Our Team

Michael Bobker Principal Investigator He directs the CUNY Building Performance Lab which he created with NYSERDA support in 2006 as part of the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems (CIUS), returning to the university after 25 years in energy engineering practice. He leads BPL’s applied research and training, especially for NYC municipal buildings. As Associate Director of the CIUS, he organizes research across the university focused on next-generation thinking about urban infrastructure, with a goal of applying cutting- edge knowledge to practical education. Michael is also part of the steering committee in the Research Coordination Network City-as-Lab project funded by the National Science Foundation, and the InSource project led by the New York Institute of Technology.

Mr. Bobker holds Masters degrees in Sociology-Anthropology from Oberlin College and in Energy Management from the NY Institute of Technology. He is a Certified Energy Manager and is active in ASHRAE activities for the education of engineers around energy efficiency in building operations.
Hillary Brown FAIA, Principal Investigator She is a Professor of Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York (CCNY), City University of New York. She was the Program Director of the College’s interdisciplinary Master’s of Sustainability in the Urban Environment, developed with the Grove School of Engineering, Spitzer School of Architecture and CCNY’s Division of Science, and Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Professor Brown leads an extensive number of research projects and is also part of the Research Coordination Network City-as-Lab project funded by the National Science Foundation, and the InSource project led by the New York Institute of Technology. Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Principal Investigator He is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the City College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and the director of the CUNY Smart Grid Interdependencies Laboratory (SGIL). He has been leading several research projects that are centered around Smart Grids, Renewable Energy Systems, and Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies. He has over 80 publications in these fields as book chapters and articles in premier journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Mohamed received several awards including the 2019 NSF CAREER award, and several of his IEEE papers received best-paper awards. Professor Mohamed collaborates in different research projects, and is also part of the Research Coordination Network City-as-Lab project funded by the National Science Foundation, and the InSource project led by the New York Institute of Technology. amohamed@ccny.cuny.edu Patricia Smith Project Associate She is a graduate from the MA in Sustainability in the Urban Environment program at the City College of New York and is involved with the IN-SOURCE project researching Food, Energy, Water Nexus and next generation infrastructure. Nury Martinez Gutierrez Project Associate She is a Project Manager at The Research Coordination Network, where she coordinates academic discussions under the Food, Energy and Water Nexus. Nury also supports the development of a workforce initiative at The City College of New York Julia Brown Project Associate She is the Assistant Director of the Teaching and Learning Center and an Open Educational Resource (OER) Fellow at City College of New York (CCNY). She also teaches first year writing courses in the English Department at CCNY, including Writing for Engineering. Julia has designed several websites including the CCNY OER workshop website, and the site for the Stony Brook Graduate Student Organization.