How does a real-world, community–centered, and expeditionary education materialize in the real world for Watershed graduates? For alumnus Kevin Freymiller ‘13, the academic, social, and cultural lessons he learned at Watershed have certainly been put to good use at each turn of his professional and personal journey thus far. We recently caught up with Kevin, on the heels of receiving the Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship for his doctoral research on the complex relationship between electric vehicles (EVs) and the transportation systems in the U.S. that currently support them, specifically during the morning commute. His work centers around optimizing the logistics surrounding the growing number of EVs on the road, decreasing congestion in heavily trafficked areas.
WS: Congratulations on receiving the Eisenhower Fellowship! This achievement clearly took an outstanding amount of hard work. Can you talk a little bit about your academic journey to this point?
KF: I’ve taken a long and winding path to get where I am today. I knew when I was at Watershed that I was interested in science and engineering and wanted to work in some technical field. I ended up choosing Reed College, but since they lacked an engineering department, I chose physics as my major and worked as a Senior Reactor Operator at the nuclear reactor on campus. I enjoyed this for a few years, but found myself longing for more impact on the world. After college, I expanded my search beyond work in physics and found myself at a civil engineering firm in Santa Rosa, California, where I worked on construction plans. Through this work I discovered that I was very interested in transportation, shifting my career trajectory. I decided to pursue an MS at Carnegie Mellon. There, I discovered their unique approach to engineering with a focus on computing and AI. At that time I had no plans to pursue a Ph.D., even with my advisor pushing me in that direction. It wasn’t until after I started my summer internship in transportation that I discovered I had ended up right where I had started, working on the same types of construction plans that no longer really held my interest. Since then, I have switched my coursework to focus on more advanced research topics in engineering and machine learning, and now I am solely focused on my research work.
WS: Tell us a little more your current doctoral research and the objectives you have for your work with electric vehicle logistics.
KF: My current research seeks to understand the mutual influence between transportation systems and electric grid systems that come about through EVs and EV charging. When and where people choose to charge their electric vehicle matters a great deal to our infrastructure, which is already under strain. There is an active body of research seeking to optimize what we have already built. My most recent project was focused on using EV charge price variations to reduce congestion and to optimally schedule EV charging to reduce grid impacts. My next project will focus on detailed simulations of the transportation network and electric grid to understand the constraints on charger station placement, grid capacity, and road capacity.
WS: Academically, what courses in particular, maybe even starting all the way back at Watershed, ignited your passion for physics and engineering and perhaps pushed you towards Reed College and into your current field of study?
KF: I think that because my father was an engineer, I always had an interest in the field. At Watershed, I think I pursued this interest by working on projects in a systematic way. I appreciate all the opportunities I had to create art in my own way and to work on projects that interested me. I recall working in a group to create and edit videos both in and out of class, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to plan and bring to life a vision for something in an engineering kind of way.
I ended up choosing Reed because it embodied the same type of radical curiosity in its community that Watershed taught me, and led me to thrive socially in that environment. Working in civil engineering, I realized how interconnected human systems are, and I sought out work in transportation as a way to directly focus on these interconnections.
WS: Can you talk about any lessons from Watershed that you still carry with you, either academic or personal?
KF: The greatest thing that I took from Watershed has to be my interpersonal skills. Besides the wonderful and important courses that made us understand the world we live in, working daily with peers, traveling without much personal space, and being given the time to deal with the issues we faced as teens really taught me how to be a good person in the world. Perhaps I carry this today, but these skills really paid off for me in college. I found myself comfortable getting along and working with others, and I was ready to jump into learning and building community with diverse groups of people.
Another lesson that I still carry with me today from Watershed is to relentlessly pursue my own curiosity. I think many schools do a good job of stifling this, and I find that I am unique among my peers in my eagerness to pursue things that truly interest me. From a work perspective, I find myself learning about some tangential topics but am able to bring them together for a more holistic perspective. In my personal life, I’ve continued to gain deep knowledge about real issues in the world, knowing that I’m capable of addressing them with what I’ve learned.
WS: What are your big plans for the future?
KF: As I work through my Ph.D., I’m starting to piece together some career plans, and am looking for opportunities to make the world a better place by tackling climate change. I’d like to work on practical research that allows me to use all the computer skills I’ve gained but still stays rooted in the real world.
Thank you for catching us up on your achievements since your time at Watershed! Good luck with all of the impactful work you’re doing, and we know we’ll continue to hear great things from you in the future, Kevin!
