Eliane earned her master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a specialization in Energy Systems from Carnegie Mellon University Africa. Her research focuses on the planning and implementation of technologies that enhance sustainable energy access in underserved communities.
University of Washington Electrical & Computer Engineering
Learning · Research · Impact
PhD timeline
Scroll through the milestones, or jump to a year. Scheduled activities are marked below.
2023
Summer 2023
Beginning the PhD and health-facility fieldwork
Entered PhD program at the University of Washington, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Joined IDEAS lab
Led fieldwork and qualitative data collection and analysis assessing the impact of off-grid electrification on health facilities across 4 provinces of Rwanda
Autumn 2023
Designing electrification surveys in Fiji
Developed and designed a KoboToolbox survey instrument to collect electrification data across 75 Fijian villages
Conducted a literature review on data acquisition and demand estimation practices for mini-grid planning
Designed interview and survey tools and deployed a KoboToolbox survey tool to assess current electrification-planning engagement practices with mini-grid developers across Sub-Saharan Africa
Carried out online interviews with mini-grid developers across SSA
Teaching Assistant for EE 451/551: Renewable Energy Technologies and Integration
Designed a KoboToolbox survey instrument to assess household electricity and fuel use for cooking in Kigali
Trained 20 enumerators to support field data collection
Led fieldwork engaging more than 2,000 households across six sectors of Kigali
Led household selection and distributed 350+ kettles to low-electricity-consuming households across six sectors of Kigali to assess whether electric water boiling offers a convenient, affordable, and modern alternative for cooking tasks
Conducted fieldwork across mini-grid sites in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda to understand mini-grid operational challenges, developer practices, and mini-grid consumer experience.
University of Washington Clean Energy Institute Fellow
Developed an electricity needs assessment survey instrument for both community and business capacity needs assessment for community-led renewable energy frameworks in Nigeria
Developing pipeline for operationalizing Community Asset Mapping in electrification planning
Internship at WRI as Clean Energy Research Intern, mainly working on the global flagship report on approaches to meeting global electricity demand growth
Presentation, Macro Energy Systems: "Justice by Design: Integrating Community Insights into Electrification Planning"
Presentation at IEEE PES / Power Africa, authored paper: "Toward AI-Ready Sub-Saharan African Power Systems: Empirical Assessment of Data Gaps and Utility Performance Patterns"
Survey design, demand estimation, load-profile development, and comparison of gamification with conventional surveys across 75 Fijian villages, from Autumn 2023.
Summer 2025 fieldwork across six sectors of Kigali: trained 20 enumerators, engaged more than 2,000 households, and distributed 350+ kettles to assess electric water boiling.
Interviews and surveys on minigrid planning practices, with Summer 2025 site visits in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and development of participatory planning and community asset mapping approaches.
Capacity needs assessment for community-led renewable energy frameworks, including community and business survey design and analysis from Autumn 2025 through Spring 2026.
Justice by Design: Integrating Community Insights into Electrification Planning
Macro Energy Systems presentation. Public presentation materials have not yet been added.
Conference presentation and paper · Summer 2026
Toward AI-Ready Sub-Saharan African Power Systems: Empirical Assessment of Data Gaps and Utility Performance Patterns
Presented at IEEE PES / Power Africa, as reported in the supplied timeline. A public paper link and proceedings publication status have not yet been verified.
