Christin Badylak-Reals is a University Innovation Fellow (UIF) and an undergraduate studying mechanical engineering ('19) at the University of New Hampshire. She is passionate about energy systems, innovation and entrepreneurship and aspires to apply design thinking to address the issues facing the electric grid.

In the summer of 2015, she interned at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Policy and System Analysis (EPSA) in Washington D.C. While in D.C. not only did she do substantial analytical work on US energy infrastructure but she networked extensively and did informal informational interviews with numerous people in the EPSA. As a result of those conversations, she became convinced that she needed to deepen her scientific and technical expertise. When she returned to UNH in the fall, she transferred from her environmental studies major into mechanical engineering.

The UIF program has been instrumental in shaping Christin's UNH experience. In the spring of 2017, she created an independent study with UNH’s Associate Vice Provost of Innovation and New Ventures. Her independent study explores the possibility of an interdisciplinary course for upper-class engineering and business students that would allow them to collaboratively apply senior design projects as a product or business solution.

After participating in the UIF Silicon Valley Meet-up in March of 2017, Christin was reinvigorated to continue her efforts with fellow UNH UIFs in creating new opportunities that help their fellow UNH wildcats develop an entrepreneurial mindset, define problems, and innovatively address global challenges.