Kamin Whitehouse is developing technology to analyze household behavioral patterns and identify ways residents can save on energy costs.  His team has deployed systems in over 20 homes, and early results indicate that the solution can produce a 28% reduction in heating and cooling costs for just a $25 investment.

Kamin, an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Virginia, leads a research group creating “smart building” technology to improve energy efficiency in office buildings and homes.  See their technology in action in this smarthome demo video.  He leverages existing smart meter data, provided by utility companies, and develops algorithms to find patterns in behavior that can be used to produce energy usage.  

Joel Mwale grew up in extreme poverty in a rural village in Kenya.  After a bout of dysentery from contaminated drinking water, he developed an innovative method to capture rainwater for his community.  He expanded his idea into a water bottling and distribution business called SkyDrop Enterprises, which has now provided more than 100,000 bottles of much-needed clean drinking water to African villagers.

Now, Joel is a first-year student at African Leadership Academy, which received a 2012 Siebel Scholars Impact Award for its work developing future leaders like Joel, who can foster peace and prosperity in Africa. 

While many civic-minded business leaders want to improve K-12 education in the United States, without education backgrounds, they don’t necessarily know where best to channel their passion.

2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to sanitation.  The resulting diseases kill nearly 1.6 million children each year.  It was these startling statistics that prompted Lindsay Stradley, a Siebel Scholar from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, to cofound Sanergy with her classmates, David Auerbach and Ani Vallabhaneni.  The trio shared a vision for using technology and innovative business models to address the social and economic issues that affect those living in urban poverty in the developing world.