The McCombs CleanTech Group is an MBA student organization whose mission is to promote an economically viable, sustainable, and “intelligent-energy” future, through the support of market and technology innovations in energy efficiency, sustainable development, renewable energy, and emissions abatement. We hope to achieve this goal by:

1. Serving as a hub for networking and information exchange by connecting students with the businesses, investors, and industry experts who are driving these innovations.

2. Supporting our members' professional development by providing access to events and opportunities in this rapidly developing sector of the economy.

Patricia Varraveto, President

Patricia is an ardent proponent of sustainability and efficiency and is passionate about finding solutions to the world's energy challenges through renewable sources.  In addition to serving as President of the McCombs Clean Tech Group, Patricia is a senior associate at the ATI Clean Energy Incubator, assisting early stage companies sharpen their value propositions.  Prior to business school, she worked for five years in business technology consulting at Deloitte with a specific focus on supply chain management.  She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2006 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.

Arpit Desai, Treasurer

Natalie Fowler, VP Students

Natalie is a native Texan. She grew up in the Dallas area and graduated with a BS in architectural engineering from The University at Austin in 2005. After college, she spent six years working at HKS, Inc. in Dallas as a structural engineer. During this time, she furthered her interest in sustainability and energy with a LEED certification. She returned to UT for her MBA to expand her knowledge in the business world, specifically within cleantech. After completing her MBA, she hopes to combine financial and operational business skills with her technical engineering background into a career in renewable energy or energy efficiency management.

Ross Johnson, VP of Professional Development

Ross is a first-year MBA from San Francisco with five years of full time professional work experience in real estate consulting, software development and residential solar. He holds a BA in Geography from Dartmouth College and a MSc in Sustainable Business Leadership from Lund University, Sweden's largest research university. Ross overlapped three seasons playing professional indoor lacrosse for the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League with his first 'real job' in consulting. Prior to returning to graduate school Ross was the Remote Solar Design Manager at Sungevity, an innovative residential solar company in Oakland, California. At Sungevity, Ross was charged with scaling a core eco-innovation, and remote solar design. Ross wrote software specifications for Sungevity's proprietary remote solar design software, built a team of 30 designers and scaled Sungevity’s capacity for remote design from 500 quotes a month to 5,000 quotes a month. At McCombs Ross is focusing his studies on cleantech and entrepreneurship.

Brian Kociuba, VP of Social Media

Brian is focusing his efforts at McCombs on finance, clean technology and energy. Prior to business school, Brian was a Manager in the Client Services Group at Power Advocate, a boutique consulting firm focused on the utilities and oil & gas industries. Brian was a subject matter expert in the wind energy, solar energy and electric transmission practice areas and consulted for a number of clients engaged in implementing large renewable energy programs. Internally, he analyzed and reported on the economics driving commodities markets and supported various process improvement initiatives. Brian also held electrical power engineering positions at The Shaw Group and General Dynamics Marine Systems.

Jedd Martin, VP Treks

Jedd is a member of the MBA class of 2013 concentrating on CleanTech and Energy Finance. Prior to attending McCombs, he was Development Engineering Manager at Mechanology, an early-stage technology development company located in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Over his eight years at Mechanology, Jedd developed a variety of technologies for energy efficiency, power recover and renewable energy applications. He holds one granted and five pending patients. Jedd, originally from Los Gatos, California, graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. In Mechanical Engineering. In addition to his involvement with the CleanTech club, he is a member of Venture Fellows.

Sarah Nathan, VP Internal

Sarah is a first-year full-time MBA candidate at McCombs, where she is concentrating in energy finance and management consulting. Previously, Sarah was an energy policy and business development consultant. She has worked for several early-stage energy technology companies, including Ice Energy, where she was responsible for business development and account management. Prior to her work with Ice Energy, Sarah was in charge of utility account management and program administration for the Energy Services division of Site Controls, specializing in strategic planning. She holds a B.S. in Economics from Duke University, and a Masters in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Kristen Pranke, VP Energy Forum

Kristen Pranke is 1st MBA student at McCombs, concentrating on energy finance and clean technology. Prior to business school, Kristen was a Sr. Consultant in Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations service line, with project experience in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, natural gas and petrochemicals, and energy management software applications, and she has functional experience in strategic planning, industry and market analysis, capital investment planning, risk assessment, and change management. Prior to joining Deloitte, she worked in international development in Central Asia.

Chris Stanton, VP Communications

Chris Stanton is a former journalist who spent three and a half years reporting on oil and gas and clean energy across the Middle East for The National, a daily English-language newspaper based in Abu Dhabi. As the paper’s energy beat reporter, he interviewed important figures in the energy industry like the CEO of Suntech and the secretary general of OPEC, developed contacts among US and international energy experts, and had an opportunity to learn about many of the most important energy issues of our time. He previously served as a headline writer at The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, and led content, design and production of The Georgetown Voice, the weekly news magazine at his alma mater, Georgetown University.