Ali Siddiqui leads CNL’s Advanced Reactors Directorate.  Ali has been with CNL for over twelve years serving in various technical and management roles in the S&T mission and corporate office.  As Head of Directorate, Advanced Reactors he leads both the staff and programs undertaking research crucial to speed development and deployment of Advanced and Small Modular Reactors in Canada.  Ali leads a diverse team executing on CNL’s clean energy vision including serving federal clients, developing new commercial S&T opportunities and providing support for the SMR deployment project at CNL.  His team has also developed CNL’s Clean Energy Demonstration, Innovation, and Research (CEDIR) Initiative to advance the technological readiness of low-carbon hybrid energy systems and help meet Canada’s net-zero goals.  He currently represents CNL and Canada on a number of domestic and international working groups and committees, holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and is a professional engineer in Ontario.

As an Operations Research Analyst at CNL, Megan contributes to a diverse set of projects. Megan is an expert in nuclear economics, with experience developing economic models to assess traditional reactors, Generation IV reactors, SMRs as well as components such as the economics of various fuel cycles. She also co-chairs the Generation IV International Forum Economic and Modelling Working Group. Beyond economics, Megan has performed several feasibility studies to understand the system level impacts of implementing various technology solutions. She led the team at CNL in the development of the hybrid energy system optimization (HESO) model.

Pronnapa heads the Operations Research section at CNL where she conducts research and studies to support the Federal Nuclear Science and Technology program and commercial projects. She has largely contributed to the development of CNL’s Hybrid Energy System Optimization (HESO) model. Pronnapa has represented Canada in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) technical meetings on energy modelling tools for sustainable energy development and energy systems. Currently, her research focuses on the improvement and applications of the HESO model along with other energy system tools to investigate the roles of nuclear energy in low-carbon energy systems beyond power generation. Pronnopa received her Ph.D. in Engineering with core expertise in optimization and artificial neural networks.

Travis is an operations research analyst at CNL with a MEng in electric power engineering. He is the technical lead of the CEDIR initiative, where his broad knowledge and work experience in both physical power systems and modeling is an asset. Travis’ research focuses primarily on modeling and simulation of hybrid energy systems using real-world scenarios to highlight the role nuclear will play in Canada’s future energy systems. Travis contributed to the development of the Hybrid Energy System Optimization (HESO) Model and also led a recent project to establish near-zero carbon emissions configurations for off-grid mine sites in Canada. Currently, he is developing a model to simulate nuclear-enabled hybrid energy system microgrid operations to study various operational aspects, such as control system strategies, microgrid resiliency, and contingency reserve requirements.

Denys Elliot graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Masters in Political Economics in 2015. In 2016 he joined Canadian Nuclear Laboratories as a member of the Business Development team. In early 2020, Denys took over the role of Commercial Lead for CNL’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Program. In this role, Denys serves as the primary point of contact between CNL and SMR vendors for the establishment of commercial research and development contracts that advance SMR technologies towards deployment. Denys is also responsible for the administration of CNL’s Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative – a CNL program to support collaborative Advanced Reactor (AR) research projects with third-party proponents in Canada.