2027 Helena Khazdozian

Dr. Helena Khazdozian is a Senior Technology Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO). Helena manages a critical materials research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) portfolio including the Critical Materials Innovation Hub. She joined AMMTO after completing a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in which she supported DOE critical materials efforts. Helena also serves as a Co-Chair to the DOE Critical Materials Collaborative (CMC). In her time at DOE, Helena organized international conferences to facilitate S&T collaboration, supported the 2019, 2023 and now the 2026 Energy Critical Materials Assessments, fostered stronger collaboration across offices, and catalyzed the first ever DOE-supported critical materials demonstration projects. Before joining DOE, Helena was a researcher at the Ames National Laboratory, evaluating magnetic materials in electric machines using finite element analysis. She has broad research experience related to energy technologies spanning wind turbine generator design to thin film synthesis for solar photovoltaics and building energy efficiency modeling and evaluation. She earned her PhD from Iowa State University in Wind Energy Science, Engineering, and Policy with a co-major in Electrical Engineering and her MS in Electrical Engineering from University of Virginia.