Executive Board
The Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP) Executive Board manages the research and business functions of CRSP. Members of the CRSP Executive Board include the CRSP scientific director (from one of the four participating research institutions), the managing director, and the three site co-directors from Colorado State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Colorado School of Mines, who are appointed by and report to their respective institutions. The managing director directs the day-to-day business activities of CRSP. Site co-directors are responsible for organizing and implementing all activities specific to their respective institutions.
View an organization chart of CRSP.
CRSP Executive Board Members
Dr. Craig Taylor is a physics professor at the Colorado School of Mines and the scientific director of CRSP.
Professor P. Craig Taylor
Scientific Director, CRSP
Department of Physics
Colorado School of Mines
Dr. P. Craig Taylor is a professor in the Physics Department at the Colorado School of Mines, associate director of the Colorado Energy Research Institute, and director of the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (REMRSEC). Dr. Taylor received a B.A. degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1964, and a Ph.D. degree from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1969.
From 1971 to 1982, he performed research at the Naval Research Laboratory on electronic and structural properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconductors. In 1982, Dr. Taylor became a professor of physics at the University of Utah. He chaired the Physics Department from 1989 to 1998 and was appointed to the rank of distinguished professor in 2001. He was also the director of the John A. Dixon Laser Institute at the University of Utah.
Dr. Taylor focuses his research on the optical, electronic, and structural properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconductors. He has written more than 400 scientific papers including several book chapters and review articles.
He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Materials Research Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers.
John P. Benner
Managing Director, CRSP
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Mr. John P. Benner is the manager of the PV Industry Partnerships Group in the National Center for Photovoltaics at NREL. In this role, he leads the development of partnerships to move advanced photovoltaic (PV) technologies into the markets more effectively. These partnerships include both cost-shared contracts such as the PV Incubators as well as industry-funded projects carried out at NREL through cooperative R&D Agreements.
This assignment builds on his previous responsibilities as manager of NREL's Electronic Materials and Devices Group, which was responsible for advancing materials science to create new PV technologies. An initiative he launched to strengthen and expand collaborations with industry positioned the laboratory to respond to the current rapid growth of the PV industry and increased demand on NREL for technology solutions ranging from current production issues through next-generation improvements.
Benner joined the Solar Energy Research Institute (NREL's predecessor) in 1978 to guide the development of contracted research supporting DOE's programs in photovoltaics. He led projects in high-performance III-V solar cells, silicon materials, advanced concepts, and university participation. In 1996, he was selected to lead the Photovoltaics and Electronic Materials Center, which involved directing research to develop PV technologies and guiding the formation of the National Center for Photovoltaics.
Benner holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Purdue University. He is a member of the IEEE, where he is active in organizing the Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, and the Materials Research Society.
Professor C. Michael Elliott
Co-Director, CRSP
Department of Chemistry
Colorado State University
Dr. C. Michael Elliott is a professor of chemistry, College of Natural Sciences laureate professor, and former chair of the Chemistry Department at Colorado State University. His research interests are interdisciplinary among the areas of analytical, inorganic, and materials chemistry. He has more than 30 years of experience in electron-transfer reactions, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. Much of the focus of his research involves transition metal complexes in renewable energy applications in redox-active polymer materials, materials with novel electronic properties, redox catalysis, and sensor applications.
Professor David Jonas
Co-Director, CRSP
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dr. David Jonas leads a research group at the University of Colorado at Boulder that studies electronic dynamics. Fast electronic motions are important in photochemistry, photosynthesis, interfacial electron transfer, and in some proposed next-generation photovoltaics. An approach developed by Jonas' group is now widely used to measure fast electronic and vibrational motions in disordered environments such as liquids, proteins, and semiconductors. His group has used 2D femtosecond spectroscopy to probe the fastest electronic motions within molecules, the vibrations coupled to those motions, and the coupled motions of the environment.
Dr. Jonas' interests include electronic dynamics at "conical intersections" between electronic potential surfaces, surface-enhanced Raman scattering on metallic nanoparticles, multiple-exciton generation in semiconductor quantum dots, and other approaches to higher efficiency solar energy conversion.
Professor Colin Wolden
Co-Director, CRSP
Department of Chemical Engineering
Colorado School of Mines
Dr. Colin A. Wolden is the Weaver Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT. His research interests are in the areas of plasma processing, thin-film growth, and reactor design. His work has concentrated on bringing nanoscale control to thin-film deposition processes. Materials of interest include metal oxides and polycrystalline semiconductors with applications in photovoltaics, photocatalysis, and electrochromics. He has published more than 70 scholarly papers, two patents, and two book chapters in the areas of thin-film deposition and plasma processing.
Kaitlyn VanSant
Associate Managing Director, CRSP
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ms. Kaitlyn VanSant holds a master's degree in Physics from Portland State University and a bachelor's degree in Astronomy-Physics from Whitman College. Her graduate research focused on the design and fabrication of solar cells using ZnO nanowires, organic semiconductors, and quantum dots. She has experience with a variety of thin-film deposition techniques and characterization of electrical, optical, and structural properties of solar cells. Her current role at NREL is primarily as a technical monitor for NREL's Incubator and Pre-Incubator subcontracts and DOE's Technology Pathway Partnerships contracts. She is currently working with projects related to thin-film a-Si PV cells, thin-film epitaxially grown silicon cells, concentrating PV module development, and CIGS-based, building-integrated PV products.
CRSP Distinguished Colleagues
Dr. Arthur J. Nozik
CRSP Senior Scientific Advisor & Distinguished Colleague
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Arthur J. Nozik is a senior research fellow at NREL and professor adjoint in the Chemistry Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received his B.Ch.E. from Cornell University in 1959 and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University in 1967. Before joining NREL in 1978, then known as the Solar Energy Research Institute, he conducted research at the Allied Chemical Corporation and American Cyanamid Corporation.
Dr. Nozik's research interests include size quantization effects in semiconductor quantum dots and quantum wells and the applications of these nanostructures to solar photon conversion; photogenerated carrier relaxation dynamics in semiconductor structures; photoelectrochemistry of semiconductor-molecule interfaces; photoelectrochemical energy conversion; photoelectrolysis of water to hydrogen; photocatalysis; optical, magnetic, and electrical properties of solids; and Mössbauer spectroscopy. He has published more than 200 papers, books, and book chapters in these fields and holds 11 U.S. patents. He has served on numerous scientific review and advisory panels and received several awards in solar energy research.
Dr. Nozik has been a senior editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry since 1993. He is a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Chemical Society, Electrochemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Materials Research Society, and Society of Photo Optical Instrument Engineers.
Dr. Nozik was awarded the international Eni Award in 2008, which is touted as the Nobel Prize of energy research, for his work on quantization effects in semiconductor quantum dots, including multiple-exciton generation, which could increase the efficiency of solar photoconversion.
Paul A. Nelson
Senior Advisor, CRSP
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
During the past 7 years, Paul Alan Nelson has earned three degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) and assisted in the launch and growth of three organizations. He was the founding managing director of CRSP, worked on special projects for the CU-NREL joint Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), and assisted with the formation and launch of the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA). He will receive a research M.S. in Chemistry in May 2010 (thesis: Evaluation of Transition Metal Complexes as Water Oxidation Catalysts) from CU.
Mr. Nelson's current affiliations include senior advisor and distinguished colleague for CRSP, advocate for RASEI, board member for CCIA, and member of the American Chemical Society. He earned a B.S. in Business-Finance and a B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in biochemistry from CU in 2006.
Mr. Nelson's career in the energy industry began in 1989 at Julander Energy Company, where he led the business plan project for the Natural Fuels Company (NFC) joint venture between Xcel Energy and Colorado Interstate Gas Company. In 2000, he founded Blue Energy & Technologies LLC, raised $10 million in strategic and venture capital, and purchased NFC from Xcel Energy. As the Blue Energy CEO, he expanded compressed and liquefied natural gas fueling and vehicle-support operations in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming.
From 1999–2002, he served on the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (now called NGVAmerica) board of directors and received its lifetime achievement award. He served on the board of directors for the American Lung Association in Colorado from 2002–2003, and in 2008 received the Physical Science/Engineering/IT Business Advisor of the Year award from the CU Technology Transfer Office.
Dr. Reuben T. Collins
CRSP Distinguished Colleague
Colorado School of Mines
Dr. Niels Damrauer
CRSP Distinguished Colleague
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dr. Carl A. Koval
CRSP Distinguished Colleague
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dr. Bruce A. Parkinson
CRSP Distinguished Colleague
University of Wyoming
Dr. Matthew Shores
CRSP Distinguished Colleague
Colorado State University
