Four Stanford Students and Recent Alumni Made Forbes Magazine’s Annual 30 Under 30 in Energy List

Four Stanford students and recent alumni made Forbes magazine’s annual 30 Under 30 in Energy list. “Energy” is one of 20 categories—from music to finance—in which the magazine applauds auspicious achievements.

The recognition can facilitate entrepreneurs’ ability to grow their businesses, as has happened with Stanford recipients each of the past several years. This year, Forbes selected Stanford’s Colin Bailie, who completed his PhD in materials science and engineering last month; Nicholas Flanders, co-founder of Opus 12; and Tim Burke and Andrew Scheuermann, co-founders of WellDone Technology.

“Bailie is a pioneer in designing and prototyping solar cells using material for a semiconductor called metal-halide perovskite,” said Forbes. “His research has shown that cells using this material can produce up to 50 percent more electricity.”

Flanders co-founded Opus 12 with Stanford alumnae Etosha Cave (PhD ’14, mechanical engineering) and Kendra Kuhl (PhD ’13, chemistry). Their startup seeks to convert captured carbon dioxide emissions into fuels and chemicals using new catalysts and electricity from renewable sources.

Forbes also recognized Stanford’s Burke (PhD ’15, materials science) and Scheuermann, along with University of California-Berkeley alumnus Austin McGee. Their WellDone Technology startup makes low-cost and low-power monitoring hardware and proprietary software to manage remote infrastructure like water, energy, and agriculture systems.