Beneath the Surface: Salman Husain Ponders the Future of Work, Wave Energy, and World Stewardship
Using Models and Simulations, A Lifelong Engineer Tackles Marine Energy’s Unsolved Problems
What happens to our identities when automation and artificial intelligence (AI) make our jobs redundant?
That is one of the many provocative questions the book “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” poses to its readers, and it is the one that stuck with Salman Husain long after he read the final page.
“Across cultures, many people define themselves by their jobs, so what will we do when a machine can do our job better and cheaper?” mused Husain, who researches wave energy converter (WEC) numerical modeling at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “The question of how we spend our time outside of work becomes crucial.”
Husain predicts he would pursue many of the same activities he already enjoys—playing musical instruments (he has played keyboard, drums, bagpipes, and harmonica), playing video games (favorites include the Assassins' Creed series, Age of Empires, and Horizon Zero Dawn), and building things (computer models, model ships, robotics kits, and mechanical wooden toys called automata).
“I love complex dynamics problems—the kind that require you to think and solve puzzles,” Husain explained. “I’m lucky that, because my work and my interests align in those ways, I’ll still have plenty to keep me busy if AI takes my job.”
For now, Husain works on NREL’s marine energy research team, where, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, he creates simulations and numerical models for WECs. His models help other marine energy researchers predict how these devices will perform in real-world conditions so that they can optimize WEC design and efficiency.
"The beauty of these models is they allow us to conduct tests that would be too expensive to run physically,” Husain said. “An accurate mathematical model allows us to predict behavior in extreme situations, which, in turn, helps us create a more resilient design.”
By improving these models, Husain aims to advance renewable energy technologies in the marine environment and contribute to a diverse, growing field that combines elements of engineering, computer science, and environmental science.
“Compared to other renewable energy technologies that have arrived at a standard design, WECs are still in a ‘Wild West’ design period,” Husain said. “No two devices look the same, nor should they, because waves vary and are inherently complex.”
“Inherently complex” may be putting it mildly. The ocean is a harsh, highly dynamic environment with powerful, unpredictable waves that come from all directions. WECs must be able to withstand those waves and still capture energy efficiently. Therefore, WEC design involves complex control systems to synchronize with wave motion, maximizing energy output and ensuring durability against extreme conditions. Because of these challenges, WEC technology has yet to reach the level of performance and cost-effectiveness needed to enter the commercial market.
“Wave energy is an unsolved problem, and that’s really fascinating from an engineering perspective,” Husain said.
Born To Build
Hailing from a family of engineers, Husain has been building small models—parachutes, miniature dams, robots, and toy cars—since he was a child. Following this fascination, Husain majored in mechanical engineering as an undergrad, but as he progressed through the program, he felt called to further sharpen his focus.
“I realized I needed a type of problem I could really dive into and take ownership of—something that wasn’t yet fully understood or solved,” Husain recalled. “I had always been interested in making robots, so that led me to vehicle dynamics, where I explored suspension and how vehicles move.”
Husain began working on a Master of Science in advanced mechanical engineering at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. His final research project involved modeling vehicle dynamics for the Jaguar Land Rover—a formative experience.
Husain—shown here graduating from his master’s program at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom—has always been interested in the mechanics of vehicle movement. Photo by Salman Husain, NREL
Husain went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University, focusing on ocean engineering, dynamics, and control engineering. Thanks to his advisors, he learned about wave energy, a “fascinating, open-ended problem,” as he put it, and one to which he could apply some of the principles of robotics and vehicle dynamics.
“Wave energy conversion is like a car’s suspension system but on a flexible road that is constantly in motion,” Husain explained. “The WEC can’t just passively bob around; it has to actively work with the wave to get greater power.”
As he neared the end of his Ph.D. program, Husain’s mother asked if he had started searching for a job.
“Most of the papers I cited during my Ph.D. were written by researchers at this famous lab called NREL, so, to get my mum off my back, I applied for an intern position there,” Husain said. “Much to my surprise, I landed the position. I interned at NREL during the final year of my Ph.D., and then they hired me as a full-time researcher.”
Powering Wave Energy’s Progress
While earning his Ph.D. at Michigan Technological University, Husain learned about the field of wave energy—a discovery that led to his current role as a water power researcher at NREL. Photo by Salman Husain, NREL
For Husain, working at a national laboratory feels like the perfect intersection of academia and industry.
“In academia, teaching, grading, and administrative tasks limit your time and resources for research,” Husain said. “In industry, you’re often tied to a specific product and can’t always approach problems objectively. At a national lab, you get both resources and freedom to pursue your research and maintain an unbiased perspective.”
That intellectual freedom is a big source of Husain’s job satisfaction.
“Wave energy, being such an open-ended, unsolved problem, allows me to explore many different fields, which really satisfies my natural curiosity,” Husain said. “In some projects, I’m diving into computer science, coding in C++ [a computer programming language]. For others, I’m pulling out fluid dynamics principles from the 1800s, trying to understand flow dynamics in pipes.”
In his time at NREL, Husain has developed advanced simulations and open-source tools to model WECs, helping push the field toward more efficient and viable designs. He has served as the principal investigator for more than six rounds of the Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program, which pairs promising marine energy startups with experts at national laboratories, universities, and other partners.
“The TEAMER projects are great because we get to work with industry applicants to model their concepts and make them more viable,” Husain said. “Often, they’re able to secure additional funding based on the models we provide, which is really rewarding.”
Husain also leads the Variable Geometry WEC Design project, which investigates devices that can actively change their geometry for increased energy extraction, more extreme loads, and lower costs. Husain’s paper on this work won the Best Paper Award at the 2024 International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering.
Husain and his team have made several other major advances at NREL, moving from a closed-source, MATLAB-based tool—WEC-Sim—to an open-source C++ model that is 100 times faster and widely used across industries. Husain’s team is also developing a new tool called SEA-Stack, which will enable more complex, realistic WEC modeling. Recently, Husain co-filed a provisional patent for a hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle powered by WECs.
After working in wave energy for several years, Husain continues to see wave energy as both a complex challenge and a uniquely rewarding pursuit.
“Wave energy combines civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, as well as computer science and robotics,” Husain said. “That’s a huge part of why it’s been such a challenging problem but also what makes it so important and rewarding to solve.”
He also sees the technology’s market penetration as challenging but achievable—and his work as a way to overcome the challenge.
“With new commercial deployments and more advanced applications, the landscape—or seascape—for wave energy has changed,” Husain said. “With good numerical models, we can build confidence for investors and agencies. That confidence allows for meaningful investment—and therefore advancement—in the field.”
Citizen of Earth
Having traveled widely for his studies, Husain, shown here in Paris, gained a global perspective that deepened his commitment to environmentalism. Photo by Salman Husain, NREL
Finally, Husain finds a powerful motivator in wave energy’s potential to provide carbon-free electricity.
“Climate change is a major driver,” Husain said. “We need sustainable energy sources, and that’s a big part of why I’m in this field.”
Reflecting on the path that led him to NREL, Husain recognizes that having opportunities to travel—from his master’s program in England to his Ph.D. program in Michigan—fostered a desire to do work that helps protect the planet we call home.
“I don’t have roots; I have feet,” Husain said. “Traveling and interacting with people all over the world made me a humanist and an environmentalist because those experiences helped me see that, like the 1968 ‘Earthrise’ photo shows, we’re all from the same place.”
Learn more about how NREL’s experts are helping advance hydropower. And subscribe to the NREL water power newsletter, The Current, for the latest news on NREL's water power research.