Solar Decathlon Blog - Profiles

Today we begin a new series on the Solar Decathlon blog, #SDLivingTheDream, highlighting alumni of both the Build Challenge and Design Challenge and how their time in the competition has shaped their careers and their lives. First up, we talk to Dylan Weber Callahan, who competed in the most recent Build Challenge and has already parlayed that experience into a great design job with HOK.

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Name: Dylan Weber Callahan

Year participated in Solar Decathlon: Solar Decathlon 2017 in Denver, CO

University team: Washington University in St. Louis

Current organization / employer: HOK (New York office)

Current role: Design Professional

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By Olivia Wolford

Engineer, entrepreneur, builder, leader: who are you picturing right now? Actually, these titles are held by several incredible collegiate women who have leadership roles on the Solar Decathlon 2017 teams.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is the world’s premier design-build competition, challenging students to create an energy efficient, solar-powered house that must perform in 10 contests during a nine-day public event. It’s also a real-world platform where women are proving that they are some of the brightest rising stars in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, before they even graduate.

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Blaise Stoltenberg, a U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon organizer, developed his vision for a clean energy future as a Solar Decathlon 2002 decathlete. He was a leader of the University of Colorado’s winning 2002 team and, in recent years, served as a coordinator for Solar Decathlon engineering juries. He did it all with a kind and giving spirit that inspired colleagues and friends.

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David Lee works in business development at Lowe’s. He researches new opportunities and new business models that can help the company expand or reach new markets. And he landed this job, he says, thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

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As a project coordinator for building management software company Lucid Design Group, Cordelia Newbury works with customers to reduce their energy use. And although she now coordinates the energy efficiency of tens of buildings at a time, her career in energy-efficient spaces began with one-house projects—on Middlebury College’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 and Solar Decathlon 2013 teams.

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Ryan Abendroth is the founder, principle, and practitioner of Passive Energy Designs in St. Louis, Missouri—a company that consults on high-performing, low-energy buildings. To date, he has consulted on more than 100 buildings to help others design and achieve ultra-efficient houses that are aesthetically pleasing and functionally livable. He credits this career to his participation in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009, an event that he calls “transformative” to his life.

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Matthew O’Kelly lives the benefits of his U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon experience.

O’Kelly participated twice in the Solar Decathlon—first as the HVAC engineer for The Ohio State University (OSU) 2009 team and then as the project engineer for the OSU 2011 team. Since then, O’Kelly has not only established a successful design career but also been instrumental in developing a patent-pending technology that began with the OSU 2011 competition house.

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David Schieren is the chief executive officer of a leading Long Island, New York, solar engineering and installation company. He’s also a U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon alumnus and outspoken advocate for the competition.

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If your head spins at the thought of 105 sensors collecting 12 data points every 15 minutes for all 19 houses competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013, you might want to pay a visit to Miss Barbara. This bodiless mannequin acts as the student liaison for the instrumentation team. Perhaps the steadiest head on the competition site, Miss Barbara helps student decathletes locate the instrumentation trailer when questions arise about measured contests.

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Steve Lappi is the health and safety officer of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013. Before the competition, we asked him five questions to learn more about him and his role.

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Chuck Kurnik is the site operations manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013. Before the competition, we asked him five questions to learn more about him and his role.

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Richard King is the founder and director of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. We asked him five (okay, six) questions to learn more about him and his role.

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