Feel the Energy: How Chevron Invests in Aggies To Power the Future

Chevron and the Texas A&M Energy Institute team up to empower graduate students’ research and learning in the energy sector.

By Lindsay Newcomer ’07

August 4, 2026

Energy reaches all of us. Whether through electricity, heating and cooling, or vehicles, energy impacts our everyday lives in more ways than one.

As a world leader in energy solutions, Chevron, together with the Texas A&M Energy Institute, launched the Texas A&M Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows program. This program offers not only significant funding to its recipients but also the opportunity to be mentored by experts at Chevron and Texas A&M University faculty.

"By supporting top graduate students, we’re developing future industry leaders and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry."
Chris Dillon

“By supporting top graduate students, we’re developing future industry leaders and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry,” explained Chris Dillon, general manager of external innovation at Chevron.

Ten fellows were selected for the 2025-26 school year after an extensive and competitive application and interview process. Each fellow is both a graduate student and researcher at Texas A&M in a discipline focused on energy, with active research efforts.

“The Texas A&M Energy Institute seeks to advance energy research, education and scholarship across the Texas A&M campus and around the world,” said Jeff Sammons, associate executive director of the institute. “This partnership with Chevron is a potent way to bring the innovations at Texas A&M to the world and vice versa.”

He continued, “These fellows get a triple benefit: a scholarship toward their education, opportunity to work under the guidance of excellent professors at Texas A&M and the ability to interact with subject matter experts at Chevron who are deploying innovations and advancements at scale around the globe.”

Last academic year was the program’s inaugural year, but fellowships will be given annually.

Dillon looks forward to the future. He explained, “Chevron expects collaboration through the program to only get stronger in the coming years, further aligning academic research and talent development with evolving energy system needs.”

Meet a few of the program’s inaugural fellows and see the topics they’re tackling to help advance the future of the energy industry.

Emily Payne ’22 ’26

Mechanical Engineering

Emily Payne ’22 ’26 first became interested in engineering during a high school fashion class. Although two different subject matters, the fashion class showed her how much she enjoyed constructing different parts and solutions to reach a result.

Payne visited several college campuses but chose Texas A&M because it felt like home. “It’s like when you walk through the front door of your house and feel a kind of relief and just breathe,” she said. “Texas A&M is a place where if somebody needs help, someone will give it to them. There’s an attitude of generosity.”

The Chevron Energy Graduate Fellowship program reinforces the spirit of generosity in Aggieland.

Payne reflected, “To receive a gift like that is life-changing. It lifted some financial burdens for me as a graduate student that I couldn't fathom at the time.”

Payne’s research focuses on the power grid, which creates solutions for various kinds of infrastructure. She studies how disturbances such as wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather affect the environment and ecology. These findings both help mitigate risks to the power grid while also strengthening it to respond better and become more resilient overall.

“My No. 1 long-term career goal is to always keep learning at my job,” Payne explained. “You can never reach a place where you know everything. And if you feel like you do know everything, it's time to re-examine yourself."

Payne graduated this May with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, with a focus on power systems engineering. After a honeymoon in Italy, she’ll begin a role as senior professional staff at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Siddhesh Shirish Borkar ’23 ’27

Chemical Engineering

Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Siddhesh Shirish Borkar ’23 ’27 noticed a substantial amount of pollution and general mismanagement of waste around him. As a young adult and student of chemical engineering, Borkar was mindful of how long plastic waste can take to degrade in the ecosystem and how recycled plastic waste could be used to aid energy solutions.

Photo provided by Siddhesh Shirish Borkar ’23 ’27

“I want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by using waste plastics as a raw material to produce valuable chemicals rather than throwing the plastics away,” Borkar explained.

Borkar chose Texas A&M to continue his studies because of its excellent chemical engineering program, as well as its specific research on catalysis, which is the process of using catalytic materials to enable or accelerate chemical reactions (i.e. plastic conversion).

He was honored to receive the fellowship because of the way it affirmed the value of his research ideas and pursuits thus far.

“My work may not be directly related to what Chevron does, but it is indirectly contributing to some of the topics they're interested in, such as decarbonization and sustainability,” he noted. “This fellowship broadened my perspective on how my research fits into a bigger picture.”

In his daily life, Borkar looks for ways to reduce his own plastic consumption. He strives to use ceramic glassware, metal straws, wooden cutting boards and cloth grocery bags, all of which can be reused.

After finishing his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2027, Borkar wants to eventually start his own company or consulting firm, with its focus on helping the environment.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity from Chevron and the Texas A&M Energy Institute,” he said. “I’m as excited now as I was when I first got the news of receiving the fellowship.”

Halil Iseri ’27

Interdisciplinary Engineering

One of Halil Iseri’s first childhood memories is at home in Turkiye. He remembers being in his dark bedroom watching his father using a globe and a light to demonstrate how a solar eclipse works. This early moment sparked Iseri’s interest in learning how things really work.

As a young adult, Iseri ’27 spent 13 years working in a petroleum refinery. He enjoyed leading as a mid-level manager to complete large-scale interdisciplinary projects. But when he was given the opportunity to advance to a senior management position, he took a pause.

“I thought, this kind of opportunity might come again, but the opportunity to explore my scientific background and dedicate myself to research… that felt more time sensitive,” he explained.

With a renewed goal in mind, Iseri completed two master’s degrees and served as a pilot cadet for Turkish Airlines. His next move? Texas A&M.

Iseri was drawn to Texas A&M because of its proximity to energy leaders and thinkers, like Chevron and his now advisor, Dr. Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos.

Receiving the Chevron Energy Graduate Fellowship deepened Iseri’s research drive and confidence. “Chevron understands energy and modern challenges better than most people and companies do,” he explained. “Their support motivates me to continue asking ambitious research questions and dream about even more impactful research.”

Iseri’s research is on the adaptive design and intelligent operations of energy systems and supply chains, which uses mathematical modeling, optimization and machine learning.

Expecting to graduate with a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering in 2027, Iseri is open to returning to the corporate sector or staying in academia.

He reflected, “I will stay open-minded about opportunities, but I'm very clear about my mission: I want to add value to mankind by helping design energy and industrial systems that are more cost effective, sustainable, and resilient and more importantly make positive intellectual impacts that will outlast my life and benefit humankind.”

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