From Astrophysics to Applied Artificial Intelligence, Hilary Egan Charts a Creative Path Through Science - CleanTechnica

Hilary Egan’s career path exemplifies a creative and interdisciplinary approach to science, blending astrophysics, computational physics, and applied artificial intelligence (AI). Born in Germany and raised across North America, Egan pursued physics with minors in math and computer science at Michigan State University, where she gravitated toward computational research. This interest deepened during her Ph.D. in astrophysics and planetary science at the University of Colorado Boulder, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. Her fellowship internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) introduced her to AI applications in energy, specifically predicting data center loads aligned with renewable energy, which led to her current role as a data scientist at NREL since 2020. At NREL, Egan applies AI and computational methods to diverse energy challenges, including improving energy efficiency in data centers, accelerating building retrofits, and developing autonomous laboratory systems. She is also contributing to the U.S. Department of Energy’s agencywide AI