Harnessing the Power of Sustainable Energy

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Before that, though, he carried out research in Professor David Boyles’ group at the School of Mines, working for two years performing organic synthesis of monomer units. This, he says, was where he learned “how rigorous and ultimately gratifying research can be when you care about it and are as passionate as Dr. Boyles was. He imparted that same passion to me.”

Hinricher also took a semester off his studies at Mines to serve as a Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis subsystem integration and testing intern at NASA. There, he worked on the Resource Prospector Mission, developing analytical instruments for a robot intended to one day go to the moon and search for water.

Then, through a student research program held at Princeton University, he researched polymers that could stitch themselves back together when damaged. At the time he received his acceptance to MIT in 2015, he had ventured out to Berkeley, California, for an internship at the solar technology startup PLANT PV. Hinricher credits the startup’s co-founders, Brian Hardin and Craig Peters, as major influences on his career and mentorship.

“They made me an offer to stay out in California for a year and defer admission here, and I accepted, and had one of the best experiences that I could have asked for,” he says, describing how he saw firsthand to manage a startup and conduct cutting-edge research on renewable energy sources. His experiences also inspired him to dream of starting his own company one day.

Take a Hike

Outside of classes, Hinricher likes to stay in touch with the nature that inspired his conservationist outlook in the first place. When he worked for PLANT PV in California, that meant winding through the towering trees of Muir Woods. Now, it’s anything from the White Mountains in New Hampshire to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

He’s also a member of Trash2Treasure, an MIT recycling program that places donation sites for used items in campus dormitories each spring. Then, in the beginning of the next academic year, T2T sells it back to the student body at a serious discount. One year, the organization managed to save around 250 boxes of items, which is something like 33 tons of material.

“It saves material that would have gone to landfill, and allows students to buy last-minute items very inexpensively,” he says. Anything that the group doesn’t sell is donated to a charitable organization.

In the future, Hinricher says he’d like to keep researching energy storage, and would like to start his own company. Right now, though, he plans to work toward his PhD and see where his research — and the scenic hiking trails along the way — will take him.

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