Hoyer Honors UM Solar Decathlon Team

Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) submitted into the Congressional Record the following statement congratulating the University of Maryland Solar Decathlon Team, the winners of this year's U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate a talented team of students from my alma mater, the University of Maryland, who this weekend won first place at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2011 here in Washington.

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon is a competition among collegiate teams to design and build solar-powered houses that combine affordability and appeal to consumers with energy-efficiency and design excellence. The University of Maryland team’s house, WaterShed, was awarded first place in recognition of its innovative use of solar energy and water conservation, excellent design, and strong performance in daily competitions. In addition to winning the overall competition, the Maryland team also proved victorious in the Architecture Contest and tied for first with perfect scores in both the Hot Water and Energy Balance contests.

“Over 200 students, representing a wide variety of disciplines including architecture, engineering, environmental science and plant sciences, contributed to WaterShed, making Maryland’s victory a truly collaborative effort. By blending innovation and technology with sustainability and conservation, these students demonstrated the creativity, teamwork, technical knowledge, and determination that are essential as we work to revive our economy and regain our nation’s place as a leader in high tech and sustainable manufacturing.

“The hard work of the Maryland team, and the work of the 19 other teams involved in the competition, illustrate the goals of the Make It In America plan that my Democratic colleagues and I are pursuing. The Make It In America plan emphasizes support for American firms developing new clean energy technologies, creating jobs while investing in a more sustainable future. This competition, with its focus on both cost-effectiveness and energy-efficiency, is an excellent example of the approach we need to pursue to achieve our economic and sustainability goals.

“I would like to recognize the work of student leaders Jay Chmilewski, David Daily, Leah Davies, Steve Emling, Isabel Enerson, Tamir Ezzat, Michael Feldman, David Gavin, Jeff Gipson, Newton Gorrell, Joseph Ijjas, Moshe Katz, Yehuda Katz, Lynn Khuu, Zachary Klipstein, Parlin Meyer, Jeff Rappaport, Matt Sickle, Evan Smith, Scott Tjaden, Kevin Vandeman, Nick Weadock, Allison Wilson, and Veronika Zhiteneva and faculty team members Mike Binder, Patricia Kosco Cossard, Amy Gardner, Brian Grieb, Dr. Keith Herold, Madlen Simon, Dr. David Tilley and Brittany Williams.

“The University of Maryland team – including students, faculty, and professional mentors – should be congratulated for their impressive accomplishments, and I am proud to honor these exceptional individuals. I urge my colleagues to join with me in applauding this impressive feat, and I ask unanimous consent that the names of the team members, the extended team and the mentors be included in the Record following my statement.”

Team Members: Ali Alaswadi, Benjamin Bates, Amy Chen, Brennan Clark, Linda Clark, Michael Craton, Natalya Dikhanov, Eric Gellman, James Han, Justin Heil, Justin Huang, Erik Kornfeld, John Kucia, Allen Meizlish, Jeffrey Sze and Andrew Taverner.

Extended Team:
Sahin Arikoglu, Alex Atahua, Rishi Banerjee, Justin Bare, Katherine Beisler, Jacob Bialek, Paul Bilger, Christoper Binkley, Ian Black, Andrew Bruno, Victoria Chang, Wen-Hui Chen, Ethan Cowan, Justin Cullen, Diana Daisey, Adam Davies, Aleron Dsilva, Mariam Eshete, Eric Faughnan, Ryan Fitch, Meredith Friedman, Holman Gao, Louis Gbone, Philip Geilman, Phil Geiman, Marisa Gomez, Karen Hillis, Ananya Hiremath, Vanessa Hoffman, Amy Hudson, Phil Jacks, Peter James, Eric Joerdens, Christine Kandigian, Jacob Kunken, Christopher Leung, Arik Lubkin, Christopher Luther, Ryan Maisel, Bracha Mandel, Maria Martello, Zachary Martinez, Abe Massad, Mark Matovich, Shakira Mccall, Kenneth Morgan, Christopher Myers, Zachary Nerenberg, Matthew Newman, Yuchen Nie, Albert Palmer, Daniel Perdomo, Robert Pettit, Chau Pham, Georgina Pinnock, Kaitlin Pless, Olga Pushkareva, James Ramil, Mark Reese, Raheena Rehman, Nicolas Roldos, Boateng Rosemond, Michele Rubenstein, Michael Satoh, Charles Schupler, Juliet Serem, Valerie Smith, Jacob Steinberg, Michael Taylor, Alexander Tonetti, Marcela Trice, Katherine Vocke, Nader Wallerich, Luxi Wang, Amy Weber, Sofia Weller,Christine Wertz, Kiley Wilfong, Christine Wirth, Fawna Xiao, Diane Ye, and Jesse Yurow.

Mentors:

Deborah Bauer, Grant Baxter, Charlie Berliner, Dan Blankfeld, Joe Bolewski, Brian Borak, Erin Carlisle, John Cartagirone, Chris Cobb, John Coventry, Adam Eurich, Taz Ezzat, George Fritz, Julie Gabrielli, Aditya Gaddam, Jennifer Gilmer, Anne Hicks Harney, Maggie Haslam, Ray Hayleck, Joan Honeyman, Ming Hu, Adam Keith, Peter Kelley, Benson Kwong, Mike Lawrence, Dale Leidich, John Love, Kristen Markham, Evan Merkel, John Morris, Frank Plummer, Don Posson, Kristin Potterton, Tyler Sines, Niklas Vigener, Dan Vlacich, Fred Werth, Bill Wiley, Jay Williams, and Dan Zimmerman.

Published October 4, 2011