Niru Kumar, SMIEEE obtained an undergraduate degree in power systems engineering from University of Mysore, India. After working for IT consulting companies, she decided to move to the U.S. and get back to her first love of power systems engineering. She finished her MS in Energy Systems from the University of Washington in Seattle and went to work for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a Dept. of Energy run National Laboratory. Her research interests included effective demand response techniques to improve energy efficiency. She completed her MBA from Cornell University where she was recognized both as an ‘Environmental Finance and Impact Investing Fellow’ as well as an ‘Emerging Markets Fellow’. From there she went to work for NextEra Energy where worked on Storage analytics, Microgrid analytics and Direct Load Control analytics for both FPL and NextEra. She later worked for a FACTS startup based out of Union City called Smart Wires. Currently she works as a Senior Product Manager in Microgrids with Bloom Energy.

Niru’s interests also include the most cost effective methods of making technology accessible to the base of the pyramid. Niru is heavily involved with IEEE and its humanitarian technology efforts. She is currently chair of the Projects Monitoring committee under the IEEE Humanitarian Activities committee. She is also the IEEE Region 6 Humanitarian Activities Coordinator. She works with the South Asia Working Group of IEEE Smart Village. She is also part of IEEE USA’s Energy Policy Committee. She has also served as Region 6’s Women in Engineering coordinator in 2011-2012 helping set up various Women in Engineering groups for the benefit of IEEE women engineers.