Noël Bakhtian named director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies

CAES is a research and education consortium between Boise State University, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho State University, University of Idaho and University of Wyoming.

Bakhtian has most recently served as senior policy advisor for environment and energy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

“Dr. Bakhtian’s energy policy and technical experiences span the programmatic portfolio of CAES,” said Peters. “She will help forward the CAES mission of conducting advanced energy research, educating the next generation of scientists and engineers, and partnering with industry to advance our regional competitiveness.”

Prior to OSTP, she served as the inaugural Energy-Water Nexus lead at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of International Affairs, worked as technical lead on numerous innovative grant programs for DOE’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, consulted on energy R&D and investment for DARPA, served as an energy and environment fellow in the U.S. Senate, and worked as a graduate researcher at NASA Ames Research Center.

She also serves as a trustee of the Summer Science Program, a science education nonprofit organization, and is the energy and environment associate editor for the Science & Diplomacy Journal.

Bakhtian earned a doctorate in engineering at Stanford University's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; holds master’s degrees from Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, where she was a Churchill Scholar; and completed a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Duke University, where she was a Pratt Fellow.

Bakhtian succeeds Mike Hagood, who has been serving as acting director of CAES.

INL is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

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