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The University of Houston has appointed Debalina Sengupta as the chief operating officer of its Energy Transition Institute (ETI). Sengupta, a chemical engineer with over 18 years of experience in sustainability and resilience, begins her role on Monday, July 1.
Since its inception in 2022, the ETI has progressed significantly towards its mission of ensuring reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy. Located in Houston, a major hub for over 4,500 energy companies, the institute's strategic location was a key factor for Sengupta. “UH Energy Transition Institute is the first of its kind Institute setup in Texas that focuses solely on the transition of energy,” she said. “A two-way communication between the academic community and various stakeholders is necessary to implement the transition and I saw the UH ETI role enabling me to achieve this critical goal.”
As COO, Sengupta will collaborate with Joe Powell, founding executive director of ETI, along with their executive team and Advisory Board to develop and execute strategic plans. The position receives partial funding from a $500,000 grant by the Cullen Foundation.
“We are excited to have Dr. Sengupta join us at UH to help drive the Energy Transition Institute to fulfill its mission in educating students, expanding top-tier research, and providing thought leadership in sustainable energy and chemicals for the Houston area and beyond,” Powell stated. “Dr. Sengupta brings a strong background and network in collaborating with academic, community, governmental and industry partners to build the coalitions needed for success.”
Sengupta transitions from Texas A&M University where she served as Coastal Resilience Program director for Texas Sea Grant. Her previous roles include associate director at Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Gas and Fuels Research Center; coordinator at Texas A&M Energy Institute; and lecturer at TAMU’s Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.
Her international collaborative projects span across Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, China among others. She has also led projects focusing on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion principles within STEM research.
Sengupta co-authored two books: “Chemicals from biomass: integrating bioprocesses into chemical production complexes for sustainable development” (CRC Press) and “Measuring Progress towards Sustainability” (Springer).
“It is necessary that we think deeply about sustainability quantification for our energy systems,” Sengupta emphasized. “This requires rigorous training and adopting new technologies that will enable change.”
Originally from India with a PhD from Louisiana State University in process systems engineering, she brings extensive expertise including postdoctoral research at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH expressed pride in ETI’s accomplishments: “The grant from Cullen Foundation and Dr. Sengupta’s appointment will allow us to further grow support from area industry to drive a sustainable energy transition.”
Established with a $10 million commitment from Shell USA Inc., ETI focuses on hydrogen initiatives, carbon management, circular plastics while partnering with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute among others.
The institute aims to establish UH’s leadership role in energy transition contributing towards making Houston the "Energy Transition Capital of the World."