Akhilesh is currently an MS student in the mechanical engineering department at Columbia University. He received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering from SRM University in India. His research interest is in data-driven approaches to decarbonization of the energy sector. This includes demand response in buildings, electricity market innovation, and renewable energy integration into the grid. He is currently working on low computational cost heuristic strategies to improve resource allocation in solar powered microgrids. He is also investigating the effect of demand response in commercial buildings on system-wide electricity demand.