Pimentel Furlanetto Receives Commitment to Diversity Award
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Industrial engineering and operations research doctoral student Paola Pimentel Furlanetto will be honored with the Commitment to Diversity Award during the UMass Amherst Graduate Commencement ceremony tomorrow at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Pimentel Furlanetto is investigating the social equity impacts of carbon capture in the electricity system in her thesis, “Modeling Power Systems Operation and Emissions to Inform an Equitable Energy Transition.”
Pimentel Furlanetto translated her passion for climate justice into teaching at UMass. She taught ENG 191: Electricity, Environment, and Equity, introducing first-year students to the operational structure of the power system and shedding light on the multidisciplinary challenges of developing sustainable systems. She also volunteered for ELEVATE—a fellowship program that trains students to bridge the challenges of a just energy transition—to create STEM games, events and outreach events.
Beyond her work on climate justice, Pimentel Furlanetto partnered with engineering students to develop the audiovisual project “Womanhood in Engineering: Marriage, Motherhood, and Multicultural Backgrounds.” She also served as president of the UMass Amherst Student Chapter of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences). Her team’s efforts were recognized with the 2023 Magna Cum Laude Student Chapter Award.
With her doctoral degree, Pimentel Furlanetto plans to work in the regulatory and policy landscape of the energy sector, as well as teach and build a generation of engineers who are trained to listen, respect and include diverse human perspectives.