NREL's Phil Parilla Named Fellow of American Physical Society
The American Physical Society honored Phil Parilla of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) by naming him a fellow.
The 124-year-old organization recognized Parilla “for outstanding contributions to hydrogen absorption science, for contributions to the physics and advanced materials characterization of new energy-related materials, and for exemplary leadership and mentorship.”
Parilla, who joined NREL in 1990, has worked in the hydrogen storage group for over 20 years with expertise in determining storage capacity for materials. DOE has recognized this expertise by making NREL its validation laboratory for testing such materials. For about a decade, he was the laboratory’s group manager for the Thin-Film Materials Science and Processing group. In 2023, Parilla relinquished the role so he could spend more time in the lab. Lorelle Mansfield is now group manager of what has been renamed as the Thin Film and Manufacturing Science group. This branch of NREL focuses on the materials development and process science required to advance thin-film solar photovoltaics, batteries, fuel cells and other energy-relevant technologies.
“I am very honored to be named an APS fellow,” Parilla said. “You put your heart into your work and it’s not always obvious if all that effort and experience leads to something. This makes it obvious.”
Few APS members are named fellows, with the distinction awarded to no more than a half of a percent each year.
The fellowship program was created to recognize members the organization said “may have made advances in physics through original research and publication, or made significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. They may also have made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or service and participation in the activities of the Society.”
The society has previously named 10 researchers from NREL as fellows.