2025 Suzanne Berger Future Global Leader

We caught up with Wilhem Hector '25, a mechanical engineering major, at the Pappalardo Lab, where he spends most of his time while at MIT. Watch our interview with Hector below. Hector received the 2025 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders through his passion for wind energy and drive to empower young people in Haiti through education. His first MISTI experience was an internship at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Wind Energy, where he collaborated with senior researchers to develop computer models that perform wind farm optimizations. During his sophomore and senior years, he went to South Africa and Spain for Global Teaching Labs, respectively. 

1. Why did you include MISTI during your time at MIT? 

These are three of the reasons why I would not have my MIT journey without MISTI:

• Interacting with people from other cultures unlocks new personality traits and professional skills. After spending weeks around South Africans, I intentionally approach people to share love and joy. I model almost everything I do in wind energy science after the work that the Danish Technical University does. Today, I have much more appreciation for my cultural heritage after seeing how my Spanish host family cherished theirs. I cannot imagine my way of life today without these traits. Yet, I would have never acquired them without my MISTI experiences.

• MISTI is also one of the biggest tests of maturity one can face during one's college career. Settling in foreign countries is challenging. Thanks to MISTI, I grew confident in my ability to support myself in unknown situations. Whether it is sorting flights and accommodation, seeking health services, budgeting, or even learning the local languages, I cultivated better organization skills so I could be reliable for myself. These qualities will be applicable beyond my MISTI experiences or my time at MIT.

• Lastly, MISTI offers professional and academic opportunities that can propel one’s career. I interned in wind energy science in Denmark, the summer after my freshman year. Since then, wind energy has been all I have done at MIT. I completed 6 semesters of UROP in wind energy, worked twice for a wind energy startup, developed a wind energy simulation course for students in South Africa, and just completed my thesis in wind farm control. After MIT, I will pursue my PhD in energy systems to hopefully design and build wind energy facilities worldwide. It all started with my MISTI in Denmark.

2. Most memorable moment(s)

My most memorable moments revolve around seeing the smiles that science brought to my students. The GTL experiences are short. Thus, one can never expose the students to every concept. However, giving them a glimpse of what they could do with science is enough to fire them for weeks. I typically start all my classes with the "build challenge." Students are split in teams of 3 and get some cardboard, scissors, and some tape. The task: build the tallest structure possible that can stand on its own. This activity is everyone’s favorite. Students mingle, share their creativity, scream, and roll on the floor, and unconsciously develop an understanding of the fundamentals of engineering design. It is almost fascinating how a simple science activity can influence a student’s mood. I am grateful to be able to share the magic of science with others.

I also think about my cultural interactions almost every day. Traveling is an opportunity to become a socially conscious thinker. Thus, I take every opportunity to learn about other people and cultures to heart. I have been lucky to find a community among people who cherish their cultures during my MISTI experiences. I hung out with South-African historians who taught me a good bit about the Apartheid revolution and how it shaped modern black identity. I went to school in Norway and had a lot of Danish friends. During my summer in Denmark, I visited their family and saw the Danish humble lifestyle and passion for the arts firsthand. My host family in Spain knew everything about Barcelona, its architecture, and politics. I was immersed in the country’s history and learn a ton. I also benefited from being in a Spanish-speaking environment. I am now almost fluent in Spanish.

3. What key professional lesson did you take away?

Things never go according to plan. However, one can always work around roadblocks by asking for help and redirecting resources. 

4. Why should someone in your major do a MISTI? 

MIT Mechanical Engineering is not only the best major to learn how to make things, but it is also the best at empowering you to change the world. When one builds something to completion, they feel like they can build and fix almost anything. This feeling extrapolates to solving global challenges. Everybody from students to faculty is committed to addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Being surrounded by such individuals creates a true sense of empowerment within me. And I think this empowerment needs to be shared with others. 

It is one thing to say that I attend the world’s leading institution for learning and innovation; it is nother thing to say that I can freely channel resources from this institution to communities where they are most needed. Traveling through MISTI for internships or GTL allowed me to inspire others to do things like MIT MechE. The best part about sharing these ideas is that the effects multiply. Once someone gets a taste of that empowerment, they automatically get the urge to empower someone else. All MechE students should go around the world and spread the MechE way. 

5. What were some classes you took that directly had an impact on your experience abroad through MISTI? 

Most of the STEM workshops I have led during my GTL experiences have come from MIT classes. I have taught the 2.678 Line Following Robot in South Africa and Spain. I adopted CAD workshops from 2.007 in my teaching and used resources from 1.086 in my wind energy simulation course. I have also applied many of the principles from the Edgerton Center maker spaces while helping establish the maker community in a high school in Spain.

6. What’s next for you, and how did MISTI influence your path? 

After MIT, I will pursue a PhD in Energy Systems at the University of Oxford as the first-ever Rhodes Scholar from Haiti. 

My MISTI experience has been instrumental in my postgraduate school success. My internship in Denmark set the foundation for my passion for wind energy. Three years later, I am doing the same things I did that summer. I plan to continue building on these skills during my PhD in Energy Systems. 

My MISTI experience also allowed me to develop the qualities of a global citizen that were attractive to the programs I applied for. I learn to appreciate cultural differences and use them to stimulate growth. I also developed a stronger appreciation for my cultural heritage after being inspired by my friends in South Africa, Denmark, and Spain. This appreciation motivates me to be intentional about helping people discover Haiti through my story.