Leadership Team
Learn more about the expertise and technical skills of the wind power research team and staff at NREL.
Center Director
Daniel Laird is director of the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Laird also serves as an executive committee member of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Atmosphere to Electrons Wind Plant Optimization Initiative and provides leadership in the focus areas of high-fidelity modeling, wind power plant controls, and rotor dynamics. Prior to joining NREL in 2015, he spent 19 years at Sandia National Laboratories leading wind energy and water power research efforts in structural analysis and simulation, computational design tools, advanced manufacturing, composite materials, and blade reliability.
Laboratory Program Manager
Nick Johnson is the laboratory program manager for wind energy. Johnson works with NREL leadership and research staff to support and enhance the laboratory’s wind energy R&D portfolio while steering strategic discussions with DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. Johnson joined NREL from Sandia National Laboratories where he managed one of the wind energy R&D departments. He also has experience as a loads engineer and project manager at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and wind energy technology manager at DOE. This is Johnson’s second time at NREL, having been a senior research engineer for four years at the lab’s Flatirons Campus early in his career.
Wind Research Staff
See a complete list of our researchers on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Research Hub.
Meet the Staff Behind the Blades
The research and advances in wind energy at NREL is only possible thanks to the hard work of the staff behind the blades. Read the Q&A profiles in our Behind the Blades interview series.
Share
Last Updated June 18, 2025