Michael Siemann received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland specializing in the Thermal, Fluid, and Energy Sciences. His research interests include building energy modeling, HVAC, optimization, and energy markets. Dr. Siemann is working at Earth Networks as an Energy Research Scientist through his Postdoc position at the Phase Change Heat Transfer Lab at UMD. The research presented in his PhD dissertation builds the backbone of the SmartHome project. He has presented his work at ASHRAE and REHVA international conferences and was the captain of the first-place UMD team in the Department of Energy MaxTech and Beyond: Ultra-Low Energy Appliance Design Competition in 2012.