ponsuganth muthuraman

Hello! I am Ponsu, a graduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, wherein I am pursuing a Master’s in Sustainable Design and Construction. Before this, I completed an undergraduate degree in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. I am passionate about all things decarbonization in the built environment and aspire to be a leader in this space globally (my mom has always told me ‘aim for the stars, land on the moon’). My skills lie in this realm of sustainability consulting for infrastructure - Net Zero Buildings, GHG Emissions Inventory Analysis, Energy Transition, Life Cycle Assessment, Power Systems Modelling, Sustainable Infrastructure Project Development, etc.

Currently, I am Living Lab Fellow at the Office of Sustainability at Stanford, leading a high-impact project developing and institionalizing new processes to account for embodied carbon in the Stanford Project Delivery Process making a significant impact on the Scope 3 emissions inventory of the university. I am also a Research Assistant at the Osman Lab using community-based participatory research methods to study water affordability issues. Recently, I also had the opportunity of intering at WSP with their Built Ecology team that offers sustainability consulting services in the city of dreams - New York. You can find more about my achievements and projects on this website!

Beyond academics, I have been actively involved in initiatives addressing societal issues. Most Recently, I was part of the philanthropy arm of the Leaders of the Built Environment (LBE) student organization at Stanford. Back home, I was one of the student heads of Debunk, India’s 1st student-run initiative against misinformation and fake news, which was a part of Shaastra 2023. I was also a part of Mind Trials, India’s 1st student-run initiative on Behavioral Science, which was a part of Shaastra 2022, wherein the objective was to use human behavior-inspired solutions to solve pressing societal challenges. We boosted the usage of restrooms from 83% to 100% among males in 2 villages in India using 7 behavioural nudges and implemented 4 behavioural nudges, increasing the usage of foot-over bridges by 32% by pedestrians on a busy street in India.

In my spare time, you can find me breaking my head over a cryptic crossword, or dancing in solitude to kuthu songs while cooking a new recipe, or watching a good movie(shameless plug to my letterboxd).