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Luke Woodhouse brings together passion for engineering, conservation and the outdoors at ACEP

February 24, 2025
By Yuri Bult-Ito

Luke Woodhouse has always striven to minimize his environmental footprint in the things he does. And he has always loved engineering.

“But it wasn’t until my last year as an undergraduate that I made the connection between conservation and a potential career path in engineering,” said Woodhouse, who joined ACEP in November as a research professional for its marine energy program.

Woodhouse’s work involves project management and engineering research for the program. For the management end of things, he documents and keeps track of the many projects that the team is working on.

As part of research, Woodhouse applies his skills in mechanical design and computer modeling on the team’s various projects both at the Tanana River Hydrokinetic Test Site, or TRTS, located in Nenana, and in other remote Alaska communities. Current projects include developing upgrades for TRTS’s infrastructure such as its power system and solar array. He is also working with the research team to develop debris-detection methods and avoidance systems.

“Luke has been a great addition to the team,” said Ben Loeffler, research professional and co-director of the . “He is motivated and diligent in his work and has added much needed capacity to the ACEP-PMEC team in engineering design and project management.”

Woodhouse received his B.S. in mechanical engineering with a minor in conservation biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2024.

While working on a research project during the last year of his studies, Woodhouse crossed paths extensively with the field of concentrated solar power, or CSP. CSP is a type of solar thermal energy technology that uses mirrors to generate electricity. Unlike photovoltaic solar panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, CPS uses mirrors to reflect natural sunlight onto a receiver. The receiver then converts the sunlight into heat, which produces steam to drive the turbine and generate electricity.

His research project got him interested in renewable energy, which led him to apply for a post-graduate internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Contrary to his expectation that he would be working in Colorado, where NREL headquarters is located, Woodhouse received an offer from the NREL Fairbanks office.

“Alaska was the furthest thing from my mind when applying to a lab based in Colorado,” he laughed.

But, as someone who is always open to new experiences, he took the job and flew to Fairbanks a few days later.

He turned out to be one of the many people who have fallen in love with Fairbanks and made it their home.

“By the time my 10-week internship had run its course, I knew I wanted to stay,” he said.

At the NREL facility, just across from ACEP, Woodhouse worked on a team that was developing a process to manufacture a novel insulation material made from wood fiber and mycelium (fungus).

ACEP had been on his radar since the beginning of his NREL internship. He was elated to join ACEP upon completion of his internship.

An outdoors enthusiast, Woodhouse spends time backpacking, camping, skiing, running and kayaking in Fairbanks or while on vacation. He also enjoys cooking and reading.