International Institute Turns Spotlight on NREL's Marc Day

Aug. 26, 2025 | By Wayne Hicks | Contact media relations

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Marc Day has become the first researcher at NREL elected a fellow of the Combustion Institute, an international organization that promotes all areas of combustion science and technology.

Day, who joined NREL in December 2020 after a 25-year career as a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was singled out for inclusion for his “pioneering algorithmic and software advances enabling multiphysics direct numerical simulation of turbulent combustion in laboratory-scale configurations.” The Combustion Institute named 19 others as fellows for the Class of 2025.

“There is no money or robes or sustained celebratory activities that come with this title but rather a lovely feeling inside that some of the folks that I have immense respect for also respect me and some of my work in return,” Day said. “This kind of acknowledgement doesn’t come often in one’s career and so is deeply meaningful and humbling to me.”

Day holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering. He manages the Scalable Algorithms, Modeling and Simulation Group within the Computational Science Center at NREL.

The Combustion Institute, which dates to 1954, designates fellows based on peer recognition for outstanding contributions to the field of combustion, whether in research or in applications. The organization’s roots go back to the early 1900s when the importance of combustion processes became apparent with the emergence of automobile engines, fuels, and aviation. Eligible candidates for the title of fellow must have been a member for at least five years. Day joined the organization in 2001.

“While there is always an interest in injecting ‘young blood’ into the thoughts, practices, and positions held within the organization,” Day said, “there is a strong respect given to the senior leaders in the field. With the fellowship title, I get the sense that I have become one of those senior leaders.”