Michael brought more than forty years of energy science and technology expertise to the University of Colorado Boulder. He served as a consultant specializing in transitions and creating new research directions in agency and institutional programs, projects, and major research facilities, and has led several teams developing multi-billion dollar proposals and contracts for the Department of Energy (DOE). He has been involved in strategic planning and project management for multidisciplinary and multi-institutional programs and facilities, including DOE biological programs, high-performance computing, environmental research, and national facilities such as synchrotrons. Knotek formerly served as senior science and technology adviser to the Secretary of Energy at DOE; distinguished science executive at Argonne National Laboratory; chief technology officer with the Battelle Memorial Institute; chairman of the National Synchrotron Light Source research facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory; and associate laboratory director for Environmental and Energy Sciences at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Knotek is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society.