Ahmad Pesaran Honored with DOE Assistant Secretary's 2017 EERE Outstanding Impact Award
EERE VTO team members receive EERE Outstanding Impact Awards from Steve Chalk and Dan Simmons. From left to right: Steven Chalk (DOE, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation), Christopher Michelbacher (INL, VTO Battery and Electrification), Steven Boyd (DOE, VTO Battery and Electrification), Brian Cunningham (DOE, VTO Battery and Electrification), Samuel Gillard (DOE, VTO Battery and Electrification), Ahmad Pesaran (NREL, VTO Battery and Electrification), Daniel Simmons (DOE, EERE Acting Assistant Secretary). Photo courtesy of DOE
NREL's Energy Storage Chief Engineer Ahmad Pesaran, who is on an off-site assignment in Washington, D.C., serving as a Battery Technical Adviser to the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) has been honored with a DOE Assistant Secretary's 2017 EERE Outstanding Impact Award. He was recognized along with members of the DOE EERE VTO Battery and Electrification team including Steven Boyd (DOE), Brian Cunningham (DOE), Samuel Gillard (DOE), Lee Slezak (DOE), and Christopher Michelbacher (Idaho National Laboratory).
Pesaran and the team received the EERE Impact Award for their world-class leadership in furthering the mission at EERE with the successful development of the ground-breaking electric vehicle Extreme Fast Charging R&D Gap Assessment Research Roadmap. This roadmap provides a comprehensive assessment of the key technical barriers that need to be assessed and overcome through research in order to facilitate cost-effective, rapid-rate electric vehicle charging. The roadmap was the basis for a recent VTO Funding Opportunity Announcement for advancing Extreme Fast Charging technologies.
The Impact Awards are presented once per year and celebrate exceptional EERE team and individual contributions and accomplishments. The awards were handed out personally by Acting Assistant Secretary Daniel Simmons and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Transportation Steven Chalk last month.
Pesaran was most recently elected to the distinction of Fellow from SAE International, a U.S.-based association for engineers and other technical experts specializing in automotive, commercial-vehicle, and aerospace industries throughout the world. SAE recognized Pesaran's passion and lifelong contribution to improving lithium-ion battery performance for electric vehicles.
No stranger to inspiring colleagues, providing guidance, and fostering teamwork, Pesaran's research at NREL led to the development of three patented R&D 100 award-winning technologies: Current Interrupt Charging of Lead Acid Batteries, the Isothermal Battery Calorimeter (IBC) and the Battery Internal Short Circuit (ISC) Device.
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