NETL’s Natalie Pekney led a career development panel featuring women from across the U.S. Department of Energy during a virtual segment of the 2022 GirlCon, held Friday, June 17. Pekney joined Kate Klise and Christine Downs from Sandia National Laboratory, Charu Varadharajan from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Chris Morency from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as they discussed their day-to-day routines and offered words of wisdom for working for the federal government. “This was a valuable, candid discussion where each of us was able to share our unique perspectives working at the different national labs,” Pekney said. “We hope we opened up the lines of communication and provided some inspiration for the next generation of scientists and engineers to consider government service.”

NETL researchers made important industry connections during the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo held in Washington, D.C, June 13-15, sharing the Lab’s innovative research into computer modeling, rare earth elements, sensors and other energy research, while other NETL innovators pitched their technologies to investors during the concurrently held TechConnect Innovation Challenge. On the first day of the program, NETL’s Jessica Mullen, technology manager for Rare Earths and Critical Elements, provided an overview of the Lab’s Critical Materials Sustainability Program, which is working to rebuild the U.S. leadership role in extraction and processing technologies to support an economically and environmentally benign, geopolitically sustainable U.S. domestic supply chain for production of rare earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals for clean energy and national defense.

NETL researcher Ranjani Siriwardane is a trailblazer within her areas of expertise and in the advancement of diversity and inclusion to drive innovations for clean energy technologies. Besides finding solutions to complex technical issues, Siriwardane, as well as other women at NETL, are Ranjani Siriwardanetaking steps to close the gender gap that exists in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

As a federal project manager, NETL’s Krista Hill is especially adept at handling multiple assignments as she focuses on the development of innovative decarbonization projects to address climate change. She refined and polished those multitasking skills early in her career. While completing graduate-level research in chemistry at the University of Oregon, Hill launched a tutoring business to help students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, co-managed a construction company and even helped a friend start two food cart ventures. "I was always juggling several projects, which was great experience for project management," Hill explained. Growing up in West Virginia, Hill was impressed by the natural beauty of the state and enjoyed its outdoor recreation opportunities, which piqued an early interest in the environment. She was also exposed to strong role models, sparking a desire to excel in the classroom.

The May 2022 edition of the RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI), is now available and includes details on a range of grant funding and training opportunities. Highlights include:

Through a collaboration with one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) hardware manufacturers, NETL is developing a cutting-edge computer modeling capability using next-generation computer architecture that is much smaller, more energy-efficient, and hundreds of times faster than current supercomputers. Cerebras Systems Inc. designed its revolutionary wafer-scale engine (WSE) to tackle tough AI problems, but NETL’s Dirk Van Essendelft, Ph.D., and his team realized that this new type of computer chip could be used to solve real-world engineering problems.

The latest edition of Water-Energy Nexus News is packed with research efforts undertaken by NETL and its partners to deliver world-class technology solutions that enhance the nation’s energy foundation while helping to protect water resources for future generations. This quarter’s newsletter welcomes Vanessa Núñez-López, the new director at the Office of Resource Sustainability. Núñez-López is focused on restructuring the division’s research and development portfolio to showcase the best advanced technologies and processes that minimize the environmental impacts associated with the extraction of oil and gas resources. Other updates in this edition of the newsletter include: ·       NETL’s Nicholas Siefert is leading a project on the co-treatment of flue gas desulfurization effluent from Longview Power Plant in Maidsville, West Virginia, and produced water from oil and gas wells near Morgantown, West Virginia.

NETL’s world-class artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities are being leveraged to design the cleaner, more efficient power generation systems necessary for near-term decarbonization of the nation’s power sector and economy. AI refers to machines that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, learn, predict, and make decisions, only much faster and more efficiently than humans. Most AI applications use ML to find patterns in massive amounts of data. The patterns are then used for making predictions that have numerous applications across the energy landscape.

The April 2022 edition of the RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI), highlights funding opportunities for advancing undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This month’s edition focuses on the NSF’s Future of Manufacturing program to support fundamental research and education of a future workforce to overcome scientific, technological, educational, economic and social barriers, and  catalyze new production capabilities.

In celebration of Earth Day, which is observed today, April 22, NETL proudly announces the winners of its annual Earth Day Poster Contest. This year’s contest drew approximately 1,130 entries from elementary students (grades 1-5) at schools near NETL’s sites in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who used their creativity and imaginations to showcase their favorite ways to protect the environment. This year, students were asked to design their posters around the theme, “What Will You Do to Stop Climate Change?” NETL is proud to share the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place winning entries at each grade level. Click here to see the winning posters.  Involving children in activities that center around the environment embodies the message of Earth Day while encouraging creative expression and the development of an early interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).