Dr. Steve McKnight is a strategic advisor for buildings and industry in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Previously, Dr. McKnight was the acting director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. In this role, Dr. McKnight led each office's strategy, management, and execution to advance materials and manufacturing technologies and dramatically reduce industrial emissions. Dr. McKnight has more than 25 years of leadership and research experience in government, academia, and the nonprofit sector.
He previously served as the vice president for strategic alliances at Virginia Tech, where he advanced strategic partnerships and oversaw executive-level engagement with federal agencies, research sponsors, and labs. Before joining Virginia Tech, Steve spent five years at the National Science Foundation, where he served as the deputy assistant director of Directorate for Engineering and the division director for Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation. Steve also spent 13 years at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
Steve holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Delaware and a B.S. in materials engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is also a professor of biomechanical engineering and mechanics at Virginia Tech's Macromolecular and Interfaces Institute and Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science.