Bijan Shiravi, Thermal Batteries, California

Bijan Shiravi, who has been in the industry for 6 years, is a Lead Technical Program Manager at Antora Energy. 

Why is clean energy important to you? I want my grandchildren to experience the beauty of nature as this and every generation prior has. Working in clean energy also allows me to feel that what I’m working on has a much larger positive impact than any other comparable industry.

What's a memorable clean energy project you’ve worked on? I led a project developing an industry-first carbon-sleeved rotor in an EV motor, which enabled an EV to become the fastest production car in history. In doing so it proved that there really isn’t anything a gas car can inherently do better than an EV.

What did you do prior to working in clean energy? Why did you transition to the clean energy industry? I started in the pharmaceutical industry as a validation engineer in a drug manufacturing plant, but I transitioned to the clean energy industry because I wanted to work on some of the biggest challenges in climate. I took a role at Tesla — a major career milestone — where my manufacturing experience translated well to EV manufacturing.

What do you wish more people knew about the clean energy industry? When it comes to accelerating clean energy adoption and deployment,  there are good-paying jobs for almost every conceivable job type. And I've worked side by side with folks across the political spectrum, and of all ethnicities, races, and genders. Having that opportunity to engage in dialogue and make meaningful relationships is an often-undersold aspect of working in clean energy. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share? The clean energy sector is growing rapidly, and it’s not stopping. Working in clean energy is almost a guarantee to ensure you’ll be hireable in the coming 10-20 years. Not many other industries can make that same claim.