Dr. Braunecker is a Senior Scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and his doctorate in polymer chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Braunecker has nearly two decades of experience in synthesis of advanced functional polymers. As Principal Investigator of the organic photovoltaic (OPV) thrust in the Solar Energy Research Institute of India and the United States (SERIIUS), he coordinated research between synthesis, characterization, and device groups among various U.S. and Indian institutions, focusing on the development of fluorinated OPV materials with enhanced photostability. Dr. Braunecker has also worked on a number of projects for battery applications, including the design and synthesis of polymers with pendent nitroxide radical groups for application as organic radical cathode materials, the development of materials for hybrid flow batteries, and work-function tuning of solid-state electrodes. More recently, he has been developing covalent organic frameworks for gas storage and separation applications under EERE/FCTO’s Hydrogen Materials—Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC).