Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy recognizes outstanding early-career research on hurricane impacts on wind turbines
MELVILLE, N.Y., November 2, 2026– The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE), published by AIP Publishing, has named Miguel Sanchez Gomez, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, the first recipient of the JRSE Early Career Research Excellence Award. The award recognizes his research into how extreme winds during hurricanes affect wind turbines and the prediction of structural loads. As part of the award, Sanchez Gomez received a certificate and an honorarium.
Established in 2026, the award recognizes an outstanding contribution by an early-career researcher. His presentation “Sensitivity of Wind Turbine Loads to Turbulent Inflow Conditions During the Passage of a Historical Hurricane” was selected as the winner at the NAWEA/WindTech 2026 conference. A panel of JRSE editors attending the meeting evaluated eligible oral presentations on scientific rigor and technical quality, originality and innovation, significance to the wind energy field, quality of communication, and alignment with the conference themes.
“I’m thrilled to congratulate Miguel as the first recipient of the JRSE Early Career Research Excellence Award,” said Nikaela Bryan, Associate Publisher at AIP Publishing. “His work tackles a real challenge for the wind energy community: understanding how the extreme winds of tropical cyclones affect turbine loads and design. I especially appreciate how his research shows that more detailed modeling of these storms can change what we predict for the turbines themselves, which matters for building more resilient energy infrastructure. We’re excited to recognize emerging researchers like Miguel whose work helps renewable energy systems withstand the conditions they’ll face.”
Sanchez Gomez’s presentation examined how extreme winds in tropical cyclones affect wind energy systems. His team ran large-eddy simulations of Hurricane Laura (2020) at coarse, intermediate, and fine grid resolutions to compare how mean flow and turbulence structures change as a hurricane passes over a virtual wind turbine site. The team then used the simulated wind conditions as inputs for models of an idling turbine’s response. The results showed significant differences between resolutions in both the wind and turbulence structures, which led to distinct effects on the turbine’s response. The findings point to the need for high-resolution inflow information to better predict extreme loads and guide turbine design in regions frequently affected by tropical cyclones.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the inaugural JRSE Early Career Research Excellence Award,” said Sanchez Gomez. “This recognition is a meaningful milestone in my career and an encouragement to continue advancing the design and deployment of renewable energy systems under challenging environmental conditions.”
Sanchez Gomez recently joined Johns Hopkins University from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). He holds a background in mechanical engineering and earned his Ph.D. in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023. His research combines atmospheric science, advanced numerical modeling, and engineering to better understand extreme weather environments and their effects on offshore and coastal energy systems, with a focus on atmospheric boundary-layer dynamics, extreme winds, and structural loads on energy infrastructure.
About Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal covering all areas of renewable and sustainable energy relevant to the physical science and engineering communities. The interdisciplinary approach of the publication ensures that the editors draw from researchers worldwide in a diverse range of fields.
About AIP Publishing
AIP Publishing’s mission is to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity by breaking barriers to open, fair research communication and empowering researchers to accelerate global progress. AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and supports the charitable, scientific, and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities on its behalf and on behalf of its publishing partners.