Professor Tea Žakula leads the Laboratory for Energy Efficiency at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, Croatia. She collaborates with numerous international research institutions and industry on the topics of advanced building control, energy modeling, and optimization. She holds a Master of Science (2010) and Doctor of Philosophy (2013) degrees obtained from the MIT (USA), with major in energy and minor in business.
During her postgraduate studies in the USA, she also did an internship at Harvard University, she was a lecturer at Northeastern University and a member of the organization Engineers without Borders. In addition to her academic work, she also serves as an expert for the European Commission in the evaluation of Horizon projects, and as a member of the Board for Energy Transition at the Office of the President of Croatia. Professor Zakula has also served as a special adviser to the minister in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy, as well as a member of several committees in the Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Science and Education. She has received numerous awards for her work, including Energy Fellowship, granted by the MIT Energy Initiative to outstanding students specifically interested in energy, Martin Fellowship, granted to outstanding MIT students for sustainability-related research, Best reviewers for IEEE TSG 2017 awarded by IEEE Power & Energy Society to the best reviewers of scientific papers and Croatian Women of Influence 2018 award that recognizes leadership, innovation and community impact.
