NICHOLAS S SELBY
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Vice President of Engineering at Renewvia

PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT

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I am the VP of Engineering at Renewvia Energy. I am responsible for the design, procurement, construction, productive use, and software infrastructure of solar mini-grids in rural Kenya and Nigeria. I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. I have worked as a research engineer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

Publications

Patents
Patent figure of the RFind algorithm

Methods and Apparatus for Wideband Localization


Zhihong Luo, Qiping Zhang, Nicholas Selby, Yunfei Ma, Manish Singh, and Fadel Adib
U.S. Patent Nos. 10,575,277, 10,921,419, 10,701,662, and 11,604,250
Published 2020–2023
Patent figure of the RFly drone

Full-Duplex, Bi-Directional, Analog Relay


Yunfei Ma, Nicholas Selby, and Fadel Adib
U.S. Patent No. 10,389,429
Published 2019

Awards
  • Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2023
  • SolarQuarter 40 Under 40 Class of 2023
  • National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Teams Grant (2020)
  • National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Fusion Grant (2019)
  • Winner of MIT Research Slam (2019)
  • First Place at the MIT Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition (2019)
  • Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention from the National Science Foundation (2016)
  • Richard K. Whitehead Jr. Memorial Award, awarded to the top three Mechanical Engineering seniors at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2016)
  • Best Oral Presentation at the Georgia Tech Undergraduate Research Symposium (2016)
  • President's Undergraduate Research Award from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2015)
  • Air Products Undergraduate Research Award from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (2015)
  • Best Utility Simulation for Product Design from the ASME 2014 International Design & Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers & Information in Engineering Conference (2014)
  • Stamps Leadership Scholarship, a merit-based, full-ride scholarship awarded to the top 12 of 14,731 applicants, from the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation (2013)

Teaching
Mars rover

Identification, Estimation, and Learning


Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2.160, Fall 2019
Key Concepts: machine learning, Kalman filters, system identification
Median Student Evaluation: 7/7
Students interacting with a circuit and oscilloscope

Analysis and Design of Feedback Control Systems


Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2.140, Spring 2017
Key Concepts: time and frequency domain analysis, root locus and loop shaping, stability, nonlinearity, digital systems
Median Student Evaluation: 7/7
Computer showing code in a text editor

Computer Science for Engineers


Georgia Institute of Technology, CS 1371, Spring 2013–Spring 2016
Key Concepts: MATLAB, computing fundamentals, algorithms
Median Student Evaluation: 5/5
Galaxies bending spacetime

Introductory Physics


Georgia Institute of Technology, PHYS 2211, Spring 2014
Key Concepts: calculus-based classical mechanics, oscillations, waves
Median Student Evaluation: 5/5

Professional Service

 Public Speaking:
  • Panelist on the "Renewable Energy Roundtable" at the American Chamber of Commerce Business Summit, "Catalyzing the Future of U.S.-East Africa Trade and Investment" (2024)
  • Keynote speaker at the Africa Mini-Grid Developers Association "Innovation Exchange Forum" (2024)
  • Panelist on "Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of Mini-Grids in Kenya" at The Solar Week Kenya conference (2024)
  • Panelist on "I-RECs, P-RECs, D-RECs, R-RECs: Revenue Opportunities for Mini-Grid Companies" episode of INENSUS' The Mini-Grid Business podcast (2024)
  • Panelist on "Harnessing Solar Energy: The Role of Energy Storage in Off-Grid Solutions," a SolarQuarter webinar (2024)
  • Keynote speaker for "Mechanical Engineering Shaping the World" event at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2023)
  • Invited lecturer for "Electric Vehicles and the Grid" course at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2023)
  • Panelist on "The East Africa Renewable Energy Mix: Critical Approaches towards a Just Transition" at the Africa ESG & Impact Investing Summit (2023)
  • Panelist on "Solar and Green Energy as Ways of Harnessing Affordable Energy that is Environmentally Friendly" at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Kampala Declaration Forum (2022)
  • Panelist on "How Mini-Grids are Electrifying the Region" at the Eastern Africa Solar Week Conference (2022)
  • Invited lecturer for the MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs' summer workshop, "An Introduction to Machine Learning with PyTorch" (2021)
  • Invited lecturer for "Robotics 101," a California high school summer program (2021)
  • Host of "Science Day" for 600+ low-income K-5th graders at Conley Hills Elementary School (2015)
  • Keynote speaker at FIRST Robotics international competition (2014)
  • Keynote speaker at No Excuses University national convention (2014)
  • Host of "Tech Talks," a science communication competition, at the Atlanta Science Festival (2014)
  • Opening speaker for the Georgia Tech Freshman Convocation Ceremony (2013)
Academic Service:
  • MIT Graduate Student Council (2020–2021)
  • MIT Mechanical Engineering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group (2020–2021)
  • University System of Georgia China Outreach Program (2014)
Journal Referee [Web of Science]:
  • ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks
  • IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
  • IEEE Internet of Things Journal
  • IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
  • IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing
  • IFAC International Symposium on Advances in Automotive Control
  • International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems