Tsinghua University Joins Siebel Energy Institute Research Consortium REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 16, 2016 - Tsinghua University, a leading academic institution in China, is the newest member of the Siebel Energy Institute's research consortium. The Siebel Energy Institute funds innovative and cooperative research grants in data analytics to advance the science of smart energy. By fostering collaboration among top universities around the globe, the Institute is stimulating the best minds in engineering and science to address today’s most challenging energy problems. One of China’s premier educational institutions, Tsinghua University is renowned for pioneering research in a range of fields and is host to a number of state, national, and Ministry of Education laboratories and engineering research centers. As consortium members, researchers at Tsinghua will be eligible to apply for seed grant funding from the Siebel Energy Institute which will support scholars as they develop larger research proposals and grant submissions to government entities and foundations within a leveraged funding model. “The Siebel Energy Institute is tackling some of the world’s most critical problems. Tsinghua is pleased to join this distinguished organization to help develop leading edge solutions,” said Professor Yang Bin, the Vice President and Provost at Tsinghua University. With Tsinghua, the Siebel Energy Institute has become a consortium of these nine research institutions: Carnegie Mellon University, École Polytechnique; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Politecnico di Torino; Princeton University; Tsinghua University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and The University of Tokyo. “Tsinghua University’s participation reflects the Siebel Energy Institute’s dedication to bringing together pioneering experts from across the world to advance primary research in the energy sciences,” said Institute Chairman Thomas M. Siebel. The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation established the Siebel Energy Institute with a $10 million grant in 2015. The Institute is supported by an Industrial Advisory Board that includes C3 IoT, CESI, Enel Group, Entergy, Eversource Energy, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, PG&E, and RWE AG who have partnered with the Institute to foster active collaboration with the private sector. Accelerating Innovation In August 2015, the Siebel Energy Institute awarded 24 inaugural research grants nearing $1 million. These winning research proposals, led by experts from the Institute’s member universities, are spurring the development of algorithms and machine learning to improve the performance of modern energy systems. “Leading universities are beginning to dedicate research teams to this area, but the investment made by the Siebel Energy Institute has the potential to significantly advance the foundational science and catalyze innovation that will benefit the energy sector and society,” said S. Shankar Sastry, Dean of the College of Engineering at Berkeley and Director of the Institute. Siebel Energy Institute-supported research is investigating ways in which robust control, advanced data analytics, and machine learning can optimize the energy sector, in order to: • Predict demand and consumption • Reduce energy use • Reduce the fuel necessary to power the grid • Dynamically reconfigure the power network around points of failure • Reduce technical and non-technical energy loss, including energy theft • Prevent power interruptions • Predict, prevent and rapidly recover from power interruptions • Accurately predict load and distributed generation capacity • Prevent and prioritize cybersecurity breaches • Reduce adverse environmental impact To maximize the impact of any findings and potential long-term benefits to society, all research supported by the Siebel Energy Institute will be freely available in the public domain. Funding recipients and project participants are encouraged to grant Non-Exclusive Royalty Free (NERF) licenses in the specific projects in which the inventions are made and in all intellectual property created. Awards for Graduate Students Through a partnership with the Siebel Scholars Foundation, the Siebel Energy Institute recognizes and engages outstanding leaders in the field of energy science at its consortium member universities. Annually, Tsinghua University will select a top-ranking graduate student—based upon academic excellence and leadership in energy science—to participate in the Siebel Scholars program. Each Siebel Scholar will receive a $35,000 award for his or her final year of graduate studies. These students will join an ever-growing, lifelong community of more than 1,000 past and present Siebel Scholars from across the globe. About Siebel Scholars The Siebel Scholars program was founded in 2000 by the Siebel Foundation to recognize the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering, and energy science. These include: Carnegie Mellon University; École Polytechnique; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Northwestern University; Politecnico di Torino; Princeton University; Stanford University; Tsinghua University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, San Diego; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Pennsylvania; and The University of Tokyo. About Tsinghua University Tsinghua University was established in 1911 and is among the most selective universities in the world today. Drawing on a rich local tradition of academic excellence, it is a pacesetter for innovation in China. Tsinghua University is a trusted global partner for thousands of researchers and academics, a first port of call for world business and political leaders, and an invaluable bridge for international students seeking a deeper understanding of China. .