John Burkhardt

John Burkhardt is a research and development engineer with over six years of experience in the energy industry, specializing in solar power generation technologies and life cycle assessment. They held positions at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where they provided technical insights on solar power plant design, published multiple studies in peer-reviewed journals, and contributed significantly to life cycle assessment methodologies. At Abengoa Solar LLC, they managed an international team, optimizing the design of parabolic trough concentrating solar power plants and leading the development of advanced simulation tools. Currently, John serves as the Manager of Thermal and Fluids Analysis at SpaceX, having previously held multiple engineering roles within the company. John earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.