Nidia C Gallego

Bio

Nidia C. Gallego is a Distinguished R&D Staff in the Physical Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Her research interests include: thermal physical properties of carbon materials; carbon materials for space applications, development and characterization of porous carbon materials for gas separation and energy storage applications, low-cost carbon fibers; high-performance carbon fibers and graphite foams for thermal management applications; and effects of neutron damage on the structure and properties of graphite; Dr. Gallego receive her MSc and PhD from Clemson University and is the author of over 140 publications. She is an active member of the American Carbon Society, where she served as the Secretary/Treasurer (July 2004-July 2010), and now serves in the Executive Committee. She has organized several workshops on behalf of the American Carbon Society, and has served on the organizing and technical committees of the International Carbon Conferences. She has been active in the Oak Ridge Chapter of ASM international, where she served as Chapter Chair 2004-2005. In 2021 she received The Secretary of Energy Achievement Award in recognition of the contributions to the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Radioisotope Power System (RPS).  In 2004 she received the UT-Battelle Science and Technology, Early Career Award, “For exceptional potential for leadership in applied materials engineering and for exemplary early career accomplishments”. In 2009 she received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the US DOE Office of Science. In 2011 Dr. Gallego was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Grant that allow her to be a visiting scholar for two months at the Universidad del Valle in Colombia. She is a member of the team that received the 2012 UT-Battelle Engineering Research & Development Award. She is an active member of the Hispanic Latino American Committee and the Committee for Women at ORNL.