Melissa Klembara is a Technology Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, where she is currently managing the National Alliance for Water Innovations (NAWI), a $100 million early stage R&D consortium focused on developing clean water technologies. NAWI is led by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory with NREL, ORNL and NETL along with over 180 alliance members. Melissa is also co-leading jointly funded efforts in AMO and BETO as part of the Plastics Innovation Challenge, including the Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) consortium led by NREL with ANL, SLAC, ORNL, and LANL. Previously, Melissa managed the Manufacturing USA Institute in process intensification called RAPID, led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Prior to joining AMO, Melissa spent 4 years as the Chief of Staff for both the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Renewable Power. Ms. Klembara also spent several years as a technology manager in the Bioenergy Technology Office working on all aspects of their R&D portfolio-- from feedstock logistics through conversion technologies and, ultimately, integrated biorefinery demonstrations. Before joining the federal government, Melissa worked at International Paper Company as a process engineer. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineer from the University of Maryland as well as two master’s degrees from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.