AMBER Team

Faculty

Dr. Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco

Dr. Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines. His research interests are in thermal storage, phase change materials, building energy simulation, heat and mass transfer applied to buildings and building integration with smart grid. Before joining Mines, Dr. Tabares-Velasco was a Research Engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where he was a developer of NREL’s building simulation/optimization tool BEopt.  He led NREL technical research on phase change materials in collaboration with the Department of Energy Building Envelope and Windows R&D program, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Fraunhofer CSE. He also validated and improved the finite-difference/phase change material model in EnergyPlus and analyzed pre-cooling strategies in residential buildings to reduce electric peak demand. Prior to NREL, Dr. Tabares-Velasco was a Research Assistant at the Pennsylvania State University where he developed a new apparatus to test the thermal performance of vegetated roofs under control conditions. He also developed a new heat and mass transfer model for vegetated roof systems.

Dr. Tabares-Velasco’s work on vegetated roofs has been recognized with the 2009 Crosby Field Award, 2009 Willis H. Carrier Award and 2009 Best Poster Award by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the 2011 Green Roof Research Award of Excellence by Green Roof for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and an NSF video production. He was also a Student Project Engineer at the Industrial Assessment Center at Colorado State University (CSU), where he performed more than 20 energy assessments of manufacturing plants in Colorado, New Mexico and North Dakota.

Dr. Tabares-Velasco holds a PhD in Architectural Engineering from Penn State, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from CSU and a BS in Engineering Physics from the Monterrey Institute of Technology. In his spare time, he spends his time birding, camping and hiking with his family. Among all birds, he especially enjoys watching woodpeckers and owls!

PhD Students

Erin Blackley

Erin Blackley

​Erin Blackley is a PhD student in the Advanced Energy Systems program in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Her research experience centers on thermal energy storage materials for buildings; currently, her research focuses on developing 3D-printed polymer heat exchangers incorporated with phase change materials for electrified water heating systems in low-income housing. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, playing trumpet, and mountain biking.

Chase Robinson

Chase Robinson

My name is Chase Nathaniel Robinson. I am a Ph.D. student in the Advanced Energy Systems program at The Colorado School of Mines. I worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for about a year, and more recently, I worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). I have been accepted for a GEM National Consortium Fellowship, with NREL being my employer sponsor. My research focus will be on building systems and building materials. To be more specific, I am developing an energy model to retrofit water heaters with 3D-printed phase-changing materials to improve their efficiency. In my free time, I like to go tubing, adventuring, and traveling!

Gabriel Flechas

Gabriel Flechas

Gabriel Flechas is a recipient of the IBUILD and GEM fellowships. After completing the coursework for his MS in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines he continued on with the AMBER lab to work on his PhD. His research is focused on harnessing and utilizing the thermal mass and moisture buffering in cross-laminated timber (CLT) buildings to reduce energy use and peak demand. He is working to quantify these effects through OpenStudio building energy models and field studies. Gabriel holds a BS in Business Administration – Finance and an AS in Engineering from Union College (NE). In his free time he enjoys learning new things, making coffee, and enjoying books, podcasts, or audio books of all kinds!

Karlyle Munz

Karlyle Munz

Karlyle Munz is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and a former intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Before Mines, Karlyle completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering both from Auburn University in Alabama. Karlyle has also recently graduated from the Advanced Energy System Master’s program at Mines. Karlyle’s research with the AMBER group focuses on modeling the electrification of communities using various software tools from NREL. When he is not writing code, Karlyle enjoys playing piano and guitar, learning about aviation, and searching for his cats when they escape his house into the woods.

Kate Rivera

Kate Rivera

​Kate Rivera is a Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Engineering Department and a third-year IBUILD research fellow under the Department of Energy. Her research focuses on using phase change materials (PCMs) as an active storage mechanism in the building envelope. Her prior Master’s work at Oregon State University investigated the integration of thermochemical energy storage for building space heating. In her free time, she enjoys trail running, reading, and indoor gardening.

Quin Guy

Quin Guy

Quin Guy has completed his Bachelor's and his Master's in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. His research has been focused on validating OpenStudio models of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)  buildings to validate the energy storage phenomena due to the exposed beams. Quin came into the program from a master’s program focused on thermal fluid and energy systems. In his free time, Quin enjoys bowling, working on his assortment of cars and motorcycles, and photography.

Graduate Students

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Alumni

Amneh Ahmad

Amneh Ahmad

Amneh was part of the Campus Energy Project. While working on her M.Sc., she improved and calibrated OpenStudio models for several buildings on campus such as Maple Hall, Elm Hall, Weaver Towers, and the Starzer Welcome Center. Amneh got her B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Jordan University of Science & Technology. She enjoys biking & cooking. Amneh is now an engineer at Carrier Turkey.https://amnehj.github.io/ ​

Matthew Brandt

Matthew Brandt

Matthew Brandt completed his MS in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines, in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2021. His research focused on building energy science and energy storage. His research has covered topics such as optimizing phase change materials for use in drywall and understanding the effects of high-efficiency ceiling fans. Matthew also serves as the Vice President for the Mines branch of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of ASHRAE. Matt enjoys discussing philosophy/religion and playing music. He and his wife celebrate the birth of their first child in October 2020. Matthew is now a Frontend Developer at Big Ladder Software. ​

Daniel Safronov

Daniel Safronov

Daniel Safronov completed his Bachelor's and his Master's in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in May 2023. He assisted the group with the aggregation, verification, and management of building operating data for use with building energy models. In his free time, he enjoys trail running and cooking.

Mohammad Hassan Fathollahzadeh

Mohammad Hassan Fathollahzadeh

Mohammad Hassan Fathollahzadeh's research focused on the analysis, optimization, and framework design for academic and/or research campuses. In addition, Mohammad analyzed the feasibility of hybrid renewable energy systems for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, ND.  Mohammad holds an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering (Energy Conversion) from Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran where he implemented computational fluid dynamic (CFD) techniques to investigate occupants’ thermal comfort conditions, indoor air quality, and energy consumption for densely occupied spaces equipped with Underfloor Air Distribution (UFAD) System. In his free time, Mohammad enjoys hiking, reading poems, and cooking! He is now a Senior Associate with the Carbon-Free Buildings Program at the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Maxwell Harris

Maxwell Harris

Maxwell Harris' research focused on developing data-driven reduced-order models for residential buildings and coupling them with MLE+ and AMPL to optimize their cooling setpoint. Maxwell got his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. He is now Chief Engineer at HE&M Inc.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-harris-7604ab46/

Karl Heine

Karl Heine

Karl Heine's research focused on the modeling and optimization of cool thermal storage in grid-interactive efficient buildings. His early graduate work focused on residential PV+battery techno-economics and modeling packaged ice storage systems for small commercial applications. Prior to pursuing his PhD, Karl served eight years in the U.S. Army flying scout helicopters in various places across the globe, from Alabama to Alaska to South Korea. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Military Academy, New York, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. When not researching, Karl spends [all] his time trying to keep up with his two young boys. He is now an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ.

Brian Oldfield

Brian Oldfield

Brian Oldfield research investigated techno-economic feasibility analysis and optimization of implementing rooftop photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) at Colorado School of Mines. Brian got his MSc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He is now a Senior Distribution System Planning Engineer at Xcel.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-oldfield-5ba4a056/

Andrew Speake

Andrew Speake

​Andrew Speake's MS thesis and research focused on developing reduced-order models for residential building buildings and developed their integration into advanced thermostat controls of homes with variable electric rates. Andrew got his BS in Environmental Engineering from Clemson University. In his free time Andrew enjoys woodworking and spending time outdoors hiking, camping, or snowboarding. He is now a Research Engineer at NREL, https://www.nrel.gov/research/staff/andrew-speake.htm

Kevin Tan

Kevin Tan

Kevin Tan was an MS student in the AMBER group. Kevin analyzed and compared batteries and package thermal storage. 

Sajith Wijesuriya

Sajith Wijesuriya

Sajith Wijesuriya's PhD thesis focused on energy modeling, analysis and optimization of envelope solutions that combine phase change materials. Sajith was Sri Lanka’s coordinator for Shelterbox international disaster relief organization and created an understanding between the Sri Lankan government and the Shelterbox organization to asses and provide disaster relief. Sajith holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sir Lanka. He is now a postdoc at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) with the Building Energy Science Group. https://www.sciencepolicycircle.org/team/2-sajith-wijesuriya

Undergraduate Researchers

Hamood Al-harthi (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of the impacts of decarbonizing residential buildings
Scott Crowner (Summer 2020–Present): Campus energy project; calibrating a model for Brown Hall
Ryan Evans (Summer 2020–Present): Campus energy project; developing and calibrating model for CoorsTek
Imani Garcia (Summer 2020–Present): Campus energy project; calibrating model for Berthoud Hall
Megan Henke (Summer 2020): Analysis of PCM in residential buildings
Colin O’Connell (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of PCM in residential buildings
Daniel Safronov (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of the impacts of decarbonizing residential buildings
Jonathan Salas Navarro (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of the impacts of decarbonizing residential buildings
Robert Scavo (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of PCM in residential buildings
Anand Zorig (Summer 2020–Present): Analysis of PCM in residential buildings

Sajith Wijesuriya, Maxwell Harris and Dr. Paulo Tabares after Maxwell’s thesis Defense

Michael Lanahan, Santiago Tabares, Dr. Paulo Tabares, Nick Kincaid, Mohammadhasan Fathollahzadeh

Nerf gun battle (2015) (Savini Wijesuriya, Sajith Wijesuirya, Andrew Speake, Dr. Paulo Tabares, Michael Lanahan, Nick Kincaid, Maxwell Harris, Sebastian Tabares)

AMBER Team 2015–2016

team photo

Cricket game – summer 2018

Mexican nachos night at Dr. Tabares’ home (2018)