Sterling Watson

Sterling Watson has worked in a variety of roles in the engineering field since 2011. In 2011, they interned at Efficient Drivetrains, where they researched methods for using plug-in hybrid vehicle technology to store energy from intermittent renewable energy sources. In 2012, they worked as an undergraduate researcher at MIT NanoEngineering Group, where they researched thin-film crystalline silicon photovoltaics and designed a test bed compatible with the characterization of these new cells. In 2013, they worked as a researcher at CIEMAT, where they constructed experimental setups for the Solar Cell Calibration Laboratory and characterized various multijunction solar cell samples. In 2014, they worked as an intern at the Weber Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where they measured proton-transfer and microporous membrane transport properties for use in a redox flow battery for automotive applications. Since 2017, they have worked at Natel Energy as a Senior Mechanical Engineer and a Mechanical Engineer, where they have defined hydraulic performance and operational loads for the turbine design team using CFD simulation outputs and postprocessing of data in Python, developed tools to enable fish-safe hydraulic turbine design combined with high performance and economic feasibility, and designed and led hydraulic performance testing of the first D55 Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT) at the Natel hydraulic test loop facility.

Sterling Watson attended The College Preparatory School from 2007 to 2011. Sterling then went on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where they received a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2015. Sterling continued at MIT and received a Master of Science (M.S.) in Mechanical Engineering in 2017.