Bio

Timothy Gessert
Gessert Consulting, LLC
 

Timothy Gessert is the Principal and Managing Member of Gessert Consulting, LLC (Conifer, CO), and a former/retired Principal Scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO).  His 35+ years of research span various technologies and materials for photovoltaic (PV) devices including GaAs, InP, Si, CuInGaSe₂, and CdTe, as well as development of transparent conducting oxides (TCOs).

Activities have included establishment of vacuum processes and equipment, development of photovoltaic absorbers and contact materials, material and performance modeling, and loss analysis.  Activities of Gessert Consulting use these foundations to assist private and public institutions in development and assessment of vacuum processes and related products. Activities also include mentoring graduate students from institutions such as Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, University of Toledo, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Tim has collaboratively published over 230 papers, 6 book chapters, and has over 30 US patents awarded or pending.  Tim received his B.Sc. in physics from University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1982, M.Sc. from Colorado School of Mines in 1984, and Ph.D. in applied physics from University of Wales - College of Cardiff, in 1996. 

Tim is a member (since 1986) and Fellow (since 2011) of the AVS.  He has served as Vacuum Technology Division Chair (2008), Recommended Practices Committee Chair (2012-2015), and on the AVS Board of Directors (2014-2015).  Tim is presently serving as an AVS Trustee, and is the Chair of the AVS Education Committee where he leads an AIP-sponsored activity with university students to develop YouTube videos describing basic vacuum technology procedures.  He has also been a long-term member of the Executive Board of the AVS Rocky Mountain Chapter, holding positions as Chair, Secretary, and Symposium Organizer.  Tim has been active (since 1998) in developing and teaching AVS short courses including Fundamentals of Vacuum Technology, Leak Detection, Vacuum System Design, UHV Design, Contamination Control, Operation/Maintenance of Vacuum Systems, Science/Applications of TCOs, and AVS Webinars on PV Devices. 

Tim has also been a member of the Society of Vacuum Coaters (SVC), the Materials Research Society (MRS), the IEEE, the Institute of Physics (IOP, UK), and is an Associate Editor of the Elsevier journal Thin Solid Films.  He has served on numerous conference and program committees, including MRS, SVC, IEEE, Workshops on the Physics and Chemistry of II-VI Materials, and the International Symposia on Optoelectronic Materials and Devices.