Dr. Max Zhang is the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering at Cornell University. His research interests focus on energy and the environment, driven by societal impact. He studies the interactions between energy and environmental systems using numerical models and experimental techniques, in the context of air pollution, renewable energy, and deep decarbonization. Dr. Zhang’s research has led to major legislation and programs in New York, the U.S., and internationally. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Dr. Zhang’s extensive experience with Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions in the energy and environmental systems led him to create an initiative to design the first statewide public IoT network in the U.S. He believes that combining broadband with Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) is the most cost-effective way to bridge the digital divide between rural and non-rural America.