Dr. Daniel Cunningham is the Deputy Director for Technology at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). Dr. Cunningham was previously the Acting Deputy Director for Technology and the Acting Deputy Director for Commercialization.

Cunningham most recently worked at BP Group Technology in the Chief Scientist’s Office evaluating emerging energy technologies such as energy storage and alternative fuels pathways and assessing their impact on future business. Prior to this role, Cunningham spent much of his career at BP Solar Inc., serving in multiple capacities, including Director of Product Development leading a multidisciplinary team to develop new technologies for BP Solar’s product line. Here, he was responsible for bringing technologies to market, using innovative materials and manufacturing processes to enhance performance and reduce cost. He also took on the role of Director of Technology where he led a R&D engineering team developing and manufacturing electrochemically deposited thin film CdTe devices for use in photovoltaic applications in collaboration with NREL and the Institute of Energy Conversion (UoD). He received a Research Partnership Award in 2001 from the U.S. Department of Energy (EERE) for work in this area. Cunningham has extensive experience in semiconductor crystal growth and processing including PV module packaging and product reliability. 

Cunningham has authored over 50 publications and 12 patent publications. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry specializing in electrochemistry and in-situ reflectance spectroscopy, and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry at the University of Southampton, UK. He is also a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.