Dr. Alessandro Rotta Loria is the Louis Berger Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Northwestern University, where he leads SOIL: the Subsurface Opportunities and Innovations Laboratory. The scientific research performed within SOIL sits at the intersection of mechanics, energy, and electrochemistry, with a central focus on the subsurface. Through a combination of theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches, this work seeks to advance fundamental understanding of how energy transfers affect the structure–property relationships of geological and granular materials. These insights aim to drive innovations in energy harvesting and storage, decarbonization, manufacturing, and construction, while promoting the conservation of natural and built environments. Alessandro is the author of the forthcoming monograph Underground Climate Change (Oxford University Press, 2026) and the co-author of the book Analysis and Design of Energy Geostructures (Elsevier Academic Press, 2019), two book chapters, five patents, and 60+ peer-reviewed journal papers. His work has been featured by media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Scientific American, CNN, BBC, The United Nations, Forbes, and Bloomberg. His research has also been exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture and presented as a TEDx Talk. He has been named World Innovator Under 35 (Top 100 list) by MIT Technology Review and has received honors including the NSF CAREER Award, the Northwestern University Curriculum Innovation Award, the ASCE EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award, the ISSMGE Bright Spark Award, and the IACMAG e-PIC Award. Alessandro is the co-founder of three startups: GEOEG, Enerdrape, and MINERALIZE.