Women @ Energy: Kelsey Horowitz

Kelsey Horowitz is a lead research engineer in the Strategic Energy Analysis Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where she has worked for the past five years. She graduated in 2014 with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, where she also worked as a research assistant in solar cell and photonic design. She has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

High school physics inspired me the most. I didn’t really know what engineers did growing up, but I loved physics. My teacher was great and helped me understand different options out there. I originally went into aerospace engineering because I really like airplanes, but switched over to electrical engineering after designing a circuit for a balloon satellite we launched in my projects class. 

The mission is the main thing that drives me. I want everyone to have access to low-cost, sustainable energy. I also love that I have the opportunity to constantly learn and to collaborate with diverse groups of smart people.

I think helping girls get early exposure to STEM is important. Actually building things or programming something and seeing it work is empowering and takes away the intimidation factor. On a more granular level, I think parents should also make sure they aren’t unintentionally excluding their daughters from STEM-related activities, like only inviting the boys to help fix stuff around the house or work on the car.

Don’t go into anything expecting to be perfect; you’ll avoid the hard problems and won’t grow as fast! Keep challenging yourself and picking up new skills—the world of energy is changing all the time.

I spend most of my free time hiking, reading, cooking, watching TV, and spending time with my family and friends. I also like camping and motorcycling, when I get a chance.

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