DOE Recognizes NREL Hydrogen Researchers at 2024 Annual Merit Review Awards
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program recently honored five National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers for their outstanding achievements at the 2024 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting.
Each year, the DOE Hydrogen Program presents awards to recognize contributions to the overall efforts of the program and research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) achievements in specific subprogram areas.
Special Recognition—Keith Wipke
Keith Wipke (right) receives his award plaque from Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Chief Scientist Eric Miller (left) and Director Sunita Satyapal (center).
NREL’s Keith Wipke received a Special Recognition Award for outstanding impact in the advancement of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. During his 12-year tenure as the NREL laboratory program manager for these technologies, Wipke consistently spearheads cutting-edge RD&D activities at the laboratory, serves as NREL’s senior representative to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership, and actively participates in the Colorado Hydrogen Network. Wipke is a recognized leader in stakeholder engagement, bringing together communities from industry, academia, and the national laboratories.
Safety, Codes and Standards; Systems Development and Integration; and Hydrogen Infrastructure—Shaun Onorato, Taichi Kuroki, and Jamie Kee
Shaun Onorato, Taichi Kuroki, and Jamie Kee of NREL, along with team members Krishna Reddi of Argonne National Laboratory and Lauren Mattar of NextEnergy, were recognized by three subprograms for their outstanding leadership and contributions to develop, assess, and validate heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicle hydrogen fueling protocols and hardware under real-world conditions. The team performed fast-flow fueling tests at NREL and benchmarked system performance exceeding industry and DOE targets; adapted the Hydrogen Filling Simulation (H2FillS) model for heavy-duty applications; and analyzed the techno-economic impact of fueling protocols on station design, station cost, and vehicle cost. The team, which also includes Matthew Ruple, Joshua Martin, Spencer Gilleon, Owen Smith, Kazunori Nagasawa, Thai Son Tran, and Evan Reznicek of NREL, demonstrates strong commitment to promoting pathways for commercial availability, actively collaborating with the hydrogen industry and the international regulations, codes, and standards community.
Hydrogen Production—Shaun Alia
Shaun Alia (left) receives his award plaque from Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Chief Scientist Eric Miller (right).
NREL’s Shaun Alia was recognized for outstanding leadership and research efforts in three national laboratory consortia to develop and advance state-of-the-art alkaline exchange membrane electrolyzers and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. Alia is an integral member of the HydroGEN and ElectroCat consortia, where he successfully integrated a novel catalyst into a membrane electrode assembly to demonstrate a more than 50 mV improvement in performance at 1 A/cm2 compared to commercial baseline catalysts. Alia is also highly engaged in the H2NEW consortium, where he coleads the Accelerated Stress Test Working Group, a collaborative effort with industry to develop accelerated stress test protocols for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers.
See the full list of winners of the 2024 Annual Merit Review Awards. NREL principal investigators presented the status and accomplishments of dozens of NREL-led projects at the meeting, and their presentations are available in the 2024 Annual Merit Review proceedings.
Learn more about NREL's hydrogen and fuel cell research.