PNNL

Kazi Tamaddun works as an Earth Scientist (Applied Hydro-Climatologist) in the Earth System Predictability and Resiliency group. He specializes in multi-sectoral, multi-scale water, energy, and environmental systems modeling, high-performance computing, application of AI/ML (including agentic approaches) in hydro-climatology, and large-scale oceanic-atmospheric climate systems. His research has focused on the water-energy nexus at nuclear power plants and other thermoelectric systems (including data centers), hydropower retrofitting, energy storage (gravity-based and pumped storage), extreme weather impacts on critical infrastructure and military installations, and predictive hydrodynamic modeling for a diversity of flood events (including hurricane-driven and atmospheric river-driven flooding). Kazi has led and supported projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Defense (DoD).

Before joining PNNL, Kazi worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia (UVA), where he was the lead model developer for the Resilient Urban Water Systems (ReUWS) project funded by UVA’s Environmental Resilience Institute Water Futures Initiative. His work involved developing modeling pipelines to integrate distributed hydrological, ecosystem, and hydraulic models for local and regional watersheds along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Kazi also served as a National Science Foundation (NSF) HydroLearn Fellow for the 2021–2022 term.

Kazi received his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, with a major in Structural Engineering and a minor in Geotechnical Engineering, from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where his primary research focused on multi-spectral spatiotemporal associations between large-scale oceanic-atmospheric climate signals and hydroclimatological variables across the conterminous United States. He received his Postgraduate Diploma in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the University of Texas at Austin. Kazi also holds an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka.

• Water-Energy Nexus
• Extreme Weather Events
• Thermo-Electric Systems
• Nuclear Energy Systems
• Hydropower Retrofitting
• Multi-Sector Dynamics
• Oceanic-Atmospheric Climate Systems
• Agentic AI in Hydro-Climatology

• Artificial Intelligence
• Earth System Models
• Environmental Auditing
• Flood Forecasting
• High-performance Computing (HPC)
• Hydraulic Modeling
• Hydrologic Modeling
• Machine Learning
• Signal Processing
• Statistical Modelling
• System Dynamics
• Water Power Engineering

• Ph.D., Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• M.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• American Geophysical Union
• Environmental & Water Resources Institute
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• National Hydropower Association

• 2024 – Energy and Environment Directorate – Innovation in Research Award
• 2023 – Energy and Environment Directorate – Innovation in Research Award
• 2019 – UNLV College of Engineering – Best PhD Dissertation
• 2016 – UNLV College of Engineering – Best MSc Thesis

2025

• Gautam, Mukesh; Wu, Di; Saxena, Swasti; Wiggins, Corey; Rebich, Ross; Tamaddun, Kazi A.; Iveson, Rebecka L.; Baldwin, Diane A.; Miller, Jeremiah A.; Kerby, Jessica R.; Weed, Russ. 2025. "Nine Canyon Long-Duration Energy Storage: A Feasibility Study". PNNL-ACT-10151. doi:https://doi.org/10.2172/2998067

2024

• Datta S., V.H. Chalishazar, J.K. Westman, T.M. Saltiel, J.M. Deines, S.A. Siddiqui, and K.A. Tamaddun, et al. 2024. "Enhancing Grid Resilience during Wildfires in Socioeconomic Vulnerable Regions using Powered and Non-Powered Hydro Dams." In IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM 2024), July 21-25, 2024, Seattle, WA, 1-5. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-192289. doi:10.1109/PESGM51994.2024.10688862

2023

• Tamaddun K.A., S.E. Barrows, M.U. Usman, J. Meng, N. Woodruff, R.A. Harnish, and D.W. Powell, et al. 2023. "Hydropower Potential at Non-Powered Dams: A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Tool based on Grid, Community, Industry, and Environmental Impacts." In World Environmental & Water Resources Congress 2023: Adaptive Planning and Design in an Age of Risk and Uncertainty. May 21-24, 2023, Henderson, NV, edited by S. Ahmad and R. Murray, 23-31. Reston, Virginia:American Society of Civil Engineers. PNNL-SA-180007. doi:10.1061/9780784484852.003

2022

• Prasad R., A. Veeramany, and K.A. Tamaddun. 2022. Compounding Risks from Natural Phenomena Hazards at U.S. Department of Energy Facilities. PNNL-33481. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. doi:10.2172/1893770.