Richard Dennis, whose professional accomplishments at NETL span 35 years, has been named a Fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a prestigious honor the society awards to members for significant engineering achievements.

A graduate of West Virginia University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, Dennis currently serves as technology manager for NETL’s Advanced Turbines and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO₂) Power Cycle programs.

Dennis manages a research portfolio that focuses on developing revolutionary, near-zero-emission advanced turbines to produce electricity using fossil fuels. He also leads efforts to advance high-efficiency, low-cost power generation based on sCO₂ power cycles and serves in a leadership role in the NETL-supported development of a sCO₂ pilot plant test facility located on the Southwest Research Institute campus in San Antonio, Texas.

From 1983 to 1992, Dennis worked in the on-site research group of NETL where he conducted research related to pressurized fluidized bed combustion, gasification and gas stream particulate cleanup for advanced coal-based power generation. From 1993 to 2000, Dennis managed contracted research for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy in advanced fossil fuel power generation, including coal combustion, gasification, fuel cells and gas turbines. He was named a technology manager in 2002.

In addition, Dennis served as the 2018-19 leader of the ASME Gas Turbine Segment. Engineers who are named ASME Fellows receive a membership grade of distinction in the society.