Alumni Panel

Speakers: Siva Gunda, California Energy Commission; Zane McDonald, S&P Global Platts Analytics; Leticia Pineda, International Council on Clean Transportation
Host: Energy Graduate Group
Date: 12/11/2020
Time: 10:30am to 11:50am
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Siva Gunda - Deputy Director, Energy Assessments Division, California Energy Commission

Siva Gunda is the deputy director of the California Energy Commission’s Energy Assessments Division. The division is responsible for electricity, natural gas, and transportation energy demand forecasting and distributed generation integration, grid reliability, and resource planning. Gunda was the office manager of the Energy Assessments Division, where he led work on highly technical issues, including complex forecasting. Before joining the Energy Commission, he served in a variety of capacities at the Energy and Efficiency Institute at the University of California, Davis, including as the director of research, where he directed the institute’s operations and research portfolio. He holds a master of science in mechanical engineering and is pursuing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from UC Davis.

Zane McDonald - Lead Energy Transition Analyst, Hydrogen and Alternative Transportation, S&P Global Platts Analytics

Zane McDonald joined S&P Global Platts in 2018 to research and model technology and policy scenarios critical to the energy transition. Zane’s expertise contributes to several Platts Analytics research topic areas, including: cross-commodity hydrogen analytics, current trends and advancements in alternative transportation technologies, longterm transportation oil product demand, and environmental policy analysis. Prior to his current role, Zane was a part of the transportation team at the International Energy Agency. Zane received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Marshall University and an M.Sc. in both Energy Systems and Transportation Technology and Policy from the University of California, Davis.

Leticia Pineda - Researcher, The International Council on Clean Transportation

Leticia is a researcher for the Latin America region supporting technical and policy analysis within the green freight and heavy-duty vehicles programs. Leticia has worked previously with ICCT as a consultant and fellow supporting the work in Mexico regarding fuel economy, emission and fuel quality standards and other local initiatives to improve air quality in Mexico from the transportation sector. Before joining ICCT, she worked for the energy efficiency agency in Mexico (CONUEE) on the first fuel economy standard for light-duty vehicles and then transitioned to lead the clean fuels and vehicles program at CEMDA, a local NGO. Leticia holds a M.S. in Transportation Technology and Policy from the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis and an M.S. in Energy Systems, from UC Davis as well.