Wednesday, October 01, 2008

A new management team takes charge at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today. The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC was awarded a five-year contract to manage and operate the Laboratory on July 29. The new equally-owned management entity pairs two non-profit organizations—Midwest Research Institute (MRI) and Battelle—in a partnership that will enhance NREL’s leadership and provide greater, more innovative impact on accelerating achievement of national energy goals.

Dan Arvizu will continue to lead NREL as the Laboratory’s director and Alliance president. The Alliance brings in some new high-level managers, and changes the responsibilities of others.

William Glover, Deputy Laboratory Director, Chief Operating Officer, will have authority over all Laboratory operations and business systems. He has a broad background in facility operations and maintenance, and technical, personnel, and business management. Glover has managed NREL operations since 2006.

Joe Gantos, Executive Director, Environment, Health, Safety, Security & Quality, comes to NREL from Battelle Science and Technology International.

Bobi Garrett, Senior Vice President, Outreach, Planning and Analysis, will have authority for NREL's integrated analysis and strategic planning functions. She has 29 years of experience in energy and environmental research and development and analysis for both government and commercial companies. Garrett most recently has been responsible for NREL's strategic development and analysis and has been serving as interim Associate Director for Renewable Electricity Science and Technology.

Robert McGrath, Deputy Laboratory Director, Science & Technology, will lead all aspects of the Laboratory's science and technology development. He has 27 years experience in government lab, industry and academic settings, including managing Ohio State University's $720 million annual research program. Reporting to McGrath will be:

Robert Hawsey, Associate Laboratory Director for Renewable Electricity and End Use Systems, comes from Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he led ORNL's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program. He will lead NREL's research on renewable electricity and buildings technologies with a focus on accelerating the impact these technologies can have on our nation’s electricity system.

Dale Gardner, Associate Laboratory Director for Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Systems, will continue to lead NREL's research on renewable fuels and advanced vehicles, with emphasis on increasing industry and stakeholder partnerships. He has 18 years of research and systems management experience.

Ray Stults, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Sciences will continue to lead NREL's work in the energy sciences, with a focus on growing the Lab's foundational science in biology, chemistry, physics, materials and computer sciences. He has more than 30 years experience in developing and managing fundamental research and development programs.

Larry Kazmerski will move from directing the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) at NREL to be the Laboratory’s first executive director of Science & Technology Partnerships. In this role, Kazmerski will develop collaborations among universities and other research organizations nationally and internationally. He has led the NCPV for 10 years, and worked at NREL for more than 30 years.

Casey Porto, Senior Vice President for Commercialization and Deployment will lead NREL's commercialization and deployment activities. She comes from Oak Ridge National Laboratory where she implemented a royalty-based maturation fund program and a privately funded technology transfer program. Reporting to Porto will be:

William Farris, Vice President for Commercialization and Technology Transfer, will lead NREL's efforts to accelerate commercialization and transfer of the Laboratory's technologies to the marketplace. Farris comes from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and has almost 20 years of experience in technology commercialization in the DOE laboratory environment.

Mike Pacheco, Vice President for Deployment and Industry Partnerships, will lead the Laboratory's efforts in deployment and major industry partnerships. Pacheco previously served as Director of the National Bioenergy Center at NREL. He has 22 years of industry experience that includes serving as the chief technology officer at Archer Daniels Midland.

The Alliance will be governed by a 15-member Board of Directors composed of five executives each from MRI and Battelle, as well as representatives from five key collaborating universities, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.