Elea Seidlmann

Elea is a master’s student in Energy Science and Technology. She joined the Energy and Technology Policy Group in August 2024 to work on her master’s thesis, focusing on the future carbon footprint of battery raw materials.

Elea completed her bachelor’s degree in Microengineering at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (external page EPFL), during which she spent a year abroad at the Technical University of Denmark (external page DTU). During this exchange, she had the opportunity to explore courses outside the Microengineering curriculum, leading her to discover the world of energy systems. Elea quickly became passionate about the interdisciplinary nature of the field and its relevance in the transition towards sustainability. Her passion for energy systems was further reinforced through summer internships at the Austrian Transmission System Operator (external page APG), where she worked on future European electricity market designs and sector-coupled models of the European energy system.

Throughout her master’s degree, Elea often worked on flexibility in electric power systems. During an internship at external page Axpo, she was part of a team focusing on flexible assets such as batteries, demand-response units, and flexible generation resources used to stabilize the grid. Experiencing the rapid growth in demand for batteries in this field sparked her interest in the critical role of minerals in the energy transition.

In her free time, Elea enjoys outdoor sports and often meets with friends to explore Switzerland through swimming, hiking, or biking. She is also actively involved in student organizations, where she organizes debates, discussions, and presentations to engage students from diverse backgrounds on various aspects of the energy transition.