Mission

The Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab at the School of Engineering (SEAS) and The Columbia Climate School uses engineering to help address development issues. We engineer software solutions to help make development planning smarter and to improve the delivery of critical services like health and energy in the developing world. To contact our lab, please email our lab director Dr. Vijay Modi at modi@columbia.edu.
Professor Vijay Modi meeting with Permanent Secretary Engr. Irene Bateebe

News:

Ongoing efforts to support MEMD Uganda with data-driven energy investments

Jul 17, 2025

Permanent Secretary Engr. Irene Bateebe with Professor Vijay Modi On Friday, June 27, I met with Engr. Irene Bateebe, Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development [...]

Recent Blog Posts

e-GUIDE Updates 2025

May 19, 2025

The e-GUIDE Initiative is a collaborative effort spanning five leading universities—University of Massachusetts Amherst, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Washington. Through this [...]

Livelihoods, M300/ASCENT, and Small-Holder Irrigation- Case study from Uganda

Mar 13, 2025

Electricity access targets for ambitious programs such as M300 and ASCENT are summarized in household electrification numbers, but these programs are designed to unlock electricity’s ability to drive socio-economic development. [...]

Cost-Effectively Capturing Non-Household Electricity Demands Catalytic to Rural Growth

Feb 5, 2025

This new brief focuses on the cost-effective execution of the national survey, which covered tens of thousands of locations at just $10 per site - using innovative surveying methods and [...]

Scaling Local Energy Needs into National Investments in Uganda

Feb 5, 2025

Understanding what drives the community, what energy can unlock for rural livelihoods, and what activities entrepreneurial households are engaging in continues to be a challenge. We took a stab at [...]

Grids, Mini-Grids and Solar Home Systems for Rapid Access Impact

Jan 31, 2025

Building on insights from the CEET policy brief “Beyond Basic Electricity Access: The Unrealized Promise of Solar Power for Economic Growth in Africa”, key findings from our recent brief explore [...]
Screenshot of the Columbia World Projects Energy for Productive Use Data Platform
Columbia World Projects
Energy for Productive Use Data Platform