As NLR’s Chief External Development Officer Emeritus, Farris is responsible for the continued growth of NLR’s external partnerships, focusing on regional collaborations among industry, government, and academia that tackle complex and urgent energy issues, create advanced-industry workforce opportunities, and engage people of all ages. Farris coordinates NLR’s efforts to expand its international portfolio.

Since joining the lab in 2008, Farris has expanded NLR’s partnership portfolio and positioned the lab as a trusted research and development partner for clean energy startups and established corporations across the country and worldwide. Under his leadership, NLR has inked more than 9,000 high-impact partnership agreements with external partners, including prominent companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Eaton, and Wells Fargo.

Farris also led the development of a privately funded technology transfer program and a revolutionary private contracting framework that is the model for the U.S. Department of Energy system. Entrepreneurship, startup, and technology incubation have been Farris’ priorities during his time at NLR. More than 500 technology-based startups have benefited from interactions with NLR, and these companies have raised more than $7 billion in private-sector funding.