Transportation Review Board and Electrical Energy Storage Applications & Technology Presentations
Two Athena ZEV papers—highlighting the latest research results for behind-the-meter energy storage and generation and on EVI-Rental, a simulation fool for car rental electrification—were accepted to the 2025 Transportation Review Board Annual Meeting, organized by the National Academies of Sciences in our nation’s capital, and the 2025 IEEE Electrical Energy Storage Applications & Technology (EESAT) meeting. These papers we led by Drs. Yanbo Ge and Roberto Vercellino.
Portland International Airport Unveils First DC Fast Charging for Rental Facilities
Portland International Airport, an Athena ZEV partner, became the first major airport with a DC fast charging system for on-site rental car partners to utilize. The technology charges vehicles approximately eight times faster than a standard charger.
San Luis Obispo and Austin Airports to join Athena Advisory Board
Athena ZEV has two new advisors! San Luis Obispo County Airport (California) and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Texas) have joined on to help prototype solutions and advise on tool development. These two airports join 12 other US airport partners who help advise the project.
Project Team
Research Leads
The Athena research team includes scientists and engineers from NREL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and industry advisors and experts:
Monte Lunacek, Ph.D.
Athena ZEV Principal Investigator
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Caleb Phillips, Ph.D.
Athena Project Founder
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Yanbo Ge, Ph.D.
Airport Project Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ken Kelly
Advanced Transportation Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Jesse Bennett
Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Testbed Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Margaret Mann
Transportation BTMS Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Roberto Vercellino
Research Engineer
NREL
Saad Akhtar
Commercial Vehicles Researcher
National Renewable Research Laboratory
Gustavo Campos, Ph.D.
Research Engineer
NREL
John Farrell, Ph.D.
Associate Laboratory Director, Mechanical, Thermal, and Engineering Sciences
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Karen Ficenec
Data Scientist and Transportation Engineer
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Venu Garikapati, Ph.D.
Transportation Data Analytics
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Andrew Kotz, Ph.D.
Commercial Vehicles Researcher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Aishwarya Krishnamoorthy
Athena Communications Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Zhaocai Liu, Ph.D.
Optimization and Simulation
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Eric Miller
Commercial Vehicle Technologies Researcher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Adrianna Ovnicek
Logistics and Project Management
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Kevin Robby
Integrated Energy Systems
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Alex Schroeder
Acting Laboratory Program Manager, Vehicle Technologies
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Joseph Severino
Traffic Modeling and Analysis
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Devon Sigler, Ph.D.
Applied Mathematician
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Joseph Smith
Frontend Developer
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Juliette Ugirumurera, Ph.D.
Traffic Equilibrium Modeling Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Qichao Wang, Ph.D.
Optimization and Simulation
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Korbaga Woldekidan
Grid Edge and Advanced Controls
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Nick Wunder
Software Engineering Lead
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Caroline Ziemkiewicz
Data Scientist
National Renewable Energy LaboratoryKey Stakeholders
The Athena project has a stakeholder advisory board consisting of representatives from major U.S. airports, seaports, technology and transportation companies, government agencies, and academic research institutions.
Contact
For more information on Athena, contact [email protected].
