Duke’s Climate Engineering Graduates Step Forward

The launch of Duke’s Master of Engineering in Climate & Sustainability Engineering (MEng C&SE) program was sparked by an important observation from the school’s alumni and industry partners: The world needs engineering leaders who can navigate the technical, policy and business dimensions of climate work. Over the program’s first year and a half, the inaugural MEng C&SE cohort settled into a routine during their early days on campus and then got real-world experience through summer internships across the country. Now, they are ready for what comes next.  

Karimah Preston had her hands full juggling semester finals with her new full-time job at the renewable energy company Strata and was unavailable for interview. But her cohort-mates Gabriel Sandoval and Louis Luo reflected on how the program shaped their growth, clarified their career paths and helped them step out into the climate and sustainability workforce with renewed confidence. 

During his last semester, Sandoval continued the internship he began over the summer with the engineering firm Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor (PS&S), working part-time while finishing his coursework. He also became a research assistant at RESILE (Risk Science for Climate Resilience), a Duke-based center in partnership with industry that advances solutions to climate risk by integrating engineering, decision science and community engagement.  

Sandoval also chose final semester electives that would deepen his expertise in strategic areas. “Based on what I learned in my internship, I was interested in building stronger technical depth in climate risk and resilience,” he said. So, he enrolled in hydrology and geospatial data science to strengthen his climate risk skill set. “Essentially, I was able to tailor my final semester to fill in the last pieces I needed.”  

Luo’s final semester followed a similar pattern of internship extension and skill expansion. He continued working part-time with Micron, building AI tools to track Scope 3 emissions and analyze supplier sustainability data. “I developed another insight agent that can answer procurement teams’ questions about sustainability,” Luo said. “Combining emissions data with suppliers’ climate commitments allows us to evaluate the performance of vendors we work with.” 

At the same time, a climate policy course at the Sanford School of Public Policy increased Luo’s appreciation of negotiation, regulatory nuance and financial instruments for advancing sustainability — a great complement to his hard engineering skills. “In engineering you focus on technical solutions, while in policy you think about wording, negotiation and what tools will actually move change forward,” Luo said.  

Because of these classes and experiences, Sandoval and Luo are walking away from the program with an enriched understanding of what a career in climate and sustainability looks like. 

 “I finished undergrad with a lot of uncertainty about what I wanted to do, and I came into this program hoping to narrow down ideas for a career path” Sandoval said. The MEng C&SE helped him better distinguish and understand connections between specialties like infrastructure, resilience, circular economy, and energy, allowing him to gain a clearer understanding of what potential jobs entail.

Interactions and mentorship with the program’s industry advisory board also played a role in fostering Sandoval’s optimistic outlook on the future of the field. “I’ve learned how dedicated professionals are to moving climate initiatives forward,” Sandoval said. “There’s real momentum, and companies value people with the kind of training the MEng provides.” 

Since graduation, Sandoval has continued working as a research assistant at RESILE and recently started at the infrastructure consulting firm AECOM as a Sustainability & Climate Consultant. “I’m really interested in consulting work involving decarbonization and resilience projects,” he said. “The MEng program gave me an extensive toolkit, and I want to apply as much of it as possible in whatever I do.”

Luo experienced a shift in his perspective on the role of engineers in the climate and sustainability space. “I thought my work would be pure engineering,” he said. “But sustainability requires working with clients, understanding people’s problems and telling a clear story about your solution.”  

Luo’s internship with Micron evolved directly into a post-graduation co-op in Boise, Idaho, where he is continuing to develop AI programs that tackle Scope 3 emissions, waste data and sustainability capital expenditures for the company. Certain courses he took, such as “Sustainable Business for Engineers” and “Applied Climate and Sustainability Engineering,” proved especially valuable for this transition. “Sustainable Business helped me understand how to read sustainability reports and financial documents, and Applied Climate taught me how to work with stakeholders and clients,” Luo said. “Both are critical when you’re engaging suppliers.” 

Both Sandoval and Luo, while excited for their futures, also lamented parting ways with each other. Sandoval described their cohort as “incredibly tight”: They attended Duke’s ACC Championship game together, enjoyed a cohort graduation celebration hosted by professor and program director Sara Oliver and threw a surprise birthday party for Preston during the final semester.  

“I’m glad to have completed the program,” Luo said. “But it’s hard to leave a small, close community behind.”  

Sandoval echoed the bittersweet feeling. “The silver lining is, I have a feeling that we’ll keep in touch — not just for networking reasons, but because of the genuine bonds we made while we were here,” he said.  

When it comes to advice for future MEng C&SE cohorts, Luo emphasized taking advantage of Duke’s cross-disciplinary ecosystem. “Go take classes in other schools, talk to people and learn from different perspectives,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any place that has the kind of synergy Duke has.”  

Sandoval seconded this notion, encouraging future students to seek out research, industry and extracurricular opportunities early and often. “If there’s something you’re curious about, try to find a way to do it — at Duke, you usually can,” he said.