Einhorn Center for Community Engagement
Opportunities
For Students
For Faculty and Staff
For Community
For Alumni
Courses
Our Network
About
About David M. Einhorn
Our Team
Stories and News
What is Community-Engaged Learning?
Engaged College Initiative
Calendar
Our Supporters
Make a Gift
Campus Engagement
Contact
Give Cornell University Logo
Cornell University Logo
Opportunities
For Students
For Faculty and Staff
For Community
For Alumni
Courses
Our Network
About
About David M. Einhorn
Our Team
Stories and News
What is Community-Engaged Learning?
Engaged College Initiative
Calendar
Our Supporters
Make a Gift
Campus Engagement
Contact
Give
Overview
Einhorn Center Activities
OUR NETWORK   /    Profile
Eilyan Bitar
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering   |   Profile
Einhorn Center Activities
Community-Engaged Practice & Innovation Awards, 2024

The Community-Engaged Practice and Innovation Awards recognize faculty who have developed community-engaged learning, leadership or research activities that create curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students.
See Details

Eilyan Bitar received the Community-Engaged Practice & Innovation Award for his teaching and research on sustainability and engineering, which are grounded in the best practices of community-engaged learning. In 2016, he began working with New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) to understand how the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) will impact the power grid, and how to effectively coordinate EV charging patterns to minimize their collective strain on the grid.

Alongside a PhD student and partners at NYSEG, Bitar developed a pilot program called OptimizEV to explore how to best balance customer charging needs without stressing the grid. The OptimizEV program utilized a novel incentive mechanism and smart-charging algorithm to actively manage the charging patterns of 35 EV owners in Tompkins County over the span of 18 months. Participants indicated when they needed their EVs charged by and an algorithm determined how to optimize their charging profiles to avoid spikes in electricity demand, while guaranteeing that everyone’s car was charged in time for its next trip.

In exchange for their flexibility, customers benefited by paying less to charge their cars, while also helping to integrate wind and solar power into the grid. Bitar has shared this research with students in a new Learning Where You Live course called “Pioneering Sustainable Change in the Real World” and in less formal settings while serving as the faculty-in-residence in Hu Shih Hall.

Related Topics
Energy, Environment and Sustainability
David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement
About
Make a Gift
Contact
Opportunities
Our Network
Stories and News
Students
Opportunities for Students
Courses
Student-run Program Communications Guidelines
Vehicle Program
Faculty & Staff
Opportunities for Faculty & Staff
Alumni
Opportunities for Alumni
Community
Opportunities for Community Partners
Subscribe to Our Mailing List

300 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Cornell land acknowledgement

Equal Education and Employment at Cornell University

If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format, contact einhorncenter@cornell.edu for assistance.

300 Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
© 2025 Cornell University
Equal Education and Employment at Cornell University Cornell land acknowledgement
© 2025 Cornell University

If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format, contact einhorncenter@cornell.edu for assistance.