min |
Welcome & Opening Remarks |
|
18:05–18:10 |
5 min |
Moderator Intro |
|
18:10–18:45 |
35 min |
Moderated Panel Discussion |
|
18:45–18:55 |
10 min |
Audience Q&A |
|
18:55–19:00 |
5 min |
Closing & Calls to Action |