Organization of the Center for Inverse Design

This page describes the organizational management structure of the Center for Inverse Design, an Energy Frontier Research Center. It also describes the roles and responsibilities of the key staff within the Center for Inverse Design.

Center Director: William Tumas, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

  • Roles: Deliver the technical work; serve as primary point of contact with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science; direct and manage all Center technical operations; lead the Center's Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) Council; serve as point of contact and responsibility for External Advisory Board.

  • Responsibilities: Deliver all technical work; provide management and strategic direction for Center research and development with advice and guidance by ERFC Council; lead EFRC Council and Center reviews and strategic planning; serve as point of contact with DOE Office of Science; ensure coordination among Center technical organizations; serve as point of contact with External Advisory Board.

Program Integrator: John Perkins (NREL)

  • Roles: Program Integrator, Project Manager, and Deputy Center Director.

  • Responsibilities: Provide and oversee administrative support for Center; responsible for program integration/coordination communications, reporting, budget, students, staffing, and milestone tracking; serve as point of contact for environmental, safety, and health (ES&H); serve as Acting Center Director, as needed.

Chief Scientist (Theory): Alex Zunger (University of Colorado at Boulder)

  • Roles: Lead theory team

  • Responsibilities: Implement strategic vision for Inverse Design Development; maintain a big picture of the theory activities and be a resource for the Director; coordinate inputs to Director from the theory thrusts; coordinate the teaming between theory and experiment; support the outreach efforts; report to Center Director.

Chief Scientist (Experiment): David Ginley (NREL)

  • Roles: Lead experimental team

  • Responsibilities: Implement strategic vision for Inverse Design Development; maintain a big picture of the experimental activities and be a resource for the Director; help develop the infrastructure development plan; coordinate inputs to Director from the experimental thrusts; coordinate the teaming between theory and experiment; support the outreach efforts; report to Center Director.

Environmental, Safety, & Health Officer: Bev Hiller (NREL)

  • Roles: Manager for ES&H.

  • Responsibilities: Provide oversight of ES&H for all laboratory operations within the Center; ensure compliance with DOE ES&H integrated management systems; interface with ES&H officials at partner organizations to ensure an integrated ES&H program; conduct periodic safety inspections and work with Program Integrator to document and track compliance; report to Program Integrator.

Technical Responsibilities of Key Scientific Staff

  • Inverse Band Structure (IBS) Design of Materials: A. Zunger, University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), A. Franceschetti, S. Lany, M. d'Avezac (NREL) — Responsibilities: Develop and apply IBS methods for the theoretical design of optimized materials.

  • High-Throughput Discovery: D.S. Ginley, J.D. Perkins (NREL) — Responsibilities: Synthesize and characterize high-throughput materials to identify promising regions in the phase space of new materials. Mine and analyze data (for High-Throughput Discovery). P.A. Graf (NREL) — Responsibilities: Develop and apply data mining and analysis tools.

  • Specialized Theory: A.J. Freeman, Northwestern University (NU); A. Zunger (CU), S. Lany (NREL) — Responsibilities: Perform detailed theoretical characterization of initial prototype materials and of promising candidate materials, as predicted by the IBS design.

  • Targeted Synthesis: D.A. Keszler, J.F. Wager, Oregon State University (OSU); K.R. Poeppelmeier, T.O. Mason (NU); D.S. Ginley, J.D. Perkins (NREL) — Responsibilities: Synthesize candidate materials under specific conditions that are predicted to optimize target properties, e.g., under nonequilibrium conditions.

  • Detailed Characterization: T.O. Mason, K.R. Poeppelmeier (NU); J.F. Wager, D.A. Keszler (OSU); P. Sheldon (NREL); M.F. Toney, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) — Responsibilities: Characterize materials, verify target properties, and validate theoretical predictions.

Energy Frontier Research Center Council: Center Director, Program Integrator; plus one representative from each participating institution other than NREL.

  • Roles: Governing Board for Center (oversight, guidance, review)

  • Responsibilities: Provide oversight of technical operations; ensure program integration, including rapid sharing of results, review of progress and decisions on possible changes in direction, review of publications, integrated planning for the coming periods, and joint approval of these technical and management decisions; meet by teleconference and in person quarterly; meet with DOE annually; provide guidance to Center Director.

External Advisory Board: Distinguished members of the scientific community: Prof. Walter Kohn, Chair (University of California, Santa Barbara); Prof. Mark Asta (University of California, Berkeley); Prof. Francis J. DiSalvo (Cornell University); Prof. Claudia Felser (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz); Prof. Rachel S. Goldman (University of Michigan); Prof. Alexandra Navotsky (University of California, Davis); and Prof. (Emeritus)Robert D. Shannon (University of Colorado, Boulder).

  • Roles: Independent technical oversight board.

  • Responsibilities: Provide independent assessment and review of the technical progress and investments of this Center; provide feedback to the Center on evolving technical areas of Center interest; meet annually with Center management; provide independent input to DOE Office of Science about the Center; provide inputs to Center Director.