Michael Machala

About Michael

as of 2/2010: Born in the beautiful Magic Valley of central Idaho, Michael Machala grew up beside Rock Creek on the Oregon Trail. He and his older brother enjoyed exploring and fishing there until agricultural run-off made it impossible to eat the fish they caught. In high school, he had a chance to influence pollution of another type as president of the regional anti-tobacco coalition. The coalition lobbied at the local and state levels, helping pass the 2004 Idaho Clean Indoor Air Act. Kenyon College helped inspire Michael’s passion for renewable energy technologies, particularly photovoltaics. Before and after graduation, he was able to pursue this passion at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Now based in Dresden as a Transatlantic Renewable Energy Fellow, he is absorbing lessons from Germany while continuing his research in low-cost solar cells. Even after frustrations of attending the U.N. Climate Change Summit, he still believes that youth coalitions and appropriate technologies can help move the world toward sustainable, “green” energy economies.Outside work, he loves music (having played violin in the symphony orchestra through college) and competitive swimming (walking-on to Kenyon College’s varsity swim team and improving to become a multi-All American and co-Captain of the team that won the NCAA Div III National Championship his senior year).