image: ORNL's Alex Botts received the 2026 Young Energy Professional of the Year Award for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. Region from the Association of Energy Engineers.
Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Alex Botts of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) received the 2026 Young Energy Professional of the Year Award for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. Region by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). The award recognizes her leadership and contributions to industrial energy efficiency and workforce development.
Botts will be formally recognized on Sept. 15 during the 2026 AEE Regional Awards Ceremony, held in conjunction with the AEE World Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida. The award honors the dedication, leadership and impact of young professionals advancing energy efficiency initiatives across the region.
As a technical account manager in ORNL’s Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis Group (MEERA), Botts supports DOE’s Better Plants Program, helping industrial partners identify and implement energy-saving opportunities. She provides technical expertise, data analysis support and software assistance while serving as a key contributor to DOE energy-efficiency initiatives.
“Alex has distinguished herself as an emerging leader in industrial energy efficiency,” said Sachin Nimbalkar, group leader of MEERA. “She is steadily building expertise in industrial compressed air systems and is already applying that knowledge through DOE in-plant trainings, energy treasure hunts, technical publications and industry outreach activities. Her dedication to helping manufacturers improve energy performance, combined with her commitment to workforce development, makes her highly deserving of this recognition.”
Botts is widely recognized for her expertise in compressed air systems and energy management. She serves as a support engineer for DOE’s MEASUR software suite, has contributed to the redevelopment of the AirMaster+ tool, and develops training programs that help industry professionals identify and implement energy-saving measures.
Through her work with Better Plants partners, she has helped organizations achieve substantial energy and cost savings while strengthening their energy management programs.
Botts co-leads ORNL’s participation in the Industrial Training and Assessment Center (ITAC) Implementation Grant program and has contributed to workforce development initiatives that prepare the next generation of energy professionals. Her published research focuses on energy efficiency, compressed air systems, industrial assessments and workforce development. She is also a contributing columnist for Compressed Air Best Practices magazine.
A graduate of West Virginia University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering, Botts has earned numerous professional honors throughout her career, including the 2022 Industrial Assessment Center Distinguished Young Alumni Award and the 2024 Best Journal Article Award from the International Journal of Energy Management. She currently serves as vice president of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers and is active in several professional organizations, including AEE and the Society of Women Engineers.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Tina M. Johnson