Event
CHBE Seminar: Dr. Aaron Fisher, Ernest Maier Inc.
Friday, December 12, 2025
11:00 a.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Patricia Lorenzana
301-405-1935
plorenza@umd.edu
Charting a Sustainable Career Outside Academia + A Deeper Dive on Sustainability
Abstract: Charting a career path outside of academia, requires recognizing the environment and adapting. Since graduating from the University of Maryland with a doctorate in 2012, Dr. Fisher has worked for the federal government, non-profits, and private enterprises. Each organizational environment values different attributes, which can advantage and disadvantage having a Ph.D. In recounting his path, Dr. Fisher hopes to impart wisdom and a bit of self-awareness as folks look to their next career steps.
Dr. Fisher will also talk through how sustainability initiatives have both underwhelmed and overachieved. Sustainability is a goal, within a constellation of competing goals. Innovations and ideas need to be able to scale in the face of human inertia. In the built environment a narrow focus on embodied carbon has led to overlooking total lifecycle emissions. Additionally a narrow focus on carbon, has led us straight into problems with water, biodiversity, and endocrine. Both things that we are familiar with (masonry) and are new (fiberglass rebar) can help us address this issue. Simply put the engineering that got us into this mess, won't be the same that gets us out of this problem.
Bio: Dr. Aaron Fisher has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Chemistry from Duke University. He is currently the Vice President of Business Development for Ernest Maier; a family-owned company. Dr. Fisher is responsible for PaveDrain a heavy duty, low-maintenance permeable pavement and fiberglass rebar, a stronger, more sustainable, corrosion-proof alternative to steel rebar. Dr. Fisher has a deep technical background in all aspects of sustainability. He has served as a contractor to several programmatic offices within the U.S. Department of Energy- Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office. He has also led the innovation program at Water Research Foundation on behalf of wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water utilities across the United States.
