With the recent announcement of Kelly Rose and James Bielenberg as the senior fellows for Computational Science & Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering, respectively, NETL establishes a full cohort of senior fellows, which also includes Nathan Weiland (Energy Conversion Engineering), Alexandra Hakala (Geologic & Environmental Systems), and John Wimer (Systems Analysis & Engineering).  

Senior fellows lead NETL’s strategic direction to ensure the Laboratory has the competencies to deliver impactful research and development to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) while also leading strategic R&D portfolios for FECM and DOE.

NETL Director Marianne Walck said the senior fellows serve as key connectors between the Laboratory and its customers.  

“The senior fellows are critically important to NETL’s high-quality and impactful research, and to the integration of our research with the overall goals of DOE’s Fossil Energy and Carbon Management office. They are essential to achieving NETL’s mission to deliver solutions for a clean and secure energy future,” Walck said. 

Each NETL senior fellow is aligned to one of the Lab’s research competencies and apply a multidisciplinary perspective to ensure NETL technology areas and research plans align with the needs of FECM and DOE programs.  

The senior fellows and the research competencies they represent are as follows:

• John Wimer — Strategic Systems Analysis & Engineering. Wimer provides scientific leadership for NETL’s analytical competencies, including process and cost engineering, multiscale modeling and optimization, subsurface resource modeling, life cycle analysis, energy infrastructure modeling, and energy markets analysis. His work involves defining research products, strengthening capabilities, coordinating technical initiatives, and managing relationships within FECM and other stakeholders. Wimer joined NETL in 1991 and has held numerous leadership roles at NETL, including chief research officer (acting), deputy director for Science and Technology, associate director for Strategic Planning, and director of the Office of Coal and Power R&D. Wimer earned an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. from West Virginia University in mechanical engineering. 
• Alexandra Hakala — Geological & Environmental Systems. Hakala provides strategic leadership across multidisciplinary geoscience and engineering research teams that execute R&D to ensure prudent development of natural resources for energy extraction, water management, and climate change mitigation. She has served as acting NETL chief research officer, is the author of more than 60 technical publications focused on multiple energy geoscience topics, and has mentored more than 30 students and postdocs. She holds a B.S. in geosciences with a certificate in environmental studies from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in earth sciences from The Ohio State University.
• Nathan Weiland — Energy Conversion Engineering. Weiland builds and sustains competencies in energy conversion engineering and hydrogen production, transport, storage and utilization. Prior to being selected as senior fellow, Weiland was a research engineer in NETL’s Systems Engineering and Analysis group, 2014-2020, where he performed systems studies of supercritical carbon dioxide power cycles and oxy-fuel magneto-hydrodynamics power plants. He holds a B.S. from Purdue University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in mechanical engineering.
• Jim Bielenberg — Materials Engineering & Manufacturing. Bielenberg sets strategic direction for internal materials research within NETL and represents NETL’s materials research capabilities to partners inside and outside of the federal government. Prior to joining NETL in September 2024, Bielenberg worked with ExxonMobil, where he held various research and leadership positions. He is an inventor on 18 patents and an author on 13 publications. He holds a B.S. from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in chemical engineering.
• Kelly Rose — Computational Science & Engineering. With over 20 years of experience in research and leadership, Rose has served in key R&D roles, including as a senior research scientist and group leader at NETL. Rose also serves as the director of NETL’s Science-based AI/ML Institute (SAMI) and is the original principal investigator for NETL and FECM’s R&D data curation and collaboration system, the Energy Data eXchange® (EDX). She is coauthor of more than 100 public datasets, models, tools, journal publications, and technical studies. Rose has mentored more than 50 research interns and fellows and supports science communication and outreach activities. She holds a B.S. from Denison University, an M.S. from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in geology.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers solutions for a clean and secure energy future. By leveraging its highly skilled innovators and state-of-the-art research facilities, NETL is advancing carbon management and resource sustainability technologies to enable environmental sustainability for all Americans.