The Energy With AI Lab focuses on microgrids, renewable energy, and lean automation across a range of use cases. In several projects we focus on implementing with startups or large businesses. This fuels our wider lens developing technology and building its commercial impact across world economies, especially in Africa.
Assistant Teaching Professor
Jesse Thornburg leads research in energy and automation. His background is in energy modeling and forecasting, tech entrepreneurship, and product design, specifically in power generation and storage. Some of the lab's research follows from his experience with Grid Fruit, an energy IoT startup commercializing energy efficiency and machine learning.
Electrification of transport systems in Uganda presents an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing energy efficiency. This research explores the forecasting and optimization of energy demand for electric motorcycles using second-life EV batteries under a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model. Optimized grid charging for electric motorcycles in Kampala reduces costs by 45% compared to petrol motorcycles and lowers CO2 emissions by 2,600 kg per week. These findings align with Uganda's transport electrification goals and provide a replicable framework for sustainable energy management systems in other African countries.
Photo courtesy Anton Crone.
The highest cost in fish farming is feeding, both the purchase of feed itself and the labor to throw out feed by hand multiple times daily. This project is designing and testing solar-powered automatic feeders and computer vision to enable precise and controlled feeding regimens for optimal fish growth, lower feed waste, and higher efficiency of farming operations. Off-grid power generation, IoT, and edge computing enable the integration of automated feeding systems with real-time monitoring and data analytics.
This work is funded by Rwanda’s National Council for Science and Technology (NCST).
Photo courtesy Artur Rydzewski
This project addresses a critical gap in entrepreneurship research by focusing on founders in the African context. It uncovers new insights with unstructured data collection and analysis utilizing Generative Artificial Intelligene (GenAI). The project is demonstrating the potential of advanced technologies for large-scale qualitative research, setting a precedent for future studies in similar domains. The first application is providing more data and visibility on successful African entrepreneurs.
Collaborator: João Barros
CMU-Africa (MSIT '25)
CMU-Africa (MS ECE '22)
CMU-Africa (MS ECE '24)
CMU-Africa (MSIT '26)
CMU-Africa (MS EAI '23)
Lab alumni and their current roles
Thornburg, "Comparison of Electric Vehicle Battery Chemistries: Lithium-Ion and Solid-State", IEEE International Power Electronics Conference (IPEC-ECCE Asia), Nagasaki, Japan, June 2026.
Essien, D. Lee, and J. Thornburg, "Can Less Be More? Benchmarking Lightweight Models Against State-of-the-Art Deep Learning Architectures for Deployable Seizure Detection", Conference on Parsimony and Learning (CPAL), Tübingen, Germany, March 2026.
Ogbobu, M. Kipsang, and J. Thornburg, “Particle Swarm Optimization for Dispatch Scheduling of Renewable Energy in Rwanda,” 2025 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference, Cairo, Egypt, October 2025.
Rurangwa and J. Thornburg, “Modeling of Hybrid Geothermal-Solar PV Power Generation in Uganda,” IEEE Southern Power Electronics Conference (SPEC), Johannesburg, December 2025.
V. Wilson, F. Li, J. Thornburg, J. Mohammadi, and J. Martinez, “Energy Savings Through Refrigeration Load Control with Assessment of Commercial Potential,” IEEE Electrification Magazine, vol. 12, no. 1, March 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/MELE.2023.3348352
M. Mohammadi*, J. Thornburg*, and J. Mohammadi ,“Towards an Energy Future with Ubiquitous Electric Vehicles: Barriers and Opportunities,” Energies, vol. 16, no. 17, 6379, September 2023.
*These authors contributed equally to this work
Thornburg, “A Probabilistic Tool for Modeling Smart Microgrids with Renewable Energy and Demand Side Management,” International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Sustainable Engineering Solutions. Greater Noida, India: May 2022.
C. Goodman, J. Thornburg, and J. Mohammadi. “Optimization of Refrigeration Defrost Schedules for Demand Shifting in Commercial Buildings,” IEEE Green Technologies Conference, April 2021. https://doi.org/10.1109/GreenTech48523.2021.00042
J. Thornburg and B. Krogh. “A Tool for Assessing Demand Side Management and Operating Strategies for Isolated Microgrids,” Energy for Sustainable Development, vol. 64, October 2021.
J. Mohammadi and J. Thornburg. “Connecting Distributed Pockets of Energy Flexibility through Federated Computations: Limitations and Possibilities,” IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA). Miami, Florida: December 2020. doi.org/10.1109/ICMLA51294.2020.00186
M. Babcock, R. E. Ciez, A. Loew, B. Sergi, J. Thornburg, and N. J. Williams, “Institutional Influence on Power Sector Investments: A Case Study of Distributed and Centralized Energy in Kenya and Tanzania,” Energy Research and Social Science, April 2018.
F. Dos Santos, J. Thornburg, and T. S. Ustun, “Automated Planning of Rooftop PV Systems by Aerial Image Processing,” IEEE PES Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia: Oct. 2018.
J. Thornburg and B. Krogh, “Simulating Energy Management Strategies for Microgrids with Smart Meter Demand Management,” IEEE PES PowerAfrica. Accra, Ghana: June 2017.
J. Thornburg, T.S. Ustun, and B. Krogh, “Smart Microgrid Operation Simulator for Management and Electrification Planning,” IEEE PES PowerAfrica. Livingstone, Zambia: July 2016.
H. Keshan, J. Thornburg, and T. S. Ustun, “Comparison of Lead-Acid and Lithium Ion Batteries for Stationary Storage in Off-Grid Energy Systems,” IET International Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CEAT). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: November 2016. Winner, “Best Presentation.”
J. Thornburg, B. Krogh, and T.S. Ustun, “Stochastic Simulator for Smart Microgrid Planning,” Association for Computing Machinery Symposium on Computing and Development (ACM DEV). Nairobi, Kenya: November 2016.
| Course | Course Name | Location | Units | Semester Offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-883-L4 | Integrated Energy Systems | Africa | 6 | Spring |
| 04-603 | ICT Entrepreneurship Seminar | Africa | 6 | Fall |
| 04-617 | Foundations of Entrepreneurship | Africa | 12 | Fall |
| 04-910 | Entrepreneurship Project | Africa | 24 | Fall, Spring |
