My talk will convey my academic journey where I explored femtosecond spectroscopic implementation in various interfaces and how I steered my educational career to the energy transition campus of a Big oil company. Sustainability and the increasing need for cleaner energy solutions have inspired my research since grad school where I explored (i) the mechanisms for efficiency enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cells, (ii) functionalized nano interfaces for more durable optoelectronics, and lately during my post-doctoral associate years, I delved into the world of catalysts with potential use for used for CO2 reduction. The hardships while trying to mimic the photosynthetic process in the lab scale introduced me to many limitations, and challenges embedded in the academic outfit. This later inspired me to make a detour from the traditional and obvious academic pathways. I continue to work on the characterization and development of new-generation catalytic and sorbent materials. Today I will review some of my recent work that we did in collaboration with ICTP to improve the fundamental understanding of molecular arrangement at the ionic interfaces which determines interfacial properties and how I translate my academic knowledge to navigate in a big corporation.