Sustainability Graduate Spotlight - Joe Borza
Businesses and organisations have a better chance to achieve their net-zero targets faster if they adapt to digital technologies as part of their overall emissions reduction plan. But if these transitions are to make impact they need to be scaled across all sectors to achieve the market transformation needed to close the gap on national and global targets.
In this fourth edition of the Sustainability Graduate Spotlight series, we are focusing on SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and shining a spotlight on Joe Borza who is a graduate of the former Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
Joe Borza
Joe is an engineer, leading one of Ireland's most exciting and fast growing sustainability startups EnergyElephant, which he co-founded with fellow engineer Eoin Farrell. Together, their mission is to help people make better energy and sustainability decisions with their data. Their customers range from international banks, multinational tech companies, local authorities and universities all the way down to cinemas, pubs and hotels. EnergyElephant has won numerous international awards for its work, culminating in being named as the only Irish company in 2023 to be part of the top 100 climate tech startups globally as listed by the SET 100 awards - which is led by the World Energy Council and the German Energy Agency.
We met with Joe to learn more about his career since studying at TU Dublin, and the exciting developments at EnergyElephant. Joe described some of EnergyElephant’s current challenges, including how to hire the best team players, expanding international sales and the prioritisation of the technical product development pipeline. One of EnergyElephant’s most exciting new developments include an upgrade to their iOS/Android app, which allows people around the World to simply take a photo of their meter to collect a meter reading.
Educational Experience
We heard from Joe about what motivated him to study at DIT in 2005 and learnt that he wanted to become more specialised in sustainability as this was the area that he was most passionate about, and he was interested in the MSc in Sustainable Development TU205 at TU Dublin (previously DT118 at DIT), which is delivered by the School of Architecture, Building and Environment.
Joe described to us that “The course offered a range of content that I had not studied in my previous engineering undergrad degree, such as economics, social policy and geographic information systems.
Joe added: “I grew up close by to Bolton Street and had a few friends who had studied at the University there and they had recommended that it was a great place to get hands-on experience for any career path I might be looking at.”
Applying new Skills and Knowledge
Joe told us about the new knowledge which he obtained from studying Sustainable Development and how these new skills enhanced his approach to project development.
Joe described: “One of the key skills and learnings I got from my studies at TU Dublin was the importance of communication and to use critical thinking when assessing any project. As an engineer by background, I always find it easier to communicate to other engineers and it is important for the profession that we get better at communicating complex challenges to non-engineers (as they greatly outnumber us!).”
What does #TUDublinSustainability mean to you?
For me, #TUDublinSustainability means walking the walk, not just talking the talk, when it comes to sustainability at a local and global level.