Demystifying innovation

I graduated in 2024 with a degree in chemical engineering and an understanding that global decarbonization will need more capable technologies than those available today. That left me with a nagging question: How does someone go about accelerating the rate of innovation? Realizing that policy is one possible answer, I moved from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, where I currently work as an analyst at the Breakthrough Institute, developing policies to advance energy and industrial innovation. My research and writing orbit my central belief that, by peeking inside the black box of innovation, we can make progress less serendipitous and more intentional.

Words, numbers, and imagination

I have my bookshelf organized as a spectrum: fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, “chill” nonfiction, nonfiction that borderlines on being a textbook, and literal textbooks (mostly on materials/solid-state physics). I’m similarly particular about my filing system for my Magic: The Gathering decks that I pull out each week to clash with friends using summoned armies of wizards, dragons, zombies, and—of course—frogs.

Other simple pleasures include quality time at the gym, the rumble of a high-quality subwoofer, NFL RedZone, and watching anime while meal prepping on a Sunday afternoon.