Jatin Nathwani

Professor Nathwani is one of Canada’s foremost experts and thought leaders on sustainable energy policy and technology governance. He has held leadership positions at the University of Waterloo and within numerous governmental, academic and civil society organizations where he has made significant contributions to the development of science in support of sustainable energy policy. These contributions have had a profound influence on energy policy research, capacity building, and community-building, all in support of transitioning global and national energy systems towards more just and sustainable outcomes.

Professor Nathwani is the founding Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) and held the prestigious inaugural Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy (2007-2020) at the University of Waterloo. At WISE, he led research initiatives on accelerating energy transitions for a zero-carbon economy through systems assessments of technology choices, financing strategies, risk management and public policy interventions.

He currently co-directs, with Professor Joachim Knebel at Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Germany the global change initiative ‘Affordable Energy for Humanity’ (AE4H), comprising 150+ leading STEM experts, social scientists, and practitioners from 50+ institutions in 30 countries committed to eradicating energy poverty. As the Scientific Committee member of the International Conference on improving energy access through Solar & Hybrid Mini Grids, he continues to advance the capacity of research, business and NGO communities in the global south to empower the most disadvantaged global citizens.

Development of the next generation of social enterprises and systems for social value creation is part of his vision. He has turned his attention to bridging the gaps emerging between STEM and social science disciplines to respond to the broader governance challenges in the public policy sphere. As Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, he leads the research cluster ‘STEM for Global Resilience’, co-Directs the BSIA ‘Technology Governance Summer School’ and chairs the BSIA ‘Technology Governance Initiative.’ He is dedicated to shaping the discourse at the nexus of technology, innovation, social and economic policy.

Prior to his academic appointment, Professor Nathwani worked in a leadership capacity in the Canadian energy sector for 30 years. He has provided policy advice to the federal and the provincial governments. Professor Nathwani was a key contributor to Ontario’s ‘Integrated Power System Plan,’ – a response to Ontario’s electricity sector crisis of 2004 – and was instrumental in embedding the principles of environmental sustainability at all stages of planning. One tangible outcome of this planning exercise was Ontario’s effective exit from coal generation without compromising reliability and security of supply. Ontario remains the first jurisdiction in North America to accomplish this goal of achieving a low-carbon electricity system.

With the emergence of the digital technologies, he participated actively in the work of the Ontario Smart Grid Forum (ETNO) and the Canadian Council of Academies (CCA) national panel on ICT and intelligent interconnected systems for ‘Greening Canada,’ and he continues to serve as Chair of the UNENE Board (2008-2014; reappointed 2018 -) where has been instrumental in shaping advanced research, education and capacity building to support Canada’s nuclear sector. UNENE is a national partnership of industry and university networks of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering and Sciences.

Professor Nathwani holds: B.A.Sc.(1974), M.A.Sc. (1976) and PhD (1979) in Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario. He serves on several Boards at the provincial and national levels and has appeared frequently in the media (print, TV, radio) and has over 200 publications related to energy policy, environmental sustainability, energy system technologies and risk management.