Costa Samaras

Dr. Costa Samaras is the Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, the Trustee Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He previously served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as Principal Assistant Director for Energy, OSTP Chief Advisor for Energy Policy, and then OSTP Chief Advisor for the Clean Energy Transition. While there, he led the climate and energy efforts of the President’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence, and led the White House report on the climate and energy implications of digital assets. Earlier, he worked as a Senior Researcher at the RAND Corporation as well as a megaprojects engineer in New York City. He received a joint Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon, and an MPA in public policy from New York University.

Scaling the energy efficiency of computing enables broad societal benefits across the economy, the environment, national security, and communities. Carnegie Mellon University and the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation are pleased to join the Energy Efficiency Scaling for Two Decades (EES2) effort, and continue our history of interdisciplinary research to advance the frontiers of innovation in computing and energy. We look forward to working with the Department of Energy, the National Labs, and all of the pledge partners to meet the goal of making computing 1,000 times more energy efficient over the next two decades.