Impacts
NREL water power research is advancing the hydropower and marine energy industries and bringing new tools, data, and analysis to enable a future clean power grid.

Watch more on the NREL Water Power playlist.
Meet the Staff Powering NREL's Water Power Research and Development
The research and advances in hydropower and marine energy at NREL is only possible
thanks to the hard work of the staff beneath the surface.
Read the profiles in our Beneath the Surface Q&A interview series.
Awards and Honors
Wave Energy Converter Simulator (WEC-Sim)
2021 R&D Awards, R&D World
Variable-Geometry, Oscillating, Surge Wave Energy Converter
2020 Technology Commercialization Fund, U.S. Department of Energy
Hannah Ross
2022 Director's Award, NREL (for outstanding efforts in helping to develop open-source
tidal turbine simulation methods)
2022 Outstanding Mentor award, NREL
Invited presenter, 2022 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
Outstanding Early-Career Investigators in Energy Conversion and Storage Systems
Casey Nichols
2022 President’s Award, NREL (for fabrication, advanced manufacturing, and software
development efforts for marine energy)
Nathan Tom
2022 President’s Award, NREL (for collaborating with NASA to model the behavior of the
new reentry capsule, Orion, using WEC-Sim)
News
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Prize Winners Design Ways To Make the Most of Hydropower
Jan. 17, 2023
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New Model Could Help Break Through Inefficiencies of Common Water Treatment Systems
Jan. 17, 2023
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NREL Team Wins 2023 Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science and Engineering
Jan. 10, 2023
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Jan. 9, 2023

Casey Nichols
NREL Researcher