Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, UMass Amherst

CEERE Team

Dr. Beka Kosanovic

Dr. Kosanovic is an Assistant Research Professor in the UMass Amherst Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and the Director of CEERE. He also serves as Director of the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), Assistant Director of the New York-New Jersey Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership (CHP TAP), Director of the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Partnership (MAEEP), and Co-Principal Investigator for the UMass Clean Energy Extension.

Dr. Kosanovic’s research interests include combined heat and power, distributed generation, unit commitment modeling for dispatch of power plants in the grid, gas turbine combustion, mixing, and steam cycle analysis.

In addition to his experience at CEERE, Dr. Kosanovic worked for seven years at an urban power plant/direct heating facility. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UMass Amherst and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Belgrade.

Contact: 413-545-0684, email

Lauren Mattison

Lauren is a Research Fellow in CEERE. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UMass Amherst. She worked in the Industrial Assessment Center as a graduate student, and her master's thesis on the potential for combined heat and power in Massachusetts has been used by utility companies and government agencies for policy analysis and program planning.

Lauren's professional experience includes assisting commercial and industrial customers with identifying, analyzing and implementing energy efficiency projects at Efficiency Vermont; supporting ENERGY STAR specification development, creating marketing and technical training materials, and developing widely used energy savings calculators for more than 30 types of residential and commercial products as a consultant to the U.S. EPA; working on several potential studies for energy efficiency, demand response and combined heat and power; and managing and contributing to program evaluations and technical reference manual development for demand-side management programs across North America. Lauren is a Certified Energy Manager through the Association of Energy Engineers.

Contact: 413-545-0651, email

Benjamin McDaniel

Benjamin is a Research Fellow in CEERE. While earning an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UMass Amherst, he worked in the Industrial Assessment Center and his thesis was to design a thermal energy storage system for the campus combined heat and power plant. He holds a B.A. from Hampshire College in Physics & Thermofluids Engineering, with a thesis titled Solid State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion and The Applications of Thermal Technologies and Their Role in Addressing Fuel Poverty.

Benjamin's research interests include thermal energy storage, modeling of thermal systems in TRNSYS, combined heat and power, district energy, distributed generation, geothermal systems and solid state energy conversion.

Benjamin's past professional experience includes operating a geothermal and solar PV consulting and installation company, where he assessed residential and light commercial installations as an IGSHPA Accredited geothermal heat pump installer. Additionally, he helped found the Connecticut Geothermal Association and served as the Chair of Community Outreach.

Contact: 413-545-4454, email

Alberto Morales

Alberto is the coordinator of the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Partnership.

Contact: 413-545-2853, email

Dorothy Kent

Dorothy Kent is CEERE's administrative coordinator.