Harsh S. Desai is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. He has over fifteen years of experience in deploying clean energy technologies. In his current capacity as the chief commercialization officer for Zeno Power, he is responsible for supply-chain and commercial business development.

In his previous role at the Nuclear Energy Institute, he was responsible for financial modeling, economic analyses, policy development, business strategy, and industry collaborations. Prior to that, he was an adviser at the US Department of Energy, where he launched innovative programs and partnerships between the National Laboratories, universities, and the private industry to develop and demonstrate concepts toward commercialization.  

Notably, Desai served as the American Nuclear Society Congressional fellow and legislative adviser in the US Senate covering energy, transportation, climate change, and appropriations portfolios. His other past roles include being a consultant to the executive leadership of the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, where he integrated Knolls Atomic and Bettis laboratories, two naval reactors training facilities, and fuel processing facilities post-merger. His past technical roles include being a senior nuclear engineer at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory and an Edison nuclear engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.  

Desai has an MBA from New York University’s Stern Business School, along with a BS and MS in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University.

Desai is an elected member of the American Nuclear Society’s Board of Directors. He also serves on the North Carolina State University’s Nuclear Engineering Department Advisory Committee.

Desai enjoys going on adventures, such as chasing tornadoes, being an avid photographer, traveling, brewing beer, and now, particularly in the pandemic, growing exotic (and spicy) peppers.