NREL Transportation Researchers Recognized for Leadership, Innovativeness, and Collaboration at Vehicle Technologies Office Annual Merit Reviews - CleanTechnica

Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) were honored at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) Annual Merit Reviews for their leadership, innovation, and collaboration in advancing transportation technologies. Margo Melendez, NREL’s chief transportation technology deployment and integration engineer, received the VTO Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award for her over 20 years of leadership in the Technology Integration program and the Clean Cities and Communities (CC&C) partnership. Her work has been pivotal in connecting DOE, NREL, and stakeholders across alternative fuel and advanced transportation sectors, including managing multimillion-dollar projects to advance natural gas vehicle technologies in collaboration with multiple funding agencies. Additionally, NREL teams behind the RouteE and FASTSim modeling tools were recognized with a VTO Team Award for their technical expertise and collaborative efforts, including partnerships with external entities like Google Maps. These tools help minimize energy consumption and simulate vehicle powertrains across various vehicle classes. Another VTO Team Award was given for Cooperative