Darren D. Schmidt is a Senior Research Advisor at the EERC, where he is responsible for securing and managing projects for industrial clients in the areas of biomass energy, distributed power systems, biomass gasification, combustion, microturbines (oil and gas), gas to liquids, hydrogen, emission control, fuel cells, energy efficiency, and fossil energy research. Primary technological innovations for commercial interests include microgasification power plants and low-Btu gas applications for microturbines.

Mr. Schmidt received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University and participated in summer internship programs at the EERC and Foster Wheeler Development Corporation. He is a registered professional engineer, a certified energy manager, and a certified green building engineer. Prior to his current position at the EERC, he served as a Mechanical Engineer at Research Triangle Institute where he was responsible for a 1-MW biomass gasification project at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Mr. Schmidt is a member of several professional organizations, has authored and coauthored numerous publications, and has filed for two patents.