Austin Nelson

About Austin Nelson

Austin has dedicated his entire career to advancing clean, green, scalable, and affordable renewable energy technologies. From early-stage start-ups to major national laboratories, Austin has consistently sought innovative and practical solutions to the world’s most pressing energy challenges. His unique perspective is shaped by a diverse background—encompassing device-level hardware design, systems-level engineering, hands-on laboratory work, and leading a software development group. Whether focusing on the small details or driving broad, impactful projects, Austin’s versatility, leadership, and passion for knowledge have been key to his success across academic, research, and industry settings.Currently, as the Director of Energy Storage Optimization at Calibrant Energy (formerly Enel X), Austin leads a team responsible for developing cutting-edge algorithms that optimize battery storage dispatches across North America. Since his promotion from Senior Engineer, he has driven significant improvements in software reliability and performance, consistently exceeding budget expectations and cementing Calibrant Energy\'s reputation for industry leadership. Before joining Enel X, Austin worked as a Distributed Energy Engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where his research focused on integrating renewable energy resources into national and global power grids. His work has provided critical insights to both utilities and industry partners, guiding practices in deploying advanced inverter technologies.

Experience

1. Director, Energy Storage Optimization

   Calibrant Energy

   Mar 2022 — Present · Bend, OR, US

   Promoted to Director based on success as Senior Engineer, now leading a team of Computational Scientists, Data Scientists, and Software Developers. Oversees the development and implementation of advanced algorithms for optimizing battery storage dispatches, managing a diverse fleet of commercial and industrial sites across multiple North American regions. Spearheads reliability and robustness enhancements, leading to software performance that consistently exceeds budgeted expectations. Collaborates closely with cross-functional teams—Product Management, Business Development, Technical Sales, Operations, and other Software Development teams—to ensure effective deployment and ongoing success of energy optimization solutions.[Position formerly at Enel X, which was acquired by Calibrant Energy in October 2024]

Education

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Master's Degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering

  2012 — 2014

• University of St. Thomas

  BS and BA, Electrical Engineering and Physics

  2003 — 2007

Skills

• Circuit Design
• C
• Testing
• Inverters
• Electrical Engineering
• Analog Circuit Design
• Electronics
• Power Electronics
• Matlab
• Solar Energy
• Simulations
• Semiconductors
• Mechanical Engineering
• Analog
• Labview
• Power Supplies
• Pspice
• Photovoltaics
• Product Development
• Hardware Architecture
• Pcb Design
• Microgrid
• Electricians
• Root Cause Analysis
• Failure Analysis
• Power Systems
• Energy
• Automation
• Control Systems Design
• Manufacturing
• Engineering
• Renewable Energy