Alex Cagle

Stellar scientist: Alex Cagle

School/College: College of Science and Technology
Degree: BS, environmental science, 2018
Hometown: Elm Grove, Wisconsin
Current Job Title: Business development manager
Current Employer: Noria Energy

Where the sun meets the water is where you’ll find Alex Cagle, CST ’18. At California-based startup Noria Energy, Alex helped invent cutting-edge, floatable solar arrays designed to sit atop manmade bodies of water and collect energy from the sun. In late 2024, he shifted to the company’s business development team to begin deploying the technology across the country and aid the fight against climate change.

Honoree Alex Cagle wearing a long winter coat and walking in the city

“Working with Dr. Ravi and his laboratory provided me the grant funding and mentorship to conduct a two-week experiment at the leading renewable energy laboratory in the world.”

—Alex Cagle
Business development manager

The benefits of buoyancy. Alex says that to successfully transition the U.S. to renewable energy sources, just under 1% of the country’s land would be needed for solar and wind arrays, an area larger than Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Installing solar on water bodies helps alleviate that pressure while providing additional environmental benefits.

Pitching in. Alex arrived at Temple to pursue a very different passion: soccer. A standout goalkeeper from small-town Wisconsin, he was recruited to North Broad Street by a Temple soccer coach who found Alex at a youth tournament. Highlights from a successful career with the Owls include playing in front of thousands of spectators at American Athletic Conference games, being assistant captain during his senior campaign and being named Temple’s 2017 Male Scholar-athlete of the Year.

Water break. At Temple, Alex also blossomed into a scientist. Working in the lab of College of Public Health researcher Heather Murphy, Alex helped study harmful pathogens in Philadelphia waterways which later assisted in Murphy obtaining Temple’s first-ever research grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Later, Sujith Ravi, associate professor of earth and environmental science, helped Alex secure an opportunity to travel to the world-renowned National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado and participate in a two-week solar energy experiment.

Sky’s the limit. Alex built on his education at Temple by securing a doctorate of energy systems at the University of California, Davis, where he studied floating solar arrays for his thesis. He immediately began applying knowledge he gathered throughout his studies at Noria Energy, researching the environmental impacts of its arrays and helping to develop motors that allow floating solar panels to rotate and track the sun.

Photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg
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