Project: Drivetrains for small wind power

Erika is founder and CEO of Accelerate Wind, a company that is working to revolutionize rooftop wind energy in the commercial and industrial spaces and drastically lower the cost of small wind turbine technology.

Previously, Erika worked as a systems engineer at DRS Technologies, where she led the design and development of innovative energy, water, and waste technologies, including a containerized waste-to-energy system for remote environments, and a 100-mile long fluid transportation system. As a result of her work, Erika has one granted patent and three pending patent applications in her name.

Following her work at DRS, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a M.S. at Maastricht University, where she studied innovative energy technologies and their interactions with society. Her work during her Fulbright included research into the concept of the energy rebound effect and how it affects the sustainability of new energy efficiency technologies. While in the Netherlands, she also participated in the Maastricht University Launchbase Incubator to develop the business aspects behind her technology. Additionally, she has been developing her technology through an Arch Grant in St. Louis and the Cleantech Open Accelerator.

Erika has an M.S. in Society, Science, and Technology from Maastricht University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

Above all, Erika sees herself as a systems thinker and problem solver, and she is comfortable developing products that require knowledge from a wide variety of disciplines. Past projects have required deep technical work in fields including fluids dynamics, controls, thermochemical analysis, mechanical design, electronics for chemical detection, and algorithmic design.