Dr. Jeslu Celine Jacob is a Sustainability Accelerator at Stanford University. She has a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. She was the first Prime Ministers Research Fellow in the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning at IIT Kharagpur. Her thesis was on developing design-based solutions for reducing operational energy in buildings through strategic planning and operation of air-conditioning. She invented a novel method termed 'Micro-Zonal Occupant-Centric Control' which reduces about 60% of HVAC energy consumption at minimal investment. Two provisional patents protect this invention. She has presented her research at several international conferences, including prestigious ASHRAE conferences (Beirut, Kuwait, Tampa, Chicago, Phoenix) and ACM conference (China).
Jeslu's research has been selected as the best 2% research across all disciplines under PMRF and is featured in the PMRF webpage (https://www.pmrf.in/01-civil-commendable-research-works)
Prior to enrolling at IIT-KGP, Jeslu was employed by KITCO Ltd. in Kochi, Kerala, as an Architect, where she was involved in several public projects, including the design and execution of Kannur International Airport. Jeslu observed that huge amount of energy was spent on cooling airports and occupants often felt uncomfortable due to over-cooling. This led her to pursue research on smart methods to reduce cooling energy in large spaces which culminated in MZOCC.
Jeslu graduated from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli as the recipient of the Gold Medal for exemplary academic credentials for bachelors in Architecture. During pre-final year of B.Arch, she was invited as a student delegate at the International Green Building Conference 2016 at Singapore, where she presented her design proposal for energy efficient housing in tropical climates and was bestowed with the 'Award of Prestige' by the Honorable Home Minister of Singapore.
Jeslu bagged the 'youth changemaker' award by ISHRAE in 2025 for her individual contribution to decarbonisation. The award was presented by the Indian Cabinet Minister of Urban Development.