Every year at IDEA’s Annual Conference, we recognize a handful of students who are interested in advancing their education to prepare for a career in energy. The John Gray Scholarship, established in 2009, is named for a man who spent nearly five decades showing up for that moment himself, long before he had a scholarship named after him.
John Gray joined IDEA's Board of Directors and served as the association's president in 1991, and for nearly 50 years he was a fixture at the Annual Conference, known for taking the podium to deliver the invocation with what colleagues called his trademark wit and humility. If you've picked up an apple pin at an IDEA conference as a first-time attendee, that tradition traces back to him too. John liked to tell newcomers they were "the apple of our eye.”
A chemist by training, John joined Dearborn Chemical as a laboratory technician in 1949 and retired as senior vice-president in 1994. Along the way he formed his own corrosion consulting firm, held several patents, and was recognized by the Chemical Institute of Canada as a 50-year contributor to the profession. IDEA awarded him the Norman R. Taylor award in 1994 for his contributions to district energy. John passed away in 2015, and the scholarship in his name keeps his commitment to lifelong learning going.
This year's class of six was honored at IDEA2026 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in June 2026. This year’s recipients range from an incoming freshman to a Ph.D. candidate, and their academic homes span mechanical engineering, civil infrastructure, and applied physics. Learn more about each of this year’s recipients below.
Meet the 2026 John Gray Scholars
Thomas Bate is heading to the University of Victoria in British Columbia this September to study engineering. Originally from the UK and now living in Vancouver with his family, Tom came to IDEA2026 curious about the infrastructure and systems that keep cities running, a first look at an industry he's just beginning to explore. Outside the classroom, he plays soccer and ultimate frisbee and plans to keep both up at university.
Parker Douglas will finish his Civil Engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville this December, with a concentration in construction. A semester studying abroad in the Netherlands gave him a firsthand look at how another country approaches large-scale infrastructure, and he's carried that interest into engineering, procurement, and construction work. Parker has also competed in football and track and field throughout his time in school, and he's aiming for a career building the kind of sustainable infrastructure projects that first drew him to the field.
Felix Ekuful is a Ph.D. student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte whose path into district energy started in Ghana, where he worked as a Facility Engineer supporting chilled water and steam systems at Ghana Airport Company Limited. That experience, plus later work with data center infrastructure, shaped his interest in large-scale energy systems. He's now conducting research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Department of Energy-funded projects evaluating energy conservation measures at federal facilities. Felix is a previous John Gray Scholarship recipient and recently won the 2026 ASHRAE HVAC&R Student Paper Competition. He's headed toward a career in district energy, data centers, and AI-driven energy optimization.
Grant Harrington traces his interest in energy back to conversations with his father, an active IDEA member, growing up. That early exposure to energy systems and infrastructure has grown into a career path. Grant is now a mechanical engineering student at Oklahoma State University. He's taken on leadership roles outside the classroom as well, including serving as a job site leader through his school's community service program, and he was recently named Pi Kappa Alpha's 2025-2026 Gentleman of the Year.
Tyler Kleinsasser grew up in a family of contractors and civil engineers, and that background shows in how he's spent his time at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Alongside a 4.0 GPA, Tyler has interned with the U.S. Department of the Navy, Hensel Phelps Construction, and BNSF Railway. As leader of an Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) team, he guided the design of a sustainable tiny home intended to help address housing challenges on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and he's also helped install solar energy systems in underserved communities abroad. He's working toward becoming a licensed professional engineer and eventually starting his own consulting firm focused on district energy and resilient infrastructure.
Miranda Xu is studying mechanical engineering and applied physics at the California Institute of Technology. She recently collaborated with NASA Ames Research Center on a technical memorandum proposing a network of aerial vehicles to improve electrical utility maintenance and disaster response, and her research portfolio also includes solar valuation modeling and energy storage infrastructure. Outside her technical work, Miranda mentors students through the STEM Next Flight Crew and partners with organizations like DiscoverE to widen access to STEM education. She's looking to build on all of it through advanced research and deeper connections in the district energy community.
John Gray's patents and technical papers are part of his record, but the scholars who carry his name forward are the fuller picture of what he cared about. This year's six recipients found six different ways into engineering and infrastructure work, and each is already contributing something real to the field they're stepping into. They are, in John's words, the apple of our eye, and we're glad to see where they take district energy next.
Congratulations to this year's John Gray Scholars!
The application process for the 2027 John Gray Scholarships will be officially announced in Q4 2026. Stay tuned for detailed information on eligibility, submission requirements, and key deadlines. We look forward to celebrating the next generation of innovators and leaders in district energy.
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