Page Updated
March 29, 2011
After working as a structural and civil professional engineer for five years, Tom Ashwill joined Sandia Labs in 1981. He has worked in the Wind Energy Technologies Department for 27 years where his work initially focused on the design, fabrication, testing and analysis of the Sandia research prototype 500kW, 34 Meter Vertical Axis Wind Turbine. Since then, he has performed research in many areas of wind systems including innovations for larger blades, structural dynamics including stability predictions using finite element analysis, mechanical systems, composite materials, fatigue testing, aeroelastic tailoring, and manufacturing. Tom established a blade manufacturing initiative in 1995 that led to Sandia becoming the lead lab in innovative blade research. He managed the design and development efforts at Sandia for several prototype research blades that included innovations such as carbon fiber spars, off-axis carbon fibers for bend-twist load alleviation, very thick structural airfoils such as flatbacks, and the Knight & Carver 27m STAR blade that incorporates geometric sweep for load alleviation and cost-of-energy reduction. Tom has published over 45 technical articles and reports and has served on the ASME Wind Energy Technical Committee for many years.
Matthew Barone is the Aerodynamics and Acoustics Lead in the Wind Energy Technologies and Water Power Technologies Departments at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. He joined the technical staff at Sandia following graduate school, and worked in the Aerosciences Department from June of 2003 to May 2008. Matthew has worked in the Wind Energy Technology Department from May 2008 to the present time. Research projects at Sandia have included investigation and validation of hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes/Large-Eddy Simulation techniques with application to turbulent wakes, development of validation metrics as a means for rigorous model assessment by comparison to experiment, and investigation of reduced-order modeling for fluid-structure interaction. He has also been involved in the development of a new unstructured grid compressible flow code and its validation, as well as application of computational fluid dynamics for aerodynamic predictions. Current research interests include prediction of aerodynamic performance, loads, and noise for wind turbines. Matthew is a member of the AIAA Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee, ASME Wind Energy Technical Committee, and technical chair for the 29th ASME Wind Energy Symposium. He received a Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1997, and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in 2003.
Dale Berg joined Sandia National Laboratories after graduating from Michigan State University in 1967. He worked in experimental aerodynamics from ’67 to ’80, performing wind tunnel experiments on various air-launched weapons systems. He also performed thermal analysis of early lunar module nuclear power supplies, investigated launch pad fire accident scenarios for weapons and developed computer-controlled wind tunnel data instrumentation systems. Dale performed computational aerodynamics, including code development, from ’80 through ’84 in support of the wind energy effort at Sandia. He joined the Wind Energy Technologies department in early ’84 and has worked full time in wind energy since that time. Areas of interest include structural analysis, instrumentation system development, aerodynamic performance analysis, long-term continuous data acquisition system development and active aerodynamic blade load control.
Wesley Johnson is responsible for the field testing activities within the Wind Energy Technologies and Water Power Technologies Departments at Sandia National Laboratories. He facilitates the testing performed both at Sandia Laboratories as well as at remote testing facilities, and also runs the departments' two testing laboratories. Wesley began his career at Sandia Laboratories as a student intern in 2003 and was mentored by two Sandians in order to become a field test engineer. Wesley received his Bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico.
Benjamin Karlson is the Project Lead for Renewable System Integration in the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He joined Sandia in 2007, at which time he was assigned a Management and Operations detail to the Department of Energy's Wind and Water Power Program in Washington, DC, where he supported the DOE/Wind office in its system integration efforts. Prior to joining Sandia, Benjamin worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the Office of Administrative Litigation as a witness for the government in electric regulatory issues. He has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the Electric Utility Management Program at New Mexico State University. Benjamin is also a member of IEEE.
Melissa Levy is a Reliability Analyst in the Wind Energy Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories. She is responsible for analysis of data in the national Continuous Reliability Enhancement for Wind (CREW) database to aid in identification of areas for technology improvement and enhancement of wind turbine reliability. Melissa brings over 11 years of experience in reliability analysis on a large variety of hardware systems, including 6 years as a NASA contractor working on the Space Shuttle and Constellation programs. She has a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate in Physics, all from the University of New Hampshire. She also holds a graduate certificate in Reliability Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Bridget McKenney is the Wind Reliability and Analysis Database Lead in the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories. She is responsible for driving the establishment and growth of the National Reliability Database for Wind. Bridget brings over 25 years of experience in manufacturing and operations to the Wind Energy Technologies team. After a lengthy career at Intel, where she managed the semiconductor test floor and supplychain operations, Bridget led process improvement efforts at the Public Service Company of New Mexico. She has a Bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas, and a Masters degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Dave Minster is the Manager of the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories and is responsible for overseeing the wind power research activities for the lab. Dave has 30 years of leadership/management experience. He joined Sandia in 2005 after retiring as a Colonel in the U. S. Air Force. Prior to his current job, Dave spent four years as the manager of Sandia's Energetic Threats and Training Department and 1.5 years at Sandia leading intelligence projects for multiple national intelligence agencies. Dave holds a Bachelors degree in Earth Science from Montana State University, a Masters degree in Geodetic Science from The Ohio State University, and a Masters degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U. S. Naval War College.
Alistair Ogilvie is the Wind Reliability Data Lead in the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He is responsible for managing the national Continuous Reliability Enhancement for Wind (CREW) database. Alistair brings more than 10 years Information Technology (IT) experience in supporting sensitive data, successful integration of new projects, and network development and administration. He has a Bachelors degree from the University of New Mexico in Business Administration (MIS).
Joshua Paquette is the Task Leader for Laboratory and Field Testing of Wind Turbine Blades. He has worked in the Wind Energy Technologies and Water Power Technologies Departments for five years on wind blade structural modeling and testing, as well as marine hydrokinetic blade design and modeling. Joshua holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University, and a Masters degree in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Valerie Peters is a Reliability Analyst for the Wind Energy Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories. She is responsible for developing, performing, and communicating reliability analysis for the Continuous Reliability Enhancement for Wind (CREW) database. Valerie's work experience includes positions at Intel Corporation and Applied Materials, along with her current position at Sandia National Laboratories. At Sandia, she specializes in systems analysis for energy systems and homeland security. Valerie is a member of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley and a M.S. degree in Statistics from the University of New Mexico.
Brian Resor specializes in wind turbine aeroelastic system dynamics simulation and wind turbine blade structural analysis in the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He began working at Sandia National Labs in 2002 in the Engineering Sciences Center where he worked in structural dynamics research, experimental dynamic environments testing, and model validation. Brian received a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000, and Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2002.
Mark Rumsey is a Field Test Engineer in the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories. His current job responsibilities include: the research and development of sensors for the next generation of wind turbine structures with an emphasis on wind turbine blades; the research and development of nondestructive testing and health monitoring techniques as they apply to wind energy applications; and to facilitate the wind department laboratory and field-testing activities. Mark has been with Sandia National Laboratories since 1977, and in the Wind Energy Technologies Department since 1986. He has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Ohio Institute of Technology.
Jonathan White performs research in the areas of Sensing Technology, Structural Health Monitoring, and Operational Monitoring for the Wind Energy Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratory. He joined Sandia in 2010 and was supported by the Sandia wind program throughout his graduate studies. Jonathan received a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University and a Masters and Doctorate degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.
Joseph Williams is an Engineer in the Wind Power Technologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories working in the area of Systems Integration. Joseph's work focuses on grid operating costs and impacts, transmission, and interconnection issues. Prior to joining Sandia in 2009 Joseph has held positions as a Transmission Planning Engineer for a Midwest utility and as an Engineer working with the US Navy on shipboard power systems. He has a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Idaho. Joseph is also a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Oklahoma.
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