Michael Webber

Michael Webber is an incoming faculty member with the Mechanical Engineering Department and Associate Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining UT-Austin, Michael lead research projects for policy issues relevant to energy, the environment, innovation, the U.S. industrial base, and national security at the RAND Corporation. Previously, he was a Senior Scientist at Pranalytica, an innovative company making cutting-edge laser-based gas-sensing instrumentation for homeland security, industrial and environmental monitoring applications. Michael has published more than a dozen peer-reviewed scientific articles, given more than a dozen lectures and invited talks in the U.S. and Europe, applied for five patents (two of which have been issued), and given executive briefings to senior decision makers at NIST, DoD and Honda R&D Americas. Michael's educational background includes a B.A. with Honors (Liberal Arts) and B.S. with High Honors (Aerospace Engineering) from UT-Austin, and an M.S. (Mechanical Engineering) and Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Electrical Engineering) from Stanford University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995-1998. In 2005, Michael was recognized by the College of Engineering at UT-Austin as an Outstanding Young Engineering Graduate, and in 2006 was honored as the Commencement Speaker for the spring graduation ceremony. Michael has been selected as a Marshall Fellow for 2007 and is a board member for the Hope Street Group, which is a non-profit bi-partisan national organization for young professionals interested in promoting policies that expand opportunity and economic growth. Michael lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.