Solar Decathlon Faculty and Alumni Awards

Lisa D. Iulo, associate professor of architecture at The Pennsylvania State University, won the Solar Decathlon 2024 Faculty Award. Iulo has served as a team advisor for nine consecutive Solar Decathlon Design Challenges and two Build Challenge competitions (2007 and 2009) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Iulo developed two Solar Decathlon-related courses that connected students with local communities to work on real-world projects that benefit people and the environment.

Pete Choquette, founder and principal of real estate development firm Solsbury Hill and sister design firm Centripetal Works, won the Solar Decathlon 2024 Alumni Award. Choquette was on the winning Georgia Institute of Technology team in the 2022 Design Challenge. Since graduating from Georgia Tech, he has continued to work as a liaison between the university’s faculty and students, the university’s Energy Policy and Innovation Center, and West Side Atlanta neighborhood stakeholders to implement the project. Additionally, he is assisting in the effort to create a community design center that would provide design and building science-related services to these underserved communities and scale up his Solar Decathlon team’s innovative and replicable project model.

Sarah Klinetob Lowe, Solar Program Manager at the Clean Energy Center at Penn College, won the 2023 Outstanding Alumni award. After participating in two Build Challenges, Sarah has served as a team advisor for nine total Solar Decathlon competition cycles, partnering with housing providers to enhance the lasting community impact of the students' work. She has also developed impactful clean energy programs for students and professionals focused on passive house strategies and solar photovoltaic systems for developing communities.

Edoarda Corradi Dell'Acqua, senior lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology, won the 2023 Outstanding Faculty Advisor award. Edoarda has served as a lead advisor to students participating in the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge for nearly a decade, combining her expertise in both engineering and architecture to mentor students as they learn to design better buildings in several masters-level courses dedicated to the competition.

Joe Wheeler, Outstanding Faculty Advisor
Joe Wheeler is a professor of architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and has been a faculty advisor for Solar Decathlon teams since the competition's start in 2002. Joseph has advised three Virginia Tech Build Challenge teams, setting the standard at his university for experiential learning and inspiring other programs to participate in the Design Challenge. He has also been involved in several international Solar Decathlon editions and has exhibited Virginia Tech Solar Decathlon houses in Times Square and on “Good Morning America”.

Joe has partnered with colleagues in electrical engineering, materials science, industrial design, manufacturing, and transportation to develop and implement the use of new materials and technologies developed in Solar Decathlon houses.

Alex McDonald, Outstanding Student Alum
As a senior program manager for Tesla, Alex's work contributes to decarbonization of the transportation sector. Alex is primarily involved with Tesla's Superchargers, the largest electric vehicle fast charging network in the world with more than 30,000 chargers globally.

In 2015, Alex led the Team Orange County Build Challenge submission, which included students from University of California, Irvine; Chapman University; Irvine Valley College; and Saddleback College. Team Orange County placed second in the Engineering Contest that year, and Alex has remained involved with the Solar Decathlon by mentoring Design and Build Challenge teams in nearly every competition since. Alex also served as a Grand Juror for the 2022 Design Challenge. One of Alex's nominators shared, "I can firmly say that we would not be participating in the 2023 Build Competition without his guidance and expertise. What stood out the most about Alex is he was very interested in supporting us, even though he had no ties to our university."