Matt Zebiak is currently an undergraduate student at Columbia University studying Mechanical Engineering. He is working with the Sustainable Engineering Lab to create classroom assignments in MATLAB that mirror the group’s larger research in energy infrastructure planning. The goal of this project is to offer university students an introduction to the field of alternative energy systems, and allow them to observe the real-world behavior of these systems without the difficulties of data collection and verification. He hopes that these assignments will stimulate interest, especially among undergraduates, in this critical field.