DR. RUDY SHANKAR
Director, Energy Systems Engineering
Ph.D. Applied Sciences, University of Delaware, 1977
MBA, Finance, Operations, Marketing and Strategy, Queens University, 2001
B. Tech, Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 1969
Dr. Shankar was named director of Lehigh University's Energy Systems Engineering on July 1, 2016. His previous appointments include his work as assistant director of UNC's Electric Power Infrastructure Center, helping to expand it's research in grid modernization, smart grid, renewable energy and energy utilization. This included industry and utility partnerships, development of agency funding and technology demonstrations to constituents and stakeholders.
Shankar also served as VP and CTO to the Tennessee Valley Authority, where his duties included management of renewable energy technologies, electric transportation and infrastructure, and technologies for power generation delivery; as President and CEO of Signatech Systems, where he led efforts to develop asset management and fleet-wide monitoring for a large Asian utility; and as program manager and market director for the Electric Power Research Institute.
ANDREW COLEMAN
Adjunct Professor
Andrew J. Coleman is a Government Leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Member and Technical Services, where he leads strategy and business development opportunities. Coleman held positions as a Senior Technical Executive, Senior Program Manager, Marketing Manager, and Account Executive in the Environment Sector. Coleman’s areas of expertise are in engineering geology, manufactured gas plant research and remediation.
During a hiatus from EPRI, Coleman was appointed the Director of Energy Systems Engineering at Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. Before joining EPRI, he managed environmental projects at Public Service Electric and Gas Company in Newark, New Jersey and ENSR (now AECOM).
Coleman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in geology from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He obtained a Master of Arts degree in geology at the City College of New York and holds a Master of Philosophy degree and a Doctorate in structural geology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Coleman is a certified professional geologist in California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Delaware.
SCOTT THOMAS
Adjunct Faculty
Scott Thomas currently serves as a Distribution Operations Planning Supervising Engineer in PPL Corporation. He has been serving in this role for more than last 2 years. Before that, he spent more than 7 years in PPL Electric Utilities and served in various engineering roles such as Substation Design Engineer, Relay Test Engineer, Supervising Engineer – Transmission and Substation Relay Engineering.
Scott got his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2009. He is also an alumni of Lehigh’s Energy System Engineering program. He graduated from this program in 2010. Scott came back to Lehigh for his MBA. He received his Master of Business Administration degree in Project Management in 2015.
MS. SUSAN KANAREK
Coordinator
Susan attended Cedar Crest College, has more than 25 years’ experience in the Media & Publishing industries. She comes to ESE from The Morning Call, where she worked for over 13 years and most recently served as a Media Sales Planner. She also was employed at Rodale, Inc., on the Runner’s World Magazine staff, where she worked with the Race Sponsorship Program that included traveling to expos, races & marathons across the United States.
Her diversified skills include client relations, research & data analysis, presentations & proposals, project management, media & event planning, digital knowledge and trade show experience.