Sandia National Labs researcher honored for creative clean energy efforts
Chris LaFleur, a researcher from Sandia National Laboratories in California, was honored last week with a Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Award from the sixth annual C3E Women in Clean Energy Symposium.
LaFleur was one of 10 recipients of the prestigious award, which was created as part of a partnership between the MIT Energy Initiative and Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy. C3E, on the other hand, is a collection of 25 major-economy governments whose goal is to increase women’s participation and leadership in clean energy.
LaFleur has made her mark through risk characterization efforts of maintenance facility modifications, so as to allow natural gas and hydrogen-powered vehicles to be repaired indoors. Her work has also included failure mode analysis of liquefied natural gas-fueled trains and other heavier vehicles, with a goal of safe implementation of cleaner transportation fuels.
“This award and the amazing opportunity to network with many other women leading efforts in clean energy will enable more progress toward creative energy solutions that are desperately needed in our world,” LaFleur said. “This award represents the work of many talented engineers and scientists here at Sandia working in the hydrogen program. I am honored to work with all of them.”
At Sandia, LaFleur has led R&D efforts that support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office’s Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards program. She has also focused on fire risks among emerging energy technologies–a carryover from her days working at General Motors. In that position, she had overseen corporate fire protection standards and managed both their property insurance and enterprise risk management.
An engineer, LaFleur also serves on the National Fire Protection Association committee and with the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Safety Panel. She began her academic career with a bachelor’s degree in geology and mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester, moved on to a master’s degree in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland, and eventually earned a doctorate of engineering in manufacturing from the University of Michigan.
